Drewery Lake vs Midge Lake
Water quality, depth, fish species, and recreation comparison.
Midge Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Drewery Lake. 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 readings are meaningfully apart: Midge Lake carries clearly lower phosphorus and chlorophyll-a readings than Drewery Lake. A spread that wide reflects real underlying differences, in watershed inputs, depth profiles, or monitoring rigor.
For a recreational visitor, the wider gap in the readings is decisive: Midge 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?
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Water Clarity | 3.5 ft | 18 ft Better |
| Phosphorus | 11.5 µg/L Better | 16 µg/L |
| Chlorophyll-a (Algae) | 2.7 µg/L | 2.5 µg/L Better |
| Maximum Depth | 120 ft Better | 24 ft |
| Surface Area | 15,958 acres | 546 acres |
| Public Access | Yes | Yes |
| Fish Species | 21 Better | 11 |
| Trophic State | mesotrophic | oligotrophic |
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.
Swap a lake
Compare Drewery Lake or Midge Lake against a different lake.
Verdict
Midge Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Drewery Lake. 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.