Lake Sugema vs Memphis Lake No.1
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Lake Sugema and Memphis Lake No.1 both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor).
This comparison crosses state lines: Lake Sugema in Iowa versus Memphis Lake No.1 in Missouri. The LakeGrade rubric is uniform across both, but the underlying monitoring programs differ in subtle ways worth noting. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Lake Sugema (F) versus Memphis Lake No.1 (F). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
With grades 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.
Lake Sugema
Very murky, less than 2.3 ft of visibility.
Memphis Lake No.1
No clarity data.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Lake Sugema | Memphis Lake No.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 2.3 ft | No data |
| Phosphorus | No data | 106.7 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 32.5 µg/L | 48.9 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 574 acres | 41 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to what you want from the lake. Lake Sugema matches its peer on species count.