Lake Level

Paul Myers, Lake Level Committee Chair

Greetings Turtle Lake Association members.

Even though I'm not writing this recap from the shores of Turtle Lake, I'm told that the ice is gradually starting to take hold at last. It was a very challenging year in our efforts to keep the lake level within the desired range of 1351.0 and 1351.8 due to a very active beaver population and record rainfall amounts. On the positive side, the dam was not tampered with in 2019 except by the lake association.

We began our efforts in early May, right after the 2019 ice out by dismantling the beaver dams that were constructed over the winter months. Due to the beaver activity and ample snow over the watershed, our first lake level reading was 1352.52. By the end of May, we managed to drop the lake level to 1352.0 which is still well out of the range. Through active management, we continued to keep the dams open and the lake level dropping to 1351.5 in early July.

As July transitioned into August, we had our first real dry spell and the lake level dropped to 1351.4. Since this reading was in the desired middle of the range, we decided to leave dam number 1 intact but trimmed at the top so some water would keep running out of the lake but leave us some options if the dry spell continued.

As the summer continued, Mother Nature did not cooperate with us. After the brief midsummer dry spell, the rain began to fall again and as I write this update, the state of Minnesota, Itasca county included, is in the midst of the wettest year on record! Through the late summer and fall, we actively removed the beaver dams, but the lake level continued to rise due to the excessive rain. Our last reading in early November was 1351.7, which is in the high end of the range. Let's hope we have a shift in the weather pattern!

I want to say thank you to all the 2019 "Dam Buster" volunteers, including Jim Brauner, Dale Hill, Tim Goserud, Alyce Appleby and Steve Long. Enjoy the Winter!