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4/6/2015 Lala le\el,water supplysolutons premature-Your local online newspaper:calm= Lake level, water supply solutions premature by Roger Chamberlain I Posted: Tiesday, March 24,2015 3:42 pm Sack in February 2011, former State Representative Carol McFarlane and I hosted a meeting at the Country Inn in White Bear Lake to discuss a serious problem facing our region: the continuing decline of White Bear Lake. Somewhere around 30 people representing various federal, state and local environmental and water agencies, along with other interested parties gathered for the discussion. As you likely know the water level of White Bear Lake has been falling for more than a decade. The decision that night was to accept an offer from the United States Geologic Service (USGS) to begin a study of the lake. All they needed was approval and a few more dollars from the communities to begin the work. Since that night, the work and efforts to find a solution have continued. During the last four years, legislators and local leaders have met continuously with all concerned parties and held numerous informational public meetings. Legislation allowed the USGS to finish the lake study. Local governments continue work on water management plans,while chambers of commerce have been working to educate businesses and the public. In addition, the low lake level issue was expanded to include the ground water supply and a lawsuit was filed against the DNR, in part, for mismanagement ,f permitting. All of the meetings, discussions and work have produced some results. The USGS has issued a preliminary report about the lake; the White Bear Lake Conservation District (The District) worked with the Met Council (The Council) to develop possible solutions for the lake and ground water. Later, the council introduced a preliminary plan to move communities in the region to surface water from ground water and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has implemented a Ground Water Management Area plan(GWMA). These two plans, Ground Water Management Areas and the surface water conversion, are concerning. The surface water plan will cost hundreds of millions of dollars and force massive changes on the local communities. The DNR plan would grant broad authority to the DNR and impose a range of new charges and fees on businesses and the citizens. While we are committed to finding a permanent solution as soon as possible, the most recent proposals are a bit premature and have been formally opposed by several municipalities. First, the proposals are ahead of the science. Until the USGS study has been completed we will not now the extent of interaction between the aquifer, the lake and natural events such as runoff and evaporation. http://wwN.presspubs.corWW�te bear/COniotVcolumns/article 4800040&d266-11e4-baf3-4b4e8be38a33.html?mode=print 1/2