Oak Lake Attributes

Oak Lake is a prairie pothole formed approximately 14,000 years ago following recession of glacial ice sheets.  Major attributes of the Oak Lake landscape, drainage basin and lake basin are listed in the tables below.  Lake monitoring is conducted by field station staff biweekly during the ice-free months (April to October).  Monitoring data for the lake basin are available upon request from the Field Station Director.

Major Attributes

 

EPA Ecoregion

Northern Glaciated Plains

Major Drainage

Mississippi River

Minor Drainage

Minnesota River

Drainage Area

1,682 ha (4156 acres)

Drainage Count

99

Drainage Density

1.9 streams km per km2

Basin Area

163 ha (402 acres)

Basin Perimeter

9.8 km (6.1 mi)

Basin Volume

1.8 x 106 m3(6.4x107ft3)

Average Depth

1.1 m(3.7 ft)

Maximum Depth

2.0 m(6.6 ft)

Basin Length

3,081 m(1.9 mi)

Basin Width

988 m(0.6 mi)

Shoreline Development

2.17

% Basin < 1.5 m Deep

73%

Average Growing Season Water Quality Characteristics (1994-2001)

 

Attribute

Summer Averages

Summer Ranges

Trophic Status

Hypereutrophic

--

Carlson Trophic State Index

75

52 - 142

Secchi Depth

35 cm

5 - 180

Water Temperature

17.4oC

2.5 - 30.0

Dissolved Oxygen

10.0 mg/L

2.8 - 15.0

pH

8.6

7.4 - 9.4

Specific Conductance

464 uS/cm

207 - 778

Total Dissolved Solids

302 mg/L

135 - 505

Fecal Coliform Levels

< 10 MPN/100ml

<10 - 180

Downloadable Files Related to Our Monitoring Effort

Access to Oak Lake Monitoring Data (Excel Spreadsheet Format)

Download Fecal Coliform Monitoring Data (Excel Spreadsheet Format)

Bathymetric Map of Oak Lake

Return to Oak Lake Homepage

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