July 23, 2022 Lake Levels

 This email is being sent to all home and cabin owners on Upper Pine Lake as strictly informational so that people are aware of the current lake level issues both on Upper Pine and Little Pine lakes.  Below, please see a copy of an email that I, as current Upper Pine Lake Association President, received from Jim Mostek.  As most of you know, Jim has the responsibility of recording and reporting daily lake level measurements for Upper Pine to the DNR. Mike Welna, referred to in the email, is a resident of Little Pine, who has been working cooperatively with Jim and I on trying to find solutions to water level issues on both lakes.

From Jim:

As you may recall, the lake level was at a very high level on May 15th … about 8” over the OHWL.

Then, the lake dropped about .03’ (or 1/3”) per day for about a month and the lake was a foot lower or 4” below the OHWL.

The specific dates are May 15th at 2.12 on the gauge and June 21st at 1.12.

At 1’ per month, the lake would now be about 0.12 without the work we did on June 25th.

On June 25th, a committee of lake association members filled some of the holes in the dam under the water level.

The dam sustained significant damage during the flooding in mid May and during the winter.

If it rains a bunch, the water can go through existing places over and through the dam where no modifications were done.

In addition, all of the holes were not filled.

Monitoring the water level over the last month, the lake is static at about 1.10.

Sometimes a bit lower and sometimes a bit higher depending on rain.

I thought we would open a swale way to allow more flow around the 4th of July.

But, the more I thought about it, maybe we should wait until later… just in case we go into another drought?

The rain has been sparse since the heavy rains in May.

The current lake level is 1100.31 which is about 4” below the OHW mark of 1100.7.

By comparison, last fall we created the swale way when the level was at 1100.92 or about 2.5” above the OHW.

We fought with the beavers but did get the level to come down in October but always stayed above the OHW.

This is where the lake froze — 1100.78 or 2.38 on the gauge,

In the spring, the first measurement was  3.15 on the gauge! The ice season had pushed the gauge down .61’ or 7+ inches!

Here are the measurements for early May, before and after DNR fixed things:

4-16-22           3.15  -- first measurement before ice out

4-18-22           3.10  -- 

4-27-22           (unreadable ... over the top of 3.30)

(lots of rain before our return on 5/01 ... reports of over an inch.

5-02-22           3.32

5-03-22           3.28 

5-05-22           3.26 

(after guage fixed)

5-05-22           1.82

5-08-22           1.76

5-09-22           1.86 (heavy rain shower)

Note that the lake level was adjusted by DNR to be 1.4’ higher but is is higher than last year.

The ice pushed it down .61’ but DNR raised it an additional .83’.

Now the level reading is just above 1.0 on the gauge.

I reported to Mike Welna from Little Pine that the work was done on June 25th and he reported that the lake level was normal on June 28th. On July 2nd, he reported that the lake level there had dropped a bunch. I told him we would be opening a swale way soon. He was hoping we would send more water and we didn’t.

I had several text message and e-mail exchanges with Mike.

I think their lake residents are upset with the low level.

They are trying to set-up a meeting … with DNR to talk about waterway flow.

I hope the outflow from Little Pine is restricted to slow it down.

Not sure when to increase the outflow at the dam on Upper Pine. How do we decide?

Mike thought there was no flow under county 36. I took a kayak from the dam to county 36 (went underneath hwy 18 in the culvert).

There is some flow. The culverts under 36 are 1/2 full and I could see things moving along with the water. I checked the culverts by bass lake and there is flow there, not dry like last year. I also checked the culvert on 382nd ave just west of Kanabec county 20. There is some flow there, too.

Not sure when to put a swale way in but we should have one where the bottom is about 2” below the current level … at least that’s my suggestion. The lake level is currently static; that is because the outflow, evaporation, and plant consumption is about equal to the inflow from the south and any other culverts and rain in the last month or so.

If we put in a swale way, the lake will take a few days or weeks (depending on rain) to reach the level 6” below the OHW.

But, it could rain a ton or like normal and the situation wouldn’t be this way.

Waiting for more communication from Mike Welna and DNR or … on what to do next … when to put in the swale way.

This should probably be communicated to the rest of the lake association.

I think,

Jim

From Richard Campbell ribr.camp@icloud.com