Minnehaha Falls has dried up for the second year in a row — the first time ever that the usually gushing, much-visited Minneapolis waterfall has gone dry for consecutive years.
Minneapolis landmark Minnehaha Falls dries up for second year in a row
Managing the falls, which is part of Minnehaha Creek, has become more difficult as Minnesota experiences the effects of climate change.
October 8, 2022 at 10:38PM
Managing the falls, which is part of Minnehaha Creek, has become more difficult as Minnesota experiences the effects of climate change, said Tiffany Schaufler, senior project maintenance coordinator at the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. State climatologists project that the state is more likely to see extreme weather in the form of heavy rains over a short period, and long periods of drought between precipitation events.
"We're getting lots of calls asking 'Why is the creek dry?' We're just in a deficit of water," Schaufler said. "All of our creeks and wetlands are dry and Lake Minnetonka is 20 inches below normal. There's no water to be had."
Minnehaha Falls, which sits within a large city park in south Minneapolis and is a popular draw for residents and tourists alike, went dry in the summers of 2000, 2009, 2012 and 2021, according to the watershed district. This year, the Twin Cities area recorded the driest September on record with 0.23 inches of rainfall. Average rainfall for the month is about 3 inches.
The area also recorded the driest summer since 1936, the peak of the Dust Bowl, with only 6.81 inches of rain. Average summer rainfall for the Twin Cities is 16 inches.
Gray's Bay Dam, which controls water flowing into the creek from Lake Minnetonka, has been closed because the lake is 20 inches below its ordinary high level, Schaufler said.
Historically, when the lake dropped below its natural runout elevation, it stopped flowing into the creek. The dam is required to close when the lake falls below 928.6 feet.
Much of Hennepin, Carver, Scott, Lyon and Sibley counties are experiencing extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Dry conditions will likely persist through the end of 2022, according to the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook forecast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District would need nearly 6 inches of rain in a month to end drought conditions.
The dry weather is a pivot from 2019, which was the wettest year on record with 43 inches of rain, Schaufler said. When there's too much water, there's a high possibility of landslides and damage to the natural area in addition to basements being flooded.
"We're going from drought to flooding and flooding to drought," Schaufler said. "That makes it really difficult to manage when you are going from one extreme to the next."
The next chance for the Twin Cities to see significant rainfall is the middle of next week, according to Chris O'Brien, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.
"It's been dry," he said. "But there's some hope."
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