Farm Lake vs Greenwood Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Farm Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Greenwood Lake. Both are in Lake County, Minnesota.
Farm Lake and Greenwood Lake are both in Minnesota — 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. Farm Lake reads materially cleaner than Greenwood Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Farm Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Farm Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.5 ft.
Greenwood Lake
Very murky, less than 2.1 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Farm Lake | Greenwood Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 5.5 ft Better | 2.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L Better | 27.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.7 µg/L Better | 5.9 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 56 ft Better | 7 ft |
| Surface Area | 1,292 acres | 1,329 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 12 Better | 7 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | eutrophic |
A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.
Swap a lake
Compare Farm Lake or Greenwood Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Farm Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Greenwood Lake. Water clarity: 5.5 ft vs 2.1 ft. For fishing diversity, Farm Lake also leads with 12 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.