Met Council shows cost of addressing White Bear Lake water problems

A new study, commissioned by the Minnesota legislature and conducted by the Metropolitan Council, is giving cities and state lawmakers a better idea of what it would cost to solve water problems in the Twin Cities' northeast suburbs.

Water levels on White Bear Lake were down several feet this summer, and continue to be low. Officials are concerned that the aquifer connected to the lake is being depleted. One solution — which would cost an estimated $155 million — mentioned in the study is to switch several suburbs onto St. Paul's water supply, which comes from the Mississippi River.

Continuing to rely on groundwater in those areas, the study said, would cost about $91 million to build new wells and other infrastructure.

"This is a complex issue. Those approaches that we looked at are just examples of many, many approaches and also could be examples of many combinations between those approaches to solve the problem," said Ali Elhassan, who manages water supply planning for the Met Council.

The Met Council doesn't recommend a specific path forward but said a combination of solutions should be considered. The solution chosen could depend on a study to be released by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2016.