Star Lake vs Unnamed Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Star Lake and Unnamed Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Meeker County, Minnesota.
Star Lake and Unnamed 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 grades are close: Star Lake (F) and Unnamed Lake (F) 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.
Star Lake
Very murky, less than 1 ft of visibility.
Unnamed Lake
Very murky, less than 0.7 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Star Lake | Unnamed Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 1 ft | 0.7 ft |
| Phosphorus | 63.5 µg/L | 224 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 34.7 µg/L | 85.4 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 15 ft | 15 ft |
| Surface Area | 553 acres | 553 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 10 | 10 |
| Trophic State | eutrophic | hypereutrophic |
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 (Star Lake: 1 ft, Unnamed Lake: 0.7 ft) and what you want from the lake. Star Lake matches its peer on species count.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.