County hears multi-decade update on Pelican Lake management plan; officials monitor long-term outlet level

Wright County commissioners on March 4 heard an overview of the Pelican Lake management plan, a decades-long effort to restore and protect a shallow, 3,800-acre lake that managers say supports migratory birds and sensitive shoreline habitat.

Peter Borrash, presenting for the lake management team, told the board Pelican Lake is a large, shallow lake (under 15 feet deep) whose water level rose more than six feet between the 1970s and early 2000s due to drainage changes and lack of an outlet. That rise expanded open water and altered habitat, prompting decades of study, targeted land acquisitions and a drawdown project intended to return the lake closer to its historic shallow-lake condition.

Borrash outlined that, beginning in about 2012–2014, the project used temporary pumping and later a gravity outlet to lower the lake. Pumping ceased in 2021; managers said the most recent low point was recorded in 2023 because of a multi-year drought. Current monitoring shows the deepest point is just over 10 feet, compared with about 8.5 feet at the previous low point following drawdown surveys.

County purchases and federal and state holdings now protect roughly 2,000 acres around the lake and between one-half and two-thirds of the shoreline, according to the presentation. The management approach is to maintain a long-term outlet level by gravity; Borrash emphasized that any future drawdown beyond the managed level would require a formal permitting process and environmental review because it would constitute a change to historic water levels.

Commissioners and other officials who had participated in earlier phases of the project thanked the presenters and noted the effort’s contentious history and long timeline. Commissioners said local residents are beginning to see the lake at its long-term managed level and appreciate the work.

Why it matters: Pelican Lake is ecologically significant as a shallow-lake system for migratory birds and waterfowl. The project combined engineering, land acquisition and regulatory coordination. The gravity outlet aims to maintain managed levels without continuous pumping but requires monitoring and permits for any additional drawdown.

What’s next: Staff said monitoring will continue and triggers in the lake management plan could prompt reevaluation of a drawdown; any proposal to lower water levels beyond the managed target would need a permit and environmental review per state rules.