Loch Ayr Lake vs Thayer Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Loch Ayr Lake and Thayer Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Wisconsin.
Loch Ayr Lake and Thayer Lake are both in Iowa — 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. The grades are close: Loch Ayr Lake (D) and Thayer Lake (D) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
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.
Loch Ayr Lake
Very murky, less than 2 ft of visibility.
Thayer Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Loch Ayr Lake | Thayer Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 2 ft | 3.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | No data | No data |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 29.7 µg/L | 34.3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 78 acres | 14.1 acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Loch Ayr Lake: 2 ft, Thayer Lake: 3.5 ft) and what you want from the lake. Loch Ayr Lake matches its peer on species count.