Maple Lake vs Reno Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Maple Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Reno Lake. Both are in Minnesota.
Both Maple Lake and Reno 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. Maple Lake reads materially cleaner than Reno 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: Maple 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?
Maple Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.1 ft.
Reno Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Maple Lake | Reno Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 14.1 ft Better | 7.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 15 µg/L Better | 33.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.1 µg/L Better | 9.6 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 78 ft Better | 23 ft |
| Surface Area | 831 acres | 3,809 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 17 | 18 Better |
| 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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Compare Maple Lake or Reno Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Maple Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Reno Lake. Water clarity: 14.1 ft vs 7.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Reno Lake edges ahead with 18 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.