Fountain Lake vs Waverly Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Waverly Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Fountain Lake. Both are in Wright County, Minnesota.
Fountain Lake and Waverly 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. Waverly Lake reads materially cleaner than Fountain 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: Waverly 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?
Fountain Lake
Very murky, less than 1 ft of visibility.
Waverly Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 6.9 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Fountain Lake | Waverly Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 1 ft | 6.9 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 126.5 µg/L | 29 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 174 µg/L | 8 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 10 ft | 70.5 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 435 acres | 494 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 5 | 17 Better |
| Trophic State | hypereutrophic | 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 Fountain Lake or Waverly Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Waverly Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Fountain Lake. Water clarity: 6.9 ft vs 1 ft. For fishing diversity, Waverly Lake also leads with 17 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.