Communities Still Dealing with Long, Wet Spring

Mother Nature has not been kind this spring. Crystal Lake is higher than normal because of our recent rainfalls.

“The last big rain we were sitting in the house watching the rain just get closer and closer to the house,” explained Robbinsdale resident Paul Green.

Part of his lawn is in the lake.

Crystal Lake doesn’t have a natural outlet. A pump in Sanborn Park controls the water level.

“This year we set up a different system that takes the water from basically Crystal Lake to the Ryan Lake chain, but it does it inside a storm sewer,” said Robbinsdale city manager Maria Glick.

According to DNR official Dan Scollan, the DNR received a Water Appropriation Permit application on Tuesday, May 28th from Richard McCoy, public works director for the City of Robbinsdale, to pump water from Crystal Lake into Ryan Creek. Water Appropriation Permits are required for anyone using water over 10,000 gallons per day or 1 million gallons per year.

The ordinary high water elevation for Crystal Lake is 847.5 feet. The DNR estimates that the total volume of water pumped would be about 40 million gallons.
Currently, three pumps are draining the lake. Over the weekend, the city installed a pump along Chowen Avenue.

“The lake level has only come down a small amount,” said Glick.

Tuesday or Wednesday, crews are bringing in a much bigger and quieter pump. That pump will run non-stop until lake levels drop to about a foot and a half.

Robbinsdale officials say it could take up to seven weeks before the lake returns to normal levels.

Robbinsdale