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Andrusia Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Drewery Lake. Both are in Beltrami County, Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

Both Andrusia Lake and Drewery Lake sit in Minnesota. A same-state comparison strips out the state-level water-quality regime as a variable: any differences in the readings here are about the lakes themselves, not the agencies sampling them. Andrusia Lake reads materially cleaner than Drewery Lake on nutrients and algae. A gap that wide is unlikely to close in a single year of remediation work; it reflects multi-decade differences in the lakes themselves.

For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Andrusia Lake has the lower nutrient and algae numbers. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?

Andrusia Lake

Beltrami County, Minnesota

Crystal clear, you can see 15.1 ft down.

Drewery Lake

Beltrami County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricAndrusia LakeDrewery Lake
Water Clarity15.1 ft Better3.5 ft
Phosphorus14.5 µg/L11.5 µg/L Better
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)3.6 µg/L2.7 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth60 ft120 ft Better
Surface Area1,596 acres15,958 acres
Public AccessYesYes
Fish Species2121
Trophic Statemesotrophicmesotrophic

A green ✓ marks the better value for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better). Surface area and trophic state carry no tick — a bigger lake is not a better lake.

Verdict

Andrusia Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Drewery Lake. Water clarity: 15.1 ft vs 3.5 ft. For fishing diversity, Andrusia Lake also leads with 21 species.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.