In 1933, landowners on Big Lake and Lake Mitchell, connected bodies of water, petitioned the Sherburne County Board of Commissioners to raise the water level of the two lakes. The board adopted a resolution stating that the area's public health and welfare would be promoted by re-establishment of the water level. Raising the level required the acquisition of land over which a pipeline would be laid and a pumping station located to pump water from the Elk River into Lake Mitchell. The Sherburne County District Court, following a public hearing, agreed that without restoration property values, and thus taxable income, would drop dramatically. They agreed to a special assessment of all lands that would benefit from the restoration. The county board also received a grant from the United States Public Works Administration (PWA). In 1942, an appeal by the county board to the state attorney general concerning sale of the pipe was denied. The attorney general held that that pipe was owned by those assessed, not the county. A 1951 letter upheld the 1942 ruling.
From the description of Big Lake-Lake Mitchell water raising project data, 1933-1951. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122659249
