Moving water to White Bear Lake could cost as much as $48 million

In the coming months, a Ramsey County judge is expected to decide whether the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources should be held responsible for a major drop in the level of White Bear Lake.

In a trial last month, environmental and homeowners groups argued the agency let cities draw too much water from an aquifer that's connected to White Bear Lake. Meanwhile, the DNR has released details of a plan to replenish White Bear — with water from another lake.

"When you think about it, 50 years from now, water's going to be more important than oil," said Brian McGoldrick, who owns a marina, tavern and dinner cruise boat on White Bear Lake. Business has suffered over much of the last decade as water levels steadily dropped. In 2013, the lake hit a record low, forcing the closure of a Ramsey county public beach.

The lake has recovered in recent years, but McGoldrick still loves the idea of pumping water from Lake Vadnais to White Bear Lake to head off future trouble.

"Once you level off the lake, would you need to pump every year? No. But you'd have it if you needed to have it, and you'd also be able to augment the aquifer too," McGoldrick said.

In a lawsuit first filed in 2012, the White Bear Lake Restoration Association argues the Department of Natural Resources allowed too much pumping of groundwater by the northeast Twin Cities suburbs, and that depleted the aquifer below. The DNR claims the precipitous drop is due more to a lack of precipitation — and the variations are within historic norms.

Despite the litigation, the two sides agreed to study augmenting the lake. A proposal from the firm SEH Design Build would cost as much as $48 million. It involves constructing a five mile long, 24-inch wide pipe between White Bear and Lake Vadnais — which itself is connected to the Mississippi River via other lakes and existing pipes.

Assistant DNR Commissioner Barb Naramore said the agency generally does not support moving water between lakes because of concerns about water quality. But the Minnesota Legislature required the agency to study it anyway.

"As folks dig in to that design-build proposal, one of the things you'll see is a very explicit acknowledgment that there are a number of water quality and ecosystem health kinds of questions that would require further evaluation," Narramore said. "What would be the implications for both Vadnais Lake and for White Bear Lake?"

Also yet to be determined are how the pipe and pump system between the lakes will be funded, and which agency will operate and maintain it.