Drought Just Part of Story for Low Water Level on Maple Grove’s Rice Lake

Living along the water is a dream come true for many Minnesotans. For Curt Putland, who has lived near Rice Lake in Maple Grove for 16 years, the lake holds deep sentimental value.

“The whole reason why I bought this was, my favorite memories with my dad were at the lake,” Putland said.

Putland tries to get his boat out on the water as often as possible, but this summer has presented some challenges. Due to a lack of rainfall across the Twin Cities, the shoreline behind his home is more exposed than ever, leaving his boat stranded.

“Right now we’re beached at this point,” Putland explained. “We can’t get it off the lift. We literally haven’t been able to use the lake since probably the first week of August.”

Marks on Putland’s boat lift highlight just how drastically conditions have changed. In a normal year, he says the water sits 2.5 to 3 feet higher than its current level.

While drought is the primary culprit behind low water levels across the region, local officials say it only tells part of the story for Rice Lake.

In late July, city officials noted that water flowed naturally over the nearby Elm Creek Dam, which helps control water levels on Rice Lake. Since then, the water level has dropped by a foot and a half, creating serious obstacles for waterfront residents.

“Rice Lake tends to be shallow on the edges, so even a small drop in the lake can pull that water out away from the shore,” said Derek Asche, Maple Grove’s water resources engineer. “People will run into an issue with boats on lifts or getting boats out of the water.”

Curt Putland says he hasn’t been able to put his boat in the water since early August due to the low water levels on Rice Lake and Elm Creek.

Vandalism Part of the Problem

The drop in water levels on Rice Lake is being exacerbated by damaged infrastructure, Maple Grove officials tell CCX News. In 2022, someone used bolt cutters to break into the dam’s bypass system and vandalized a control valve.

“A few years ago, the bypass was damaged, so we have difficulty opening and closing a valve in there that we use to draw the lake down when we try to do aquatic vegetation management,” Asche said.

Putland described the mechanism as a large steel plate that slides up and down to control flow. Because the valve used to adjust the plate was broken during the vandalism, water has been leaking continuously.

By law, the city must allow two cubic feet of water per second to flow downstream into Elm Creek. However, residents estimate the broken valve is releasing nearly double that amount.

“All this is a bit of opinion in terms of how much we think it’s discharging, based on what us locals have seen in past years versus now,” Putland said. “But one way or the other, the dam just needs to be fixed. The city’s in full agreement with that and they’re doing everything they can to get that to happen.”

A permanent repair was originally not slated to take place until 2030, but residents are pushing for a faster timeline and short-term relief before next summer.

“Whatever we can do to temporarily slow down the flow to help us out next year I think is important,” Putland added. “The last thing we want to do is have another year with owners who can’t get their boats out.”

Maple Grove officials say they are actively working to accelerate the project and begin repairs in 2028. The city plans to hire a consultant this fall to begin engineering work and secure environmental permits, while engineers continue to explore temporary fixes to stabilize water levels in the interim.

The Elm Creek Dam was vandalized in 2022, making it difficult for Maple Grove to reduce the amount of water going through the dam.

Related: Invasive Zebra Mussels Found in Maple Grove’s Rice Lake

Maple Grove