Heavy Rain Turns Lakeville's Lake Marion into “No Wake” Lake

The wave that has Lakeville and most of the state broiling is also forcing lots of people to the nearest wet spot to cool off and have some summer fun. But those who wish to make waves at Lakeville’s popular Lake Marion will have to go elsewhere.

Last week’s torrential rainfall resulted in a flood of sorts on an already overflowing Lake Marion. According to some Lake Marion area residents, the water rose nearly a foot and a half in the past week.

The water is so high—up to 983 inches on the Minnesota DNR's scale—it's reached the maximum water level for the city, and now, in order to protect residential property and the lake’s natural environment, the entire lake is considered a no wake zone.

"It's insane," Corey Redding, 27 from Inver Grove Heights said as he was loading his boat onto his trailer at 's boat launch. "I thought the wake limit was just for around the launch. I got a ticket from the county that says otherwise. They're really enforcing it."

Redding said he and his pals were going to head off to another lake to do some tubing as a result.

"I've never heard of a whole lake being a no wake lake," he said. "We can't do anything here but bob in the water."

But to the city, the no wake ordinance is a serious matter. The ordinance was originally put into place by the city after a similar rise in the water level in the early 1990’s caused damage to the lake’s shoreline. City officials like Steve Michaud, Lakeville’s director of parks and recreation, are worried the rise in water lever may damage property once again.

“Considerable wave action damages property,” Michaud said. “Hopefully people are paying attention to the signs at the boat launches and respect environmental conditions.”

But the “no wake” ordinance isn’t the only thing city officials are implementing in order to protect area property. Sandbags are also available for residents to put near the shoreline to guard against possible rising water. Three or four lake residents have already needed the sandbags, according to Michaud.

The sandbags are available at the old maintenance facility in Lakeville's Airlake Industrial Park, under the water tower on Hamburg Avenue.

A quick look at the properties around the lake and it's obvious the water level on the lake is high. Many docks are submerged and the beach at , where many Lakeville residents choose to cool off with a swim, was also cut in half by the rising water level.

It’s hard to tell when the “no wake” ordinance will be removed, according to Michaud. As the policy stands now, once the water drops below 983.6 inches the ordinance must remain in place for three more days

But this will also be played by ear, he said. The lifting of the policy will also depend on impending rainfall and property damage.

All told, Lake Marion has seven tributaries that drain into the lake, but just one outflow stream, so it's hard to tell how long it'll take for the lake to come back down.

"I love this lake," Redding said. "I get it, but it's a bummer."