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Jul 3, 2009 6:55 pm US/Central
Shoreview Gets Creative To Rescue Shrinking Lake
SHOREVIEW, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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The lake levels at the Shoreview lake are down five feet from normal levels. It is so low that his Steve's wife, Carol, got caught in the muck after she tried to reach a ball her dog dropped. Steve had to rescue her with a kayak paddle. (File)
CBS
There is currently a mud bar where Steve Stadler's boat is supposed to be on Snail Lake.
"I had a hard time getting it out of the lake last year," he said. "So there was no chance of getting it into the lake this year."
The lake levels at the Shoreview lake are down five feet from normal levels. It is so low that his Steve's wife, Carol, got caught in the muck after she tried to reach a ball her dog dropped. Steve had to rescue her with a kayak paddle.
"As I was getting closer and closer to the ball, I actually started sinking about eight inches. I started panicking because I couldn't lift my feet up," she said. "It was scary, really, scary and I thought quite frankly, this is not safe."
Snail Lake used to get its water pumped in from nearby Sucker Lake.
In 2007, the Department of Natural Resources found zebra mussels in Sucker Lake and stopped the pump. Snail Lake wasn't infested and the DNR didn't want the invasive species there.
So, the City of Shorview and the DNR investigated some options that have never been used on a Minnesota lake.
In June, engineers began building a filter system in which the water would run through a series of screens small enough to keep the zebra mussels out of Snail Lake.
"I hope it works," said Carol, "I hope we have a lake someday."
The pump is expected to start up in October and could re-fill the lake by next summer.
Shoreview Assistant city engineer Tom Wesolowski said it's hard to give a definitive timeline because the technology is new. He believes it will take 90 days to re-fill the lake about 1900 gallons per minute.
The cost of the project is $550,000. The city of Shoreview will pay 40%. Ramsey County will pay 15 percent. The homeowners around Snail Lake will pay 45 percent -- which which ends up being about $3500 for each of the 72 residences.
"Something has to be done, somebody has to pay for it," said Steve. "It's an expensive project but it will be worth it."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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