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Minnie-Belle Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Jennie Lake. Both are in Meeker County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

Both Jennie Lake and Minnie-Belle 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. Minnie-Belle Lake reads materially cleaner than Jennie 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: Minnie-Belle 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?

Jennie Lake

Meeker County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 3.9 ft.

Minnie-Belle Lake

Meeker County, Minnesota

Good clarity, visible to about 14.4 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricJennie LakeMinnie-Belle Lake
Water Clarity3.9 ft14.4 ft Better
Phosphorus62 µg/L14 µg/L Better
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)24.3 µg/L3.8 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth15 ft49 ft Better
Surface Area1,069 acres597 acres
Public AccessYesYes
Fish Species1214 Better
Trophic Stateeutrophicmesotrophic

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.

Verdict

Minnie-Belle Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Jennie Lake. Water clarity: 14.4 ft vs 3.9 ft. For fishing diversity, Minnie-Belle Lake also leads with 14 species.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.