German Lake vs Scotch Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Scotch Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than German Lake. Both are in Le Sueur County, Minnesota.
German Lake and Scotch 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. The readings are close: German Lake and Scotch Lake sit within a narrow band of each other on phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and clarity. The per-parameter table below shows where the small differences actually live.
With readings 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.
German Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.
Scotch Lake
Very murky, less than 2.6 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | German Lake | Scotch Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 3.5 ft Better | 2.6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 74 µg/L Better | 569 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 61.9 µg/L | 9.7 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 51 ft Better | 11 ft |
| Surface Area | 889 acres | 598 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 19 Better | 5 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
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 German Lake or Scotch Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Scotch Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than German Lake. Water clarity: 2.6 ft vs 3.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, German Lake edges ahead with 19 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.