Otter Tail Lake vs Walker Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Otter Tail Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Walker Lake. Both are in Otter Tail County, Minnesota.
Both Otter Tail Lake and Walker 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. Otter Tail Lake reads materially cleaner than Walker 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: Otter Tail 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?
Otter Tail Lake
Good clarity, visible to about 12.1 ft.
Walker Lake
Moderate clarity, visible to about 7.5 ft.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Otter Tail Lake | Walker Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 12.1 ft Better | 7.5 ft |
| Phosphorus | 16 µg/L Better | 26.5 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 5.5 µg/L Better | 8.3 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 120 ft Better | 29 ft |
| Surface Area | 14,079 acres | 578 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 17 Better | 0 |
| 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 Otter Tail Lake or Walker Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Otter Tail Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Walker Lake. Water clarity: 12.1 ft vs 7.5 ft. For fishing diversity, Otter Tail Lake also leads with 17 species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.