Ida Lake vs Upper Cormorant Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Upper Cormorant Lake. Both are in Becker County, Minnesota.
Both Ida Lake and Upper Cormorant 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. Ida Lake reads materially cleaner than Upper Cormorant 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: Ida 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?
Ida Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.1 ft.
Upper Cormorant Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ida Lake | Upper Cormorant Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.1 ft Better | 8 ft |
| Phosphorus | 23 µg/L Better | 30 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 5.3 µg/L Better | 9.9 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 20 ft | 29 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 632 acres | 974 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 Better | 13 |
| 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
Ida Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Upper Cormorant Lake. Water clarity: 12.1 ft vs 8 ft. For fishing diversity, Ida Lake also leads with 14 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.