The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-04
CEDAR LAKES LEVEL,
The County Surveyor Thinks It
Not Affected by Ice
Cutting.
He Admits Recession, but Shows
That Minnetonka Has Re-
ceded More.

In response to a request from D. NJ.
Chute, president of the Cedar Lake Ice
company, George W.. Cooley, county sur
yeyor makes the following statement re-
garding the level eof Cedar Lake and the
Influences affecting 1t:
1.-The area Of this, (Cedar) lake accord
ing to government survey is 80 acres.
This survey was made in August, 1858,
and there are no known records of the
elevation Of the water in the lake until
the winter ST 1888 when the elevation as
established by the officers of the city
engineers department., in the winter of
1883 gave the elevation as 1890 on the
basis Of the Minneapolis city levels. In
November 1901. eighteen years later the
levels of the lake taken by employees Of
the county surveyor S office gave the ele-
walton as 144.56, making a difference of
446- 100 feet. That is to say, the lake
lowered. nearly four and one-half feet In
eighteen years Or about three inches per
year. 80, ..-. -. <&
II do not know when your company
|: commenced cutting ice in Cedar lake, and
so far, as the lowering of the lake is con-
cerned 1 do not think it is material, for the
| ice removed from the surface Of the lake
comprises only small proportion of the
surface loss 7 am Informed that the total
cut in any one year is from 25,O00 to 30,-
| 600 tons; Assuming the greater amount,
say 30, 900 tons to be the total output and
. assuming the reduced area Of the lake to
| be 23O acres you are lowering the level
Of the lake by your ice cut each year one
tenth of a foot, equal to 11s inches.
1.-THE assumption that the area of the
Lake has been reduced forty acres by the
recession of the waters must be consid-
cred only in relation to, the area of the
government survey. I know from personal
knowledge that a considerable portion OF
the original 270 acres. was marshy land
long before 1883 and 7 do not believe that
| the true water surface, of the lake has
been reduced more than 10 Or 20 acres 10y
the AZ feet Of lowering shown since 1888;
in other words, the original surface of 27C
acres as shown by United States survey
| was composed of about $50 acres water
surface and about 20 acres of marsh5
shore, and that the decrease in area OF
the lake is due not so much to the reces
sion Of the waters as to the drying UP o.
the 11,arshy shores that nevef were ant
never should have been considered par
Of the lake. -.ts
";f ii; is held that your removing of tht
III inches per year from the surface q
the lake tends to- a condition of yearly de
: preston Of the lake level, it might be wei
to compare Cedar lake with Lake Minnie
, tonka on which l have kept daily record
of the rise and fall since 1881. Comparin;
these two lakes find that in 1882 tn
water in Lake Minnetonka stood at 20
feet above sea level while in November
1851, it stood at 926.6 showing. that iron
, 1882 to 1901 in Lake Minnetonka iron
, ,, which no ice was cut, and only natura
t fv1ces we're in effect, there was q de;f:a7
: of surface level of 4 410 feet and durin
= the last five years Of the above noted tern
/ the dam at the outlet absolutely prevente
? the outflow of any water from the lake
SO that while the surfect of Cedar LAX
! has lowered 4 46-1O0 feet in 18 years, LAX
II Minnetonka has lowered 440-1O0 feet l
19 Years; not a, startling difference con
!, siderings that. the latter had. It's outle
AXE alsa ne1er 5o9 haa aa all2 @ outet to dan
: D.. Il am very strongly inclined to the op1
o 1ion:tha ics, utting on on ogrl og a lakes has lit
+ to do with tlieir- destruction Or drying VI
. While the surface flow is continually dt
l. 1 creasipg,e the. rainfall remains apPut y
d l same from year to, year and the, eVapors
4 ton is nearly constant. every spring u
4 l,surplus ground water goes into the dake
n filing up the void made by the removal
h ice and the balance is wasted. throut
,e1 the natural outflow. surface or, subte
to raneous, and the effect is noticed by II
is lower levels, or in, the stream Whlch
e-.l ceives the discharge. ~-.. .~~.,
,el ..In. all of our local lakes the decrease
s. surface level has been the same, appro'
es mately to 5 feet in the past 20. yea
Cedar. lake is no exception and its ley
would have been about the same If no
g. | company had ever <trespassed upon
@. crystal surface. Mother lake, Lake An
IN LA, Pearl, and Diamond lakes on t
soutll-all Of the. hundreds of LAX
throughout the country show exactly t
same conditions: of recedence. It is a &C
dition consequent upon the development
. the. country and cannot be prevented.
as to Cedar Lake. its subterraneous and OF
outlet was first tapped in 1865 by the &C
struction of the st. Paul and Pacific ra
~, way. Later on wells were sunk In
o. Brvn Mawr marsh. and the flow throu
ay these sources has been continuous. tend1
RI WITHOUT question to the constant loWeri
raj of the lake level. In all lakes having
free outflow. any. deficiency of volu
II caused by the ice cutting is made up
to the spring excess, which Is subsequen
,ur wasted. and passes on into the main lii
he of drainage. so that it can be truly S
ut, that on such bodies Of water the proc
vcr of ice cutting tends only to reduce
flood volume in the rivers receiving
ard fow.' --
hts : - --- = - --------- ------------
the You are invited to visit our grcenhou:
eat Thirty -fifth street and Portland aven
Ole Sunday ApTi, g. VIM. Donaldson " Ct