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THEY’RE BACK: Loon Chronicles returns PAGE 8A
It’s official: 2019 ice-out declared
WHITE BEAR LAKE — Wind and rain had its usual effect on lake ice. White Bear Lake’s resident ice-out historian declared the lake open Thursday morning, April 18. Jan Holtz Kraemer said ice was still under the Manitou Island bridge Wednesday night but gone the next morning after a day of rain. Last year ice-out was declared May 4, which tied the record set in 1950 for latest date. The mean ice-out date is April 15. The date proved beneficial for the area
food shelf. Since no one in her family contest came close to guessing the correct day, Holtz Kraemer will present a small check to the food shelf, per contest rules. The White Bear native has recorded ice-out dates since 2001, taking over for longtime recorder and barber Benny Schmalzbauer. The downtown barbershop and the White Bear Press are always the recordkeeper’s fi rst two calls. Debra Neutkens
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Before the ice melted on White Bear Lake, lifeguard stands at Ramsey County Beach were damaged by ice forced on shore by heavy winds.
Lake level lawsuit: Appeals court reverses district court decision BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Ice-out activity
Above: Only days after White Bear Lake was officially declared free of ice, Jeremy Howard, Rosie Burns and Lyman Howard, at left, took a chilly dip in the water near Memorial Beach Saturday, April 20. White Bear Lake’s resident ice-out historian Jan Holtz Kraemer declared the lake open Thursday morning, April 18.
ST. PAUL — The Court of Appeals reversed the 2017 district court decision in the lake level lawsuit, writing that common-law public-trust doctrine applies to navigable waters and not groundwater withdrawals. Presiding judge John Rodenberg issued the April 22 opinion, writing that the district court erred by allowing respondents' claims to proceed under Minn. Stat. 116B.03, which pertains to civil action. “Minn. Statute 116B.10 provides the proper remedy for challenged actions taken pursuant to a DNR permit,” read the decision. The lawsuit, filed late 2012 by the White Bear Lake Restoration Association and White Bear Lake Homeowners Association, claimed the DNR violated MERA and the public trust doctrine by making water-appropriation decisions that lowered the level of White Bear Lake. District Judge Margaret Marrinan sided with the plaintiffs, ruling that permitting of high capacity wells and mismanagement of the lake and aquifer violated both MERA and the public trust, a law binding the state to protect its natural resources on
citizens' behalf. The DNR, represented by the attorney general's office, argued in appellate court Jan. 24 that the lawsuit should have been brought under Section 10 of MERA. The appellants argued that the district court erred by allowing respondents to pursue claims under Statute 116B.03 regarding groundwater appropriation permits. Attorneys for White Bear Township, an intervenors in the case on the side of the DNR, had argued that point regarding administrative process early on in the trial. “Our position and the state's position is that the plaintiffs were ultimately challenging the permits,” attorney Chad Lemmons explained in an earlier article. “Since action on the permits was the ultimate goal of the plaintiffs, it should have been brought under Section 116B.10 and not 116B.03. Minnesota Statute 116B.10 provides the proper remedy for challenged actions taken pursuant to a DNR permit.” “To be sure, the lake and aquifer are hydrologically connected,” wrote Judge Rodenberg. “That is why MERA applies to the groundwater. But that does not make groundwaSEE APPEAL, PAGE 9A
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