Smithville Lake by Dam vs Smithville Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Smithville Lake by Dam and Smithville Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of D (Poor). Both are in Clay County, Wisconsin.
Smithville Lake by Dam and Smithville Lake are both in Missouri — 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 grades are close: Smithville Lake by Dam (D) and Smithville Lake (D) are within one letter of each other on the LakeGrade rubric. The per-parameter sub-grades below will show where the small differences actually live.
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.
Smithville Lake by Dam
Very murky, less than 3.3 ft of visibility.
Smithville Lake
Very murky, less than 2.6 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Smithville Lake by Dam | Smithville Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | D (Poor) | D (Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 3.3 ft | 2.6 ft |
| Phosphorus | 37 µg/L | 34 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 25.3 µg/L | 27.6 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | - | - |
| Surface Area | 7.2K acres | 7.2K acres |
| Public Access | Unknown | Unknown |
| Fish Species | 0 | 0 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | eutrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Both lakes earn the same Grade D. The tiebreakers come down to clarity (Smithville Lake by Dam: 3.3 ft, Smithville Lake: 2.6 ft) and what you want from the lake. Smithville Lake by Dam matches its peer on species count.