Pelican Lake
Cherry County, NebraskaView mapDirections
Nebraska DEE publishes the water-quality measurements for Pelican Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Hypereutrophic
- Impaired · pH / acidity
- 10 ft max depth
- Public access
Pelican Lake in Cherry County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 210 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 88.9 µg/L.
Pelican Lake is a highly nutrient-loaded hypereutrophic lake in Cherry County, Nebraska with an estimated average depth of about 10 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. Limited fish-species data available. Public access is available with 2 public boat landings. Compared to the 4 other monitored lakes in Cherry County, Pelican Lake ranks #3 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, NDEE, last sampled 2024-09-24. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Pelican Lake has 2 public boat landings, so a lakefront rental is not the only way to get a boat on the water. Vrbo is where to look for cabins and lake homes around Pelican Lake, and Booking.com and Expedia search hotels near the lake for your dates.
What Pelican Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Boat launch2 documented ramps
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyAlgae risk
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pelican Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Pelican Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Pelican Lake
These are the measurements Nebraska DEE publishes for Pelican Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Very murky, less than 1.2 ft of visibility. Phosphorus 210 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 88.9 µg/L. TSI 77.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 1.2ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 210µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 88.9µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 77 | Hypereutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Very high nutrients, dense algae, poor clarity
Ask about Pelican Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
~10 ft est.
Public access
Yes
Listed by Nebraska DEE
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Nebraska has not published bathymetry for Pelican Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
4 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
783 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
8 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
2,936 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
Recreation & Access
- PelicanPublic
- PelicanPublic
Named access points in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory, within about 3 miles. More lakes with boat ramps
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Pelican Lake
Compare lakeside cabins, hotels, and vacation rentals near Pelican Lake in Cherry County, Nebraska — live availability and prices for your trip. Switch the map to Satellite to see the lake and how close each stay is to the water.
Top-rated places to stay near Pelican Lake
Prices for Oct 30–Nov 1, 4 adults. Change dates on the map below.
Availability and prices from Stay22 partners (Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia). We may earn a commission from bookings, at no extra cost to you.
Planning a trip? Cabins and lodging at Pelican Lake → · more Nebraska lake trips
Follow Pelican Lake’s readings
Email me when new measurements post for this lake. Updates stay free.
Or email
Fishing Pelican Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2014–2024).
Water clarity
Worsening7 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+18.43 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Worsening+26.18 µg/L/yr6 years
EPA Impairment Status
Pelican Lake is officially listed as impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) in the 2022 EPA reporting cycle (IR category 5).
Causes of impairment
Designated uses not supporting: Aquatic life.
Source: EPA ATTAINS assessment unit NE-NI3-L0270 · Official waterbody report
Nearby Lakes in Cherry County
Frequently asked questions about Pelican Lake
Where is Pelican Lake?
- Pelican Lake is a lake in Cherry County, Nebraska. Its water-quality measurements are published by Nebraska DEE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Pelican Lake?
- Pelican Lake in Cherry County, Nebraska has water-quality measurements published by Nebraska DEE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 1.2 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 210 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 88.9 µg/L.
Is Pelican Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Pelican Lake is listed impaired under Clean Water Act §303(d) (IR 5) for pH / acidity. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Pelican Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Pelican Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 10 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Are there boat ramps on Pelican Lake?
- Pelican Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Named access points include Pelican, Pelican. Public access is listed as yes.
Can I fish at Pelican Lake?
- Pelican Lake has 2 documented boat landings in the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory. Seasons, size and bag limits, and whether you need a license are set by Nebraska's fish and wildlife agency, so check its current regulations before you go.
Explore Pelican Lake across LakeQuality
More lakes in Nebraska
Other Lakes in Nebraska
Hypereutrophic Lakes in Nebraska
Where this data comes from
75 measurements from 2 monitoring stations, 2014–2024. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy
21NEB001_WQX75 samples · 2014–2024
Analytical methods
- Total Phosphorus After Block Digestion
- 447.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll a and b in phytoplankton by HPLC/UV
Monitoring station identifiers (2)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Impairment status from EPA ATTAINS 303(d) database
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)
Named boat-access points from the USGS National Boat Ramps inventory