LAKE LEVELS

MEMORY LANE
LAKE LEVELS
BY R. AUBREY LA FOY
It is with a great deal of anticipation and expectations that we wait for the ice to get out of the lakes. It is only then that we can observe just how high or low the lakes are for this season. The level of the lakes is very important for a number of reasons least of which is how far from the water should the dock be constructed. For most dock builders it is only a guess but they do have several benchmarks to observe before building.
The three places that I use are: spillway at Spirit Lake, the outlet dam below Lower Gar and a rock in front of our lakes shore home. If the water is spilling over the dam at Big Spirit Lake the water is okay but if it is a foot or so above the dam that means high water levels. The dam below Lower Gar is another benchmark because if it is going over the dam again the water level in the lakes is normal but if neither the spillway nor the dam has water flowing over them then the level is low.
The big rock in on the lakeshore of our property has a flat surface on one side and if the rock is about half submerged it is a normal year. Last fall before the ice formed that rock was clear out of the water and gave us a great deal of thought as to the level this spring but as it is now half submerged it is a good feeling. My neighbor also has a rock that he watches to give him some indication as to the level of the lake and it too is completely covered as of now.
More scientific measurements are used by various organizations. For instance the USGS gauge at the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory is monitored daily and is used to describe the level of the Okoboji lakes and smaller lakes to the outlet dam below Lower Gar Lake. The TV and radio stations refer to the “Crest Levels” of the lakes when reporting how the lakes are rising or falling. The “high water mark” of Big Spirit Lake, water depth is measured at the weir (the low dam built to back up water at the south end of Big Sprit Lake). The Okoboji lakes are measured by the “high water mark” of 1926, as 30 inches over the dam on Mill Creek below Lower Gar.
The summer of 1993 was memorable for we who lived at the Iowa Great Lakes. None of us had ever seen water that high and hope never to see it that high again in our lifetime. The high of Big Spirit Lake on July 18, 1993 was 55.68 inches and the high at the USGA gauge at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory on July 17, 1993 was 55.68 inches. The dam at Mill Creek ungrated spillway elevation is probably lower than the gage at the Lakeside Lab. So, if 30 inches is the high water mark, then on July 17, 1993, Lake West Okoboji was 25.8 inches above the high water mark. On August 26, 1993, it was at 28.32 inches above at the dam below Lower Gar. Those of us who endured the “flood of 1993” sometimes classified as the “100 year flood” will testify that the water was exceedingly high
We have boated on several lakes in Arizona the past few years. There is little concern about the rise and fall of those lakes as they are all man-made. Each has a large dam to hold the water back and the engineers can control them. But the Iowa Great Lakes are natural lakes! That being the case’ we who live here must realize that the rise and fall of the waters can vary from high to low. Several facts must be taken into account: Big Spirit Lake at normal level is 5 feet, 8 inches higher than the Okoboji lakes. Lake West Okoboji is a spring fed lake. Spirit Lake and East Okoboji obtain most of their waters from their huge drainage areas. Much of that drainage area is in Minnesota for Spirit Lake.
Several man-made structures have been built over the years that interfere with the natural flow and levels of the lakes. The grade at Highway 71 between Arnolds Park and Okoboji was narrowed until the only flow between East and West Okoboji is under the bridge; East Okoboji is almost dammed in by a grade and small opening near Triggs Resort; a grade and small bridge was built on Highway 71 at Spirit Lake; a grade and small opening was built between Upper Gar and Minnewashta and the passage between Minnewashta and Lower Gar was narrowed. Each of these interferes with the natural flow of the lakes. The dam at Mill Creek has been an ongoing controversy since the 1880s.
In my lifetime the summer of 1993 was one to remember with the high water. I can also remember as a youth that in the 1930s the lakes were very low. One time we went swimming on the south shore of Big Spirit Lake and could wade out quite a way into the lake. The beaches at Terrace Park and Arnolds Park were large and they extended far to the edge of the water. Gar Lake was very shallow and I can remember wading into the lake a long way from shore. One year in the 1930s the pond above the dam on Mill Creek dried up. There were hundreds of buffalo and carp fish floundering in the mud. Several men waded in and with scoop shovels put the fish in sacks. Even with all they took out there were still many fish that perished.
Hattie P. Elston (“White Men Follow After”) reported the driest years at the lakes were: 1894, 1898, 1901, 1910 and 1930. The wettest years were 1881, 1903 and1909. The lakes were very low in 1856-57 and they got rose until 1882-83. The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad built the Orleans Hotel, which opened in June 16, 1883. The hotel only lasted 15 years. The waters of Big Spirit Lake were high when the hotel was built but in the late 1890s the lake level dropped.
The water level difference between those two dates, 1882 and 1897, was eight feet. The railroad panicked and tore the huge Orleans Hotel down. Several reasons were stated: Guests walked or rode carriages to the head of East Okoboji to catch steamboats for cruises through the Okoboji lakes, but East Okoboji became so shallow, this was no longer possible. The docks, which had been used to land the Queen at the Orleans Hotel, were no longer usable. The railroad sold the Queen and it was moved to West Okoboji. There is a picture at the Maritime Museum, taken in 1901; at Spirit Lake from the bridge on Highway 71 East Okoboji was nothing more than a little creek.
The Iowa Great Lakes reached a very low level in 1931. The beach at Arnolds Park was 85 feet from the retaining wall to the water. That is one of the premiere beaches of Lake West Okoboji, then and now.
Pictures of Pillsbury’s Point on Lake West Okoboji taken in 1902 and 1931, show huge rocks exposed out into the lake. Four Orange City girls and their chaperones of Davenport drowned at that point on July 1934. The girls were wading waist deep on the rook reef in an attempt to walk the reef to the buoy some 200 feet away. One of the girls slipped on a submerged rock and they drowned trying to save each other. Today, new boaters on West Okoboji wonder what the DNR buoy is doing way out in the lake, as few rocks can be seen at that point.
In 1936, the level of Big Spirit Lake was very low. The level in August of 1936 was about 8 feet below normal. The meandering level of Spirit Lake was established at 15 feet. In 1873, it was 12 feet .15 inches and in 1936 it was 7 feet. People were very concerned that Spirit Lake was becoming much too low so a plan was devised to divert floodwaters from the Little Sioux River (To the west of the lakes.) to the lakes. The plan was to be carried out by diverting the river water through a chain of five sloughs, a five-mile ditch in Minnesota, and a 12-foot dam. The ditch would be 12 feet deep. The project would prevent floods and at the same time benefit the lakes. It was estimated it would raise Spirit Lake four inches. This plan was never finalized and research failed to explain why.
The Iowa Great Lakes are marvelous and we must do all we can to preserve the gift. The lakes have always been a very inspiring spectacle and each generation has used the lakes in different fashions for their enjoyment whether to boat, bath or just view God’s work. The Iowa Great Lakes are a precious heritage so endeavor to do all you can to keep them pure and safe.