Water Level History

The lake’s water level has varied within roughly a 2 foot range in recent decades. The effects  of climate, land use, and land cover in the lake’s watershed are primary factors that  influence water level fluctuations. But the lake outlet also plays a role in its water level  regime. As most likely know, water leaving East Battle Lake flows downstream to West  Battle Lake, thence to Molly Stark, Annie Battle, Blanche, and Otter Tail lakes via Blanche  Creek before entering the Otter Tail River.

The configuration of the lake’s outlet has changed over time. The first major change to the  natural outlet was the construction of a dam by the Works Progress Administration in the  late 1930s.  

The primary purpose of the concrete dam was lake level control—specifically, to bolster  water levels during the prolonged drought of that period. It was built with 4 bays, each  being 5 feet wide, within which stoplogs could be used to control the upstream water level.  A wooden catwalk mounted to 3 concrete piers spanned the opening between the dam’s  wingwalls, and the earthen slopes around the abutments and shoreline were paved with  hand-placed fieldstone.

Various stoplog configurations were utilized in the dam during its first 2 decades of  existence. Approximately 10 years after the dam was constructed—while stoplogs were  still in use—DNR staff conducted a survey to quantify the lake’s ordinary high water level  (OHWL), which was found to be elevation 1333.80 feet MSLD1912. This elevation has been  used ever since to administer public waters and shoreland requirements for the lake.

Following the drought, a return to higher water levels exceeding the authorized stoplog  setting and repeated unauthorized tampering with the stoplogs led to a decision to  permanently discontinue stoplog use in 1955—and the dam has remained open ever since.  The dam’s center pier and catwalk were removed in 1960 to facilitate watercraft navigation.

Around the time that stoplogs were permanently removed from the concrete dam, beavers constructed a natural dam approximately 1/3 mile upstream—thus superseding the  concrete dam as the lake level control. The 1963 air photo below shows the locations of  the concrete dam (red circle) and beaver dam (green circle). DNR staff have completed a  thorough review of available air photos and received several firsthand accounts  documenting that the beaver dam has been in existence and in approximately the same  location since at least the early 1960s.

Interested citizens have contacted DNR hydrologists several times over the years with  concerns about the beaver dam’s influence on lake levels—both for East and West Battle  lakes—and with requests to remove the beaver dam. Despite the beaver dam being in a  relatively inaccessible location, with land access only through private property, groups of  citizens have attempted to remove portions of the beaver dam on several occasions. As  nature’s builders, however, beavers rebuilt the dam in short order.  

So, how does the beaver dam affect lake levels? After being alerted to ongoing water level  concerns in early 2025, DNR staff set out to investigate the specifics of the beaver dam and  its influence on the lake’s water level regime. Surveys of the beaver dam were conducted in  March and April 2025, and a review of the lake’s OHWL elevation and another survey of the  beaver dam were completed in June 2025.  

Two main findings were documented by the surveys:

1. The beaver dam is indeed the runout control for East Battle Lake.

2. OHWL evidence is now at a higher elevation compared to that from the concrete  dam era. This is unsurprising given the combination of changes in the outlet  configuration—concrete dam with stoplogs vs. natural beaver dam—and climatic,  land use, and land cover factors. Discussions regarding the implications and  implementation of this finding will occur between DNR and county staff.