High Water Prompts Restrictions Lake Minnetonka

Editor's note: the following is a statement released on Thursday by the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District addressing water levels on Lake Minnetonka. Accompanying graphic was generated by the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District and is being used here with permission.

The Lake Minnetonka Conservation District (LMCD) has issued a high water declaration on Lake Minnetonka. Such declarations are made when lake elevation is at or above 930.0 feet for a period of eight consecutive days or has reached or exceeded 930.25 feet.

The Lake Minnetonka Conservation District has determined the operation of watercraft at normal speeds during these periods of high water has serious adverse effects on the shoreline and existing structures and that the restriction of watercraft wakes is essential to the conservation and overall quality of Lake Minnetonka.

It is unlawful during a high water declaration for a person to operate a watercraft in regulated areas of Lake Minnetonka at a speed of more than five miles per hour or a speed that results in more than a minimum wake.

Regulated areas are defined as the surface area of the Lake within a distance of 600 feet of the entire shoreline, as well as all of the surface area of the following bays: Big Island Passage, Black Lake, Carsons Bay, Coffee Cove, Emerald Lake, Excelsior Bay, Forest Lake, Grays Bay, Jennings Bay, Libbs Lake, Priests Bay, Robinsons Bay, St. Albans Bay, St. Louis Bay, Seton Lake, Stubbs Bay and Tanager Lake (see attached map).

Minimum wake is defined as the wake moving out from a watercraft and trailing behind in a widening “V” is of insufficient size to affect other watercraft or to be detrimental to the shoreline. The LMCD is in the process of posting signage at most public accesses, providing for a drop box containing an educational pamphlet that outlines the regulated areas.

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) is charged with controlling Lake Minnetonka’s water elevation via operation of the Grays Bay Dam.

Since last year, the MCWD took the following proactive steps to address anticipated flooding this spring, with a goal to release as much water as possible from Lake Minnetonka without causing serious problems downstream:

• kept the Gray’s Bay Dam open longer than usual to increase Lake Minnetonka’s capacity for the spring melt
• implemented use of computer models (since February) for the purpose of projecting potential flooding
• opened the dam one month earlier than usual to alleviate Lake Minnetonka’s high water levels
• actively managed the discharge rate based on anticipated precipitation and Minnehaha Creek’s capacity.

 Local residents looking for further information on the “High Water Declaration” are invited to contact the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District’s office at (952) 745-0789 or view LMCD Code Section 3.021 on the website at www.lmcd.org, under Rules and Regulations.

Additionally, for information on water levels, contact MCWD Communications Manager Telly Mamayek at (952) 641-4508 or tmamayek@minnehahacreek.org.