Florida Lake vs Foot Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Florida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Foot Lake. Both are in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota.
Both Florida Lake and Foot Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. Florida Lake reads materially cleaner than Foot 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: Florida 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?
Florida Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.3 ft.
Foot Lake
Very murky, less than 2.3 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Florida Lake | Foot Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.3 ft Better | 2.3 ft |
| Phosphorus | 20 µg/L Better | 54.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.8 µg/L Better | 20.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 40 ft Better | 24 ft |
| Surface Area | 705 acres | 503 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 18 Better | 15 |
| 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.
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Compare Florida Lake or Foot Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Florida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Foot Lake. Water clarity: 12.3 ft vs 2.3 ft. For fishing diversity, Florida Lake also leads with 18 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.