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Falling water levels mean closed beaches at White Bear Lake.

 the last time White Bear Lake was at “ordinary high water level” of 923.42 feet above sea level

 in lake level from “normal” level since 2003

  White Bear Lake is within about 2" of all time record low reached in November 2010

 water temperature in White Bear lake on July 17th of this year

of the water volume of White Bear Lake “disappeared” since 2003?

Docks stretching more than two hundred feet search in vain to find water in shrinking White Bear Lake these days.

These are difficult days for people who swim in White Bear Lake's usually cool waters and call its receding shoreline home. Plummeting water levels on White Bear may be part of local geography, and part of a bigger trend on Minnesota's 10,000+ lakes.

White Bear Lake has always had big fluctuations in 

But the sustained drop in the water levels in excess of 5 feet on White Bear since 2003 may be a harbinger of things to come for Minnesota's Land of 10,000 lakes.

The plunge in water levels of White Bear and other Minnesota lakes, marshes and ponds mimic a shift to a warmer climate regime in Minnesota in the past decade.

White Bear's unique geography and hydrology make it extra sensitive to changes in precipitation and increased evaporation rates associated with a warmer climate.

Increased evaporation makes our lakes increasingly vulnerable to any reduction in annual rain or snowfall.

Increased Groundwater Pumping: Draining White Bear from below?

highlights the threat to White Bear's water level from increased groundwater pumping below the lake.

Here are some excerpts from the Freshwater report.

There are varying scientific opinions, but some believe as much as 25 percent of White Bear's water volume may have been lost from below due to increased groundwater pumping in the aquifer below the lake.

White Bear Lake: Canary in a Minnesota climate change coal mine?

As drought deepens and climate shifts in Minnesota a bigger question looms.

Is a smaller White Bear Lake unique, or part of a larger trend of “shrinking” Minnesota lakes?

White Bear is not the only Minnesota lake that's receding these days. Take a close look at ponds and marshes in your neighborhood that are drying up. Other lakes are showing the stress of deepening drought through lower water levels.

Low water means high docks at Deephaven Beach on Lake Minnetonka Sunday.

has dropped nearly 17" (16.8") since June 22.

is down well below the mean lake level for early October, and trending downward toward record low observed water level.

Water levels in some lakes like Gull and Minnetonka 

by dams. Managed lakes are less vulnerable, but not totally immune to falling water levels from a shifting climate and increased groundwater pumping.

There is little doubt that the documented shift to a warmer and longer “ice free” climate with warmer spring and fall periods in Minnesota will expose our 10.000+ lakes to increased surface water loss through evaporation.

Combine that with hotter summers like 2012, increased drought, less winter snowfall and subsequent spring snowmelt runoff to boost lake levels in spring and you create a scenario that puts a high degree of stress on Minnesota lake levels.

White Bear Lake may be unique. It may also be trying to tell us something about the future of our Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Whate Bear Lake: Minnesota's climate change "canary in a coal mine?"

Land of 9,999 'shrinking' lakes? Is White Bear Lake Minnesota's 'climate change canary in coal mine?'

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