Shoreline homeowners are suing the DNR to get public funds to fill the lake with water, protecting their property values. I wonder how many of them vote the democratic ticket. Very few I imagine....

I'm an old White Bear boy, and know quite a few lakeshore homeowners personally. Many are Democrats. One who springs to mind is a very hardworking, dedicated local peace activist.

The lake is unlike other local lakes in that it's fed mostly by springs, and not runoff. I think the problem is that permits to draw water from the underlying aquifer have been handed out quite freely to developers over the years. In some cases, the water has even been used to create small artificial lakes to enhance new developments. As the water level in the aquifer has dropped, the springs that used to feed the lake may at times act as drains instead.

The result is that the lake's level has dropped about six feet. One family I know has seen their shoreline recede about 300 feet from where it once was. That represents quite a loss, both in quality of life and in property value.

If the DNR has allowed wealth to be transferred in this way from the lakeshore homeowners to the real-estate developers, then I think state aid may be appropriate, just as it is to the Mille Lacs resort owners.

As Mille Lacs has a variety of issues aside from lake levels. The issue is that the aquifer is being drained and Hugo swampland used to ooze south through Bald Eagle into WBL. Construction has siphoned the water no doubt. The issue is that thousands of people have had their property values decline over the last 15 years and they don't live on a lake. You don't see them suing the government to subsidize their property values. My neighbors across the street in WBL are "under water". Maybe they should have bought on the lake, eh?

White Bear Lake is a tremendous, publicly-held asset. It's by far the best recreational lake in the East Metro, and it's used freely by all. A public asset like that needs to be protected and preserved by our governmental agencies.

If it's at all practical and feasible to restore the lake at this point, then it should be restored. It's a very thorny problem, though, and I'm sure no one in government wants to own it. It may be that the only way to compel the government to address the issue is through a lawsuit. I just hope that doesn't mean that a lot of taxpayer dollars will be spent on legal costs when they could be spent serving the public.

Returning to the topic of property values, though: if your neighbors were literally under water - if, for example, their backyards were now partially flooded due to shortsighted and greedy governmental policies - then I very much hope they would sue for redress, rather than just accepting the loss.

in the specific hydrology, comparing Mill Lacs to WBL is rediculous. What ARE yiur credentials?

These two stories were published in the strib and I posted them. With a few connecting words.