8.4.1  Pelican River at the Highway 20 Culvert

The Pelican River is the highest contributor of phosphorus to the Pelican Group of Lakes ( see graphs ). Little Pelican Lake acts as somewhat of a buffer to Big Pelican Lake. The Hwy 20 culvert is a site on the Pelican River between Lake Melissa upstream and Little Pelican Lake downstream. Water samples are taken at this location to see what is directly entering Little Pelican Lake.

Calculator The HWY20 culvert is a very large circular culvert. Approximately half of the culvert is filled with a hard packed gravel bottom. view calculator Total Phosphorous TP concentrations range from 0.01 to 0.05 mg/L, about half of other average rivers in the ecoregion. Loading ranges between 0 and 30 lbs per day. view graphs Chlorophyll A Chlorophyll-a is measured at the Hwy 20 culvert to get an idea of what is flowing into Little Pelican Lake from the Pelican River. ChlA concentrations usually range from 1 to 9 ug/L, which is below what would be considered a minor algae bloom. Loading ranges from 0 to 5.5 lbs per day. view graphs

Fecal Coliform

Fecal Coliform Bacteria concentration levels have typically remained in the safe, below 200 FC/100ml level. Due to the relatively low levels, this test was dropped from analyses in 2007. view graphs

Total Suspended Solids

TSS concentrations range from 0.5 to 8 mg/L. Loading ranges from 0 to 3000 lbs per day. view graphs

Flow

The Pelican River at HWY20 flow ranges from 0 to 200 cfs of water. view graphs

back to main Pelican River page