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LakeQuality

Rove Lake vs Watap Lake

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

Rove Lake and Watap Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of C (Fair). Both are in Cook County, Minnesota.

Both Rove Lake and Watap 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 — Rove Lake (C) versus Watap 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.

C

Rove Lake

Cook County, Minnesota

Moderate clarity, visible to about 9 ft.

C

Watap Lake

Cook County, Minnesota

Moderate clarity, visible to about 9 ft.

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.

MetricRove LakeWatap Lake
Overall GradeC (Fair)C (Fair)
Water Clarity9 ft9 ft
PhosphorusNo dataNo data
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)No dataNo data
Maximum Depth130 ft210 ft
Surface Area1.3K acres2.0K acres
Public AccessYesNo
Fish Species11
Trophic Statemesotrophicmesotrophic

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 (Rove Lake: 9 ft, Watap Lake: 9 ft) and what you want from the lake. Rove Lake matches its peer on species count.