Florida Lake vs Nest Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Florida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Nest Lake. Both are in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota.
Florida Lake and Nest 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. Florida Lake reads materially cleaner than Nest 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.
Nest Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Florida Lake | Nest Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.3 ft Better | 7 ft |
| Phosphorus | 20 µg/L Better | 30 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.8 µg/L Better | 8.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 40 ft | 40 ft |
| Surface Area | 705 acres | 969 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 18 | 19 Better |
| 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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Verdict
Florida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Nest Lake. Water clarity: 12.3 ft vs 7 ft. For more fish-species variety, Nest Lake edges ahead with 19 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.