Ml-Ditch 36 Lake vs Ml-Seventeen Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Ml-Ditch 36 Lake and Ml-Seventeen Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of C (Fair). Both are in Aitkin County, Minnesota.
Both Ml-Ditch 36 Lake and Ml-Seventeen Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any grade differences here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies grading them. These two are within a letter of each other on the rubric — Ml-Ditch 36 Lake (C) versus Ml-Seventeen Lake (C). The deciding factors for a recreational visitor are likely physical (depth, access, fish species) rather than water-quality differences.
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.
Ml-Ditch 36 Lake
Murky, only visible to about 5.7 ft.
Ml-Seventeen Lake
Murky, only visible to about 6.2 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Ml-Ditch 36 Lake | Ml-Seventeen Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | C (Fair) |
| Water Clarity | 5.7 ft | 6.2 ft |
| Phosphorus | 23.5 µg/L | 24.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 5.2 µg/L | 5.3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 42 ft | 42 ft |
| Surface Area | 128.3K acres | 128.3K acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | mesotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade C. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Ml-Ditch 36 Lake: 5.7 ft, Ml-Seventeen Lake: 6.2 ft) and what you want from the lake. Ml-Ditch 36 Lake matches its peer on species count.