LAKE COUNTY, Minnesota — The headlines have been filled in recent days with news of rivers and lakes across parts of Minnesota that are busting at the seams due to a multi-day deluge of rain.
This story is about a body of water that is literally disappearing.
Sullivan Lake is located just north of Two Harbors in Lake County, near the St. Louis County border. It has dropped some 5 to 6 feet since the catastrophic storm last Tuesday that broke the 124-year-old dam that maintains its level. Pressure from rain that totaled up to 10 inches in some areas of the northland blew an opening in the Sullivan Lake Dam, which is approximately 8 feet deep and 35 feet wide, according to Two Harbors Area Parks and Trails supervisor Kevin Johnson.
“The dam is old, it’s over 100 years old,” Johnson told Northern News Now. “It’s seen a little bit of maintenance over the years. It was an earthen structure, that back in 1905, wasn’t designed by say an engineer.”
Johnson says the break in the Sullivan Lake Dam sent a surge of water flowing freely into Sullivan Creek, and eventually the Cloquet River. While folks on Sullivan are high and dry, virtually drained of water, communities along the Cloquet River experienced flooding.
“There’s also some cabins around the lake and that connects directly to the Cloquet River. On Island Lake we saw the water levels come up about 15 feet," he explained.
To be honest, Sullivan is not a classic deep, clear lake. It is only 45 acres with a muddy bottom and maximum depth of about 7 feet, but those with property on it or users of the State of Minnesota's Sullivan Lake Campground enjoy its presence.
Johnson said the dam is on land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which released a statement when asked if the dam would be repaired.
“We are assessing the situation. The Sullivan Lake Dam is an old 7-foot high logging dam built in the early 1900s," reads the USFS statement. "The dam failed as a result of last week’s storm without risk to downstream property owners. It is presently occupying it’s pre-dam channel. The Forest Service last inspected in 2017, it’s a low hazard dam which needs to be inspected every 10 years.”
A USFS spokesperson told the Star Tribune there are really two options: Rebuild the dam and allow Sullivan Lake to fill back up, or let it remain in its natural state, which is a channel or reservoir.
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