Silver Bay, Minnesota

The City of Silver Bay  is located in Lake County, Minnesota, on the scenic North Shore of Lake Superior approximately 56 miles northeast of Duluth, MN on US Highway 61.

The community, which was originally built by Reserve Mining Company for the employees in its taconite processing plant, was incorporated in 1956 and has approximately 2000 residents. Silver Bay, the newest community on the North Shore, lies three miles northeast of Beaver Bay, the oldest community on the North Shore.

Silver Bay Environment

• MPCA Fact Sheet (49 KB pdf)
  reviewing North Shore Mining-Silver Bay permit requirements based on proposal to reactivate idle equipment at its taconite plant.
•   Silver Bay Regional Development and the Environment
  • Building Requirements in Lake County (795 KB pdf)
    An on-line brochure that provides information for landowners thinking about building or retrofitting a building in Lake County in which the city of Silver Bay is located. Information provided includes contact information and covers such areas as required setbacks from shorelines, riparian assets and roads; building near wetlands and sewage and potable water requirements.
  • Soil Disturbance in Lake County (22 KB pdf)
    Conditions requiring a soil disturbance permit are outlined in this one page fact sheet. Soil disturbances associated with Lake Superior shores, other shorelines, wetlands and riparian systems are addressed.
  • Lake County Local Water Management Plan (2005) (130 KB pdf)
  • Sample Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (27 KB pdf)
    for development/construction within Lake County

Stormwater Information

• A Landowners Guide to Conservation Management (1.8 MB pdf, new window)
• NEMO – Nonpoint Source Education for Municipal Officials (exit site)
• Stormwater Program for Construction Activity
  MPCA site that provides links to permitting requirements, fact or guidance sheets, special waters and impaired waters, ordinance examples and training opportunities.
• MPCAs Stormwater Compliance Assistance Toolkit for Small Construction Operators (2004) (10 MB pdf)
  Begins with a summary of the requirements of Minnesota's federally mandated NPDES/SDS General Stormwater permit for Construction. A helpful information brochure aimed at controlling sediment erosion during construction, follows.

Contact Local Decision Makers

Public Health and other Environmental Information

•   Public and Environmental Health
  • Source Water Assessment for Silver Bay (2002) (238 KB pdf)
    is a document required under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The assessment was carried out under the auspices of the Minnesota Department of Health and provides:
    1. a general description of the area which supplies water to the Silver Bay water utility;
    2. an overview of why this water supply is susceptible to potential contaminants;
    3. a description of the contaminants of concern which may impact water quality; and
    4. to the extent practical, the origins of these contaminants.
  • Tap Water Quality
    for the community is available as a detailed report that lists individual pollutants; these in turn can be individually clicked to find information on potential sources of pollutant, a health impact summary, a testing summary and a violation summary. Further information on permissible levels and summaries of state and national hot spots for the particular pollutant can be called up also. More detailed information is also available in the drinking water and wastewater sections of our website.

  • Minnesota Lake Superior Beach Monitoring Program
    Provides water quality information based on indicator bacteria (fecal coliform and E. coli) concentrations for Minnesota's public Lake Superior beaches. Tabs at top of the home page provide additional information on the monitoring program, the science behind the program and advice on how to help prevent beach contamination. Includes a novel mapping utility to "see" the sampling sites and their current data and a unique data visualization tool for viewing the data over time or comparing it to other sites and other measurements. Here's the link for the Silver Bay Marina but note that there are other monitoring sites in the vicinity:

    

•   Maps, Demography, Climate
  • Interactive map of Silver Bay
  • Statistical information
    Demographics, economics, housing, education, climate and more. Similar information is available in differing formats here and here (a narrative format supported with charts, also identifies regional services supporting Silver Bay).
  • Weather Report that includes current conditions, 5 day forecast, radar based weather maps, astronomical information (e.g. moon phase and times of sunrise and sunset)