Skip to main content
LakeQuality

Rice Lake vs Rice Lake

Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.

Rice Lake and Rice Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Hennepin County, Minnesota.

Both Rice Lake and Rice 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 — Rice Lake (F) versus Rice Lake (F). 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.

F

Rice Lake

Hennepin County, Minnesota

Very murky, less than 2 ft of visibility.

F

Rice Lake

Hennepin County, Minnesota

Very murky, less than 2.3 ft of visibility.

Side-by-Side Metrics

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.

MetricRice LakeRice Lake
Overall GradeF (Very Poor)F (Very Poor)
Water Clarity2 ft2.3 ft
Phosphorus348.4 µg/LNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth--
Surface Area314 acres314 acres
Public AccessUnknownUnknown
Fish Species11
Trophic Statehypereutrophiceutrophic

Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).

Verdict

Both lakes earn the same Grade F. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Rice Lake: 2 ft, Rice Lake: 2.3 ft) and what you want from the lake. Rice Lake matches its peer on species count.