Tetonka Lake vs Upper Sakatah Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Tetonka Lake and Upper Sakatah Lake both received the same overall water quality grade of F (Very Poor). Both are in Le Sueur County, Minnesota.
Both Tetonka Lake and Upper Sakatah 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 — Tetonka Lake (F) versus Upper Sakatah 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.
Tetonka Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Upper Sakatah Lake
Very murky, less than 3 ft of visibility.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Tetonka Lake | Upper Sakatah Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | F (Very Poor) | F (Very Poor) |
| Water Clarity | 3 ft | 3 ft |
| Phosphorus | 363 µg/L | 406 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | No data | No data |
| Maximum Depth | 35 ft | 12 ft |
| Surface Area | 1.4K acres | 892.01 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 1 | 1 |
| Trophic State | hypereutrophic | 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 (Tetonka Lake: 3 ft, Upper Sakatah Lake: 3 ft) and what you want from the lake. Tetonka Lake matches its peer on species count.