Drewery Lake vs Midge Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Midge Lake has a higher water quality grade (A, Excellent) than Drewery Lake (C, Fair). Both are in Minnesota.
Drewery Lake and Midge 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 meaningfully apart: Midge Lake grades a A while Drewery Lake grades a C. That two-letter spread reflects real underlying differences — different watershed inputs, different depth profiles, or different monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider grade gap is decisive — Midge Lake is the better water-quality choice. For a researcher, the gap is the interesting part: what is different about the two watersheds, and which of those differences is mutable?
Drewery Lake
Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.
Midge Lake
Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.
Side-by-Side Metrics
| Metric | Drewery Lake | Midge Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | C (Fair) | A (Excellent) |
| Water Clarity | 3.5 ft | 18 ft |
| Phosphorus | 11.5 µg/L | 16 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.7 µg/L | 2.5 µg/L |
| Maximum Depth | 120 ft | 24 ft |
| Surface Area | 15,958 acres | 546 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 21 | 11 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
Bold value = better for that metric (lower phosphorus / chlorophyll = cleaner; higher Secchi / depth / species count = better).
Verdict
Midge Lake wins on overall water quality with a Grade A versus Drewery Lake's Grade C. Water clarity: 18 ft vs 3.5 ft. For more fish-species variety, Drewery Lake edges ahead with 21 documented species.
Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.