Minn. water resources make quick rebound from drought

The Department of Natural Resources says Minnesota's lakes, streams and underground water supplies are recovering rapidly from last year's drought.

During that dry spell some rivers and lakes fell to historically low levels. Heavy rains have brought a widespread recovery, said DNR climatologist Greg Spoden.

"Stream flows across Minnesota are either at or above historical medians, in some cases well above," Spoden said. "Other measures would be lake levels, which are rebounding nicely after being very low in the aftermath of the dry 2012. And also groundwater levels are on the rebound; they're starting to come up again."

While most of the state's aquifers show strong recovery, in parts of Minnesota, especially the southwest, underground levels are still well below normal.

The DNR's latest hydrologic report says nearly all of the Minnesota's lakes are at or above normal levels. Even White Bear Lake in the eastern Twin Cities continued to rise from its lowest reported lake level since 1924, with a gain of 1.2 feet since November.

The latest U.S. drought monitor shows just how rapidly things have changed. At the start of April all of Minnesota was too dry; now less than a third of the state is in that category.

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