Skip to main content
LakeQuality

Dog Creek Lake vs Spring Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Dog Creek Lake has a higher water quality grade (D, Poor) than Spring Lake (D, Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.

Dog Creek Lake and Spring Lake are both in Iowa — a same-state head-to-head where the comparison comes down to lake-specific differences in depth, watershed, and monitoring history rather than the broader state-level water-quality regime. The grades are close: Dog Creek Lake (D) and Spring Lake (D) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.

With grades this close, the choice between the two lakes turns on non-water-quality factors: depth, fish species, public access, distance from home. The per-lake pages below cover all of those.

D

Dog Creek Lake

O'Brien County, Wisconsin

Murky, only visible to about 3.4 ft.

D

Spring Lake

Cherokee County, Wisconsin

Very murky, less than 2.5 ft of visibility.

Side-by-Side Metrics

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

MetricDog Creek LakeSpring Lake
Overall GradeD (Poor)D (Poor)
Water Clarity3.4 ft2.5 ft
PhosphorusNo dataNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)25 µg/L25.1 µg/L
Maximum Depth--
Surface Area29.3 acres15 acres
Public AccessUnknownUnknown
Fish Species00
Trophic Stateeutrophiceutrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Dog Creek Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade D versus Spring Lake's Grade D. Water clarity: 3.4 ft vs 2.5 ft. For fishing diversity, Dog Creek Lake also leads with 0 species.