Green Lake vs Lake Puckaway
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Green Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Lake Puckaway. Both are in Green Lake County, Wisconsin.
Both Green Lake and Lake Puckaway sit in Wisconsin. 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. The readings are meaningfully apart: Green Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Lake Puckaway. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Green 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?
Green Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13.5 ft.
Lake Puckaway
Murky, only visible to about 4.4 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Green Lake | Lake Puckaway |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 13.5 ft Better | 4.4 ft |
| Phosphorus | 38.1 µg/L Better | 52.1 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 4.4 µg/L | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 236 ft Better | 5 ft |
| Surface Area | 7,920 acres | 5,013 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 7 Better | 6 |
| 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 Green Lake or Lake Puckaway against a different lake.
Verdict
Green Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Lake Puckaway. Water clarity: 13.5 ft vs 4.4 ft. For fishing diversity, Green Lake also leads with 7 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.