Eau Claire Lake vs Lake Wissota
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Eau Claire Lake and Lake Wissota both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.
Eau Claire Lake and Lake Wissota are both in Wisconsin — 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: Eau Claire Lake (D) and Lake Wissota (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.
Eau Claire Lake
Very murky, less than 2.8 ft of visibility.
Lake Wissota
Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Eau Claire Lake | Lake Wissota |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 2.8 ft | 3.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 88 µg/L | 76.4 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 25 ft | 64.4 ft |
| Surface Area | 870 acres | 6,148 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 5 | 8 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Eau Claire Lake: 2.8 ft, Lake Wissota: 3.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Eau Claire Lake has fewer fish species than Lake Wissota.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.