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Drewery Lake reads lower on nutrients and algae than Midge Lake. Both are in Minnesota.

Reviewed by LakeQuality Editorial Team · Updated

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

Beltrami County, Minnesota

Murky, only visible to about 3.5 ft.

Midge Lake

Hubbard County, Minnesota

Crystal clear, you can see 18 ft down.

Side-by-Side Metrics

MetricDrewery LakeMidge Lake
Water Clarity3.5 ft18 ft Better
Phosphorus11.5 µg/L Better16 µg/L
Chlorophyll-a (Algae)2.7 µg/L2.5 µg/L Better
Maximum Depth120 ft Better24 ft
Surface Area15,958 acres546 acres
Public AccessYesYes
Fish Species21 Better11
Trophic Statemesotrophicoligotrophic

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

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.

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Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.