Lake Assessment Program 1997 - Pelican Lake, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Pelican Lake is located in Otter Tail County, 1 mile south of Cormorant, Minnesota. With a surface area of about 3,925 acres, it is among the top five percent of lakes in the state in terms of size. Pelican Lake has a maximum depth of 55 feet and a mean depth of 24 feet. The total watershed is approximately 38 square miles (24,279 acres). Land use in the watershed is characterized primarily by cultivated (40 percent) and forested (30 percent) uses. These values are very comparable to other lake watersheds in this region of the state - North Central Hardwood Forests ecoregion. Pelican Lake was sampled during the summer of 1997 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) staff and citizens from the Pelican Lake Association (Association). Water quality data collected during the study reveal summer-mean total phosphorus (TP) concentration of 14.6 ?g/L, chlorophyll-a of 5 ?g/L and Secchi transparency of 9.8 feet. All three measures are well within or better than the range of values exhibited by reference lakes in the NCHF ecoregion. Total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a and Secchi transparency help to characterize the trophic status of a lake. These measures indicate mesotrophic – conditions for Pelican Lake.