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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers resumes lakes drawdown study
Outdoors Editor After a one-year delay, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has resumed a study that could lead to new operating plans for Gull Lake and the Whitefish chain of lakes.
The corps might revise the timing of its fall drawdowns, the levels at which the lakes are maintained, minimum release flows and more. The study, known as the Headwaters Reservoir Operating Plan Evaluation, began last summer and was suspended earlier this year because of budget shortfalls.
The existing operating plans for the corps' six Minnesota reservoirs - Gull, Cross (Whitefish chain), Big Sandy, Pokegema, Leech and Winnibigoshish - were developed more than 40 years ago. The corps says it wants to revise the plans to better balance the reservoirs' traditional uses with the needs of fish, waterfowl and wild rice.
Fish and wild rice, for example, both thrive when water levels fluctuate. But most reservoirs are held at consistent levels, which doesn't mimic what happens in nature, in which water levels always fluctuate.
The current operating plan for Gull Lake calls for a summer water level of 1,194 feet above sea level, a winter drawdown of 1.25 feet and a minimum release flow of 20 cubic feet per second. On Cross Lake the current summer water level is 1,229 feet, the winter drawdown is 2 feet and the minimum release flow is 30 cubic feet per second.
The new draft plans, presented at public meetings a year ago, called for drawdowns that would begin on Aug. 1, an increase in the minimum release flow and the elimination of winter flows. On Gull Lake this would have resulted in a water level 1.2 inches higher than what it currently is in June and July, but 1.2 inches lower than what it currently is in August and September. On the Whitefish chain the water level would have been 2.4 inches higher than what it currently is in June and July, but 1.2 inches lower than what it currently is in August and September.
This plan resulted in a "considerable amount of negative feedback" from lakeshore property owners, according to the corps.
"They said if we dropped it too fast and too early they would have trouble using boat ramps and getting their boats off lifts," said John O'Leary, Corps of Engineers headwaters manager in Grand Rapids. "So we moved the drawdown to September."
Under the revised plan, the water level on Gull Lake would be 3 inches higher than what it currently is in June and July, 1.8 inches higher in August and 0.6 inch higher in September. On the Whitefish chain the water level in June and July would be the same as it currently is, but 0.5 inch lower in August and 1.2 inches lower in September.
The revised plans will continue to be studied and perhaps further modified, the corps said. Public meetings to discuss the plans will take place this fall, O'Leary said. For more information on the study go to www.mvp.usace.army.mil/rope/.
VINCE MEYER may be reached at vince.meyer@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5862.
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