Minnetonka Lake vs Sarah Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Minnetonka Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Sarah Lake. Both are in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Both Minnetonka Lake and Sarah 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. Minnetonka Lake reads materially cleaner than Sarah 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: Minnetonka 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?
Minnetonka Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 10 ft.
Sarah Lake
Very murky, less than 3.1 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Minnetonka Lake | Sarah Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 10 ft Better | 3.1 ft |
| Phosphorus | 28 µg/L Better | 106.1 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 10.1 µg/L Better | 34.3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 113 ft Better | 59 ft |
| Surface Area | 14,206 acres | 557 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 18 Better | 13 |
| 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
Minnetonka Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Sarah Lake. Water clarity: 10 ft vs 3.1 ft. For fishing diversity, Minnetonka Lake also leads with 18 species.
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Where to stay near Minnetonka Lake and Sarah Lake
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.