Little Birch Lake vs Maple Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Little Birch Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Maple Lake. Both are in Todd County, Minnesota.
Both Little Birch Lake and Maple 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. The readings are meaningfully apart: Little Birch Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Maple Lake. 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: Little Birch 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?
Little Birch Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 13 ft.
Maple Lake
Murky, only visible to about 6 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Little Birch Lake | Maple Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 13 ft Better | 6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 19 µg/L Better | 51 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.1 µg/L Better | 28 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 89 ft Better | 23 ft |
| Surface Area | 839 acres | 388 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 20 Better | 14 |
| 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
Little Birch Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Maple Lake. Water clarity: 13 ft vs 6 ft. For fishing diversity, Little Birch Lake also leads with 20 species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.