Lake Kegonsa vs Lake Waubesa
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lake Waubesa reads lower on nutrients and algae than Lake Kegonsa. Both are in Dane County, Wisconsin.
Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa are both in Wisconsin — 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. Lake Waubesa reads materially cleaner than Lake Kegonsa 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: Lake Waubesa 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?
Lake Kegonsa
Murky, only visible to about 3.7 ft.
Lake Waubesa
Very murky, less than 3.2 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lake Kegonsa | Lake Waubesa |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 3.7 ft Better | 3.2 ft |
| Phosphorus | 59.5 µg/L | 36.6 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 32 ft | 38 ft Better |
| Surface Area | 3,200 acres | 2,074 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 7 | 7 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | 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
Lake Waubesa reads lower on nutrients and algae than Lake Kegonsa. Water clarity: 3.2 ft vs 3.7 ft. For fishing diversity, Lake Waubesa also leads with 7 species.
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Where to stay near Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.