Prairie Pothole (lake)

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Prairie Pothole is a small, year‑round freshwater lake in Stutsman County, North Dakota. The land around it is managed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is part of the Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge watershed. The lake covers about 1.4 square kilometers (0.54 square miles) and sits at roughly 579 meters (1,900 feet) above sea level. It has no outlet, so water leaves mainly by evaporation or seepage. The lake fills from rain and spring/summer snowmelt and sits in glacial soils of mud, clay, and silt, with mollisol soils around the shore. Reeds and cattails grow along the edge, and the water is fairly murky.

Monitoring began in 2014. The site includes two weather stations, one on a buoy in the lake. Scientists study the lake by electrofishing to survey fish, and by sampling zooplankton and macroinvertebrates, as well as testing the water chemistry. Prairie Pothole helps represent the broader Prairie Pothole Region.