With the annual
Pine-Cedar Lakes Association membership drive, there was a note asking if there
were questions on lake water levels. The following are questions
received and response from Mark Anderson (DNR hydrologist):
According to Mark
Anderson on September 27, 2019:
The average recorded water level is as it sounds, an average of all
recorded water level data. The DNR started recording water levels for
Pine Lake in 1994 and Cedar Lake in 1998.
Cedar Lake
Ordinary High Water
(OHW) – 1209.33’
Current (9/27/19) water
level – 1209.78’ (The basin is currently above the OHW by 5.4”)
Average recorded water
levels – 1209.28’
Highest recorded water
level – 1210.18’ (08/17/1999)
Pine Lake
Ordinary High Water
(OHW) – 1245.10’
Current (9/27/19) water
level – 1245.33’ (The basin is currently above the OHW by 2.76”)
Average recorded water
levels – 1244.21’
Highest recorded water
level – 1245.41’ (05/26/2019)
General water level
questions:
1. Thank you for the data you reported last
September. What are the current levels for Pine and Cedar? I measured Pine Lake on 07/02/2020 and it
was at 1245.04. I have not measured Cedar Lake, but will try to get out
there this week to get a reading. The most current reading was 1209.26 on
06/22/2020
2. Are there are OHW for Long Lake? There is no established OHW for Long Lake at this point.
3. Any guidance for lake shore owners concerned
about high water levels and erosion? My first thought is a combination of rip-rap and native shoreland
vegetation. Typically rip-rap does not require a permit from the DNR,
however it would require a permit from Morrison County. I have attached
some shoreline fact sheets.
4. What were some of the lowest recorded water
levels for Pine and Cedar lakes? When was that? For Pine Lake 1242.58 on 08/18/1994 – For Cedar
Lake 1208.26 on 10/01/2012
Here are a few Pine
Lake Questions:
1.
Was the road at entrance to public access ever lower than now and water, when
high, ran over? This may be back in the 50’s to 60’s or
earlier. There is no evidence of
overtopping of the road. I know various individuals have stated there was
an outlet culvert by the public access. If there was a culvert there it
was an “equalization culvert” to connect the two wetland complexes on each
road. Attached is aerial photography going back to the 1930’s and there
is not visual evidence of this area ever acting as an outlet to Pine Lake.
The official OHW survey
for Pine Lake was done in 1986, and they identified the norther route as the
outlet for Pine Lake.
2.
If the water flows north, what is route to get to Swan River? Are
there any blockages (like plugged culverts, beaver dams) on route? Once water flows through Long Lake it travels via
small streams and wetland complexes. From there it can deposit into
County Ditch 13 and County Ditch 8 which deposits to the Swan River.
I do not know about
blockages, my guess would be there are most likely some restrictions given the
marshy nature of the outlet. Perfect for beaver activity.
3.
Before roads were built around the lake on the southwest and southeast side,
what direction did water flow out of Pine Lake? Like in the
1800’s. Unknown. Given the
aerial information I sent there is a lack of any evidence (channel) that water
ever flowed to the southeast. (see aerial link below)
4.
If water does not go down, what are options to manage lake level? There might be an option of temporary pumping of
up to 50 million gallons. However, this is a one-time permit and a long
term solution would be more challenging.
Changing of an outlet is a
time consuming and costly endeavor. So, if there is a desire to
lower the existing culvert, be prepared for a multi-year process and the costs
associated with the permitting process.
A centerline
“equalization” culvert could be re-installed along the township road, with the
Township approval. This culvert would have to be set above the OHW of
Pine Lake.
Here are a couple
Cedar Lake Questions:
1.
How much lower is the
current Culvert in the south east corner of Cedar Lake after the road
reconstruction project than the previous Culvert was? If I recall correctly the culvert was inadvertently
dropped approximately 5”. This was corrected by installing a
weir to match the previous elevation.
2.
Could somebody do soil
and water testing on Cedar Lake to determine how much chloride is in the
water/soil and then we could use that as baseline information when testing in
the future, as they continue to put chloride on the road each year and that
eventually some of it leeches and/or gets sprayed into Cedar Lake? The chloride
water/soil tests would need to specifically be done along the South Shore adjacent
to the road in the soil and along the South Shore in the water, since the
chloride bonds to soil and other particles and stays there for ever and does
not leech away. This
would be a question for MPCA, it might be something the Lake Association would
like to take on. Abaca Road (CR19) runs a distance of approximately
½ mile along the southern boundary of Cedar Lake. This is significantly
less than the basins in the metropolitan area where road infrastructure is
considerably more. I suspect the impact to Cedar Lake to be
negligible.
Questions gathered
from Facebook:
1.
Is there algae on Pine
Lake known to be toxic to humans or pets at this time? Not that I am aware of. I have not heard of
any blue-green algae issues on either of these basins.
The following link are a series of aerial pictures that are referenced in Mark Anderson's comments for the area by the Pine Lake public access.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2BGxFOa2FLnsASt-4oVEQwHa95LVsAb/view?usp=sharing
The following links are articles from Mark Anderson related to shoreline issues.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yw7YskwL8b1JmmuqUn6KZrQbFJYNzPrW/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zo6hxUC_LlOLpe_aYmkEPBEHpuIh0ocL/view?usp=sharing
The following link is a mapping system that can be searched to find the Pine Lake and Cedar Lake areas. It allows you to see elevations. If you scan the map you can look at areas over a large distance.
http://arcgis.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/mntopo/
