Minnie-Belle Lake vs Washington Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Minnie-Belle Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Washington Lake. Both are in Meeker County, Minnesota.
Both Minnie-Belle Lake and Washington 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: Minnie-Belle Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Washington 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: Minnie-Belle 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?
Minnie-Belle Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 14.4 ft.
Washington Lake
Murky, only visible to about 4.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Minnie-Belle Lake | Washington Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 14.4 ft Better | 4.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 14 µg/L Better | 32.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 3.8 µg/L Better | 11.6 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 49 ft Better | 17 ft |
| Surface Area | 597 acres | 2,438 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 14 | 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.
Swap a lake
Compare Minnie-Belle Lake or Washington Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Minnie-Belle Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Washington Lake. Water clarity: 14.4 ft vs 4.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Washington Lake edges ahead with 18 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.