North Center Lake vs Sunrise Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Sunrise Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than North Center Lake. Both are in Chisago County, Minnesota.
North Center Lake and Sunrise Lake are both in Minnesota — 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 readings are meaningfully apart: Sunrise Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than North Center 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: Sunrise 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?
North Center Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Sunrise Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.4 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | North Center Lake | Sunrise Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 3 ft | 8.4 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 40 µg/L | 9.4 µg/L Better |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 18 µg/L | 2.5 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 46 ft Better | 21 ft |
| Surface Area | 749 acres | 796 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | No |
| Fish Species | 15 Better | 10 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | mesotrophic |
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
Sunrise Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than North Center Lake. Water clarity: 8.4 ft vs 3 ft. For more fish-species variety, North Center Lake edges ahead with 15 documented species.
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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.