Lake levels sinking to new lows
Continued slump spells summer woes for boaters
Jim Lynch / The Detroit News
The next few months will be crucial for Michigan boaters hoping to see a rise in Great Lakes levels -- levels that have been in a slump for the last few years.
The most recent statistics provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show only Lake Superior is above the level posted 12 months ago, by 8 inches. The rest of the Great Lakes, as well as Lake St. Clair, are beneath last year's levels. And all of the lakes are below their historical averages.
It will take large amounts of snow and rainfall in the remaining months of winter and spring to bring the water back to where it used to be. This is the first look at projected lake levels through the summer and peak boating season.
For Brad Adams there are few things uglier than the 100-foot wall of vegetation that has cropped up between the beach at his property in Forestville, on Lake Huron in Michigan's Thumb. Low water levels have allowed sunlight to penetrate to the bottom of the lake near the shore, spurring the growth of phragmites.
"We used to have a portable dock," said Adams, a retired AAA agent. "Now, there's no way you can even get a boat close to shore."
Boaters in many parts of the Great Lakes Basin have had to adapt to lower levels that they hope are just part of a cycle. In places like Harrison Township, residents who once had access to Lake St. Clair on their own property or through canals now must keep their boats at nearby marinas. Experts, however, say a late-winter and spring with large amounts of rainfall could go a long way toward getting the lakes closer to their historical levels.
"Each lake has its annual variations," said Keith W. Kompoltowicz, a meteorologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Detroit office. "They start out with their lowest levels in late winter and rise through the spring. We've been through periods in the past where we've spent years above the historical levels. Right now, we've been below those levels for the last few years."
So far in 2008, Mother Nature appears to be doing her part.
"This wet January did help to push lakes Michigan and Huron higher than where we thought it was," he said. "Considering that we are still expecting a fairly wet February things could still improve."
The most recent figures, through January, show:
• The Lake Michigan/Huron system is down between 10 and 11 inches.
• Lake Erie is down 15 inches from last year.
• Lake Ontario is down 17 inches from last year.
• And Lake St. Clair, not considered a "Great Lake," is also down 11 inches from last year.
The drop is the result of decreased precipitation and snow accumulation in recent years. The snowpack is the main recharging element for Superior and Huron. When the snows melt, they regularly bring the lake levels back up.
The U.S. Army Corps makes six-month projections on where the lake levels will be. By July, forecasters predict Lake Michigan/Huron will be 20 to 22 inches below their historical averages. Lake St. Clair will be within 5 to 12 inches of its all-time average and Erie will be within 2 to 9 inches, as will Superior.
Lake Ontario should fare the best, coming within "a few inches" of its historical levels. That's something many residents would like to see more of.
h2o
Here is some more info on Lake Michigan levels and fluctuations I was reading on the DNR site.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/water/lake_michigan/coastal/lake_levelfluc.html
LAKE MICHIGAN - Lake Level Fluctuations
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Fluctuations in Great Lakes water levels have occurred continually since the Great Lakes formed at the end of the Ice Age. Lake levels can affect the extent of shoreline erosion and shoreline property damage, riparian interests (beach widths and public access), dredging and shipping (depth of navigation channels), construction of marinas and other water dependent facilities, drinking water intakes, cooling water intakes for steel mills and electric generating stations, wetland acreage, and coastal flooding. Lake level records have been kept for "Lake Michigan/Huron" at various gage stations around these lakes since 1860. The "monthly average" lake levels presented below cover only the time period from 1918 to present.
The water levels presented below are obtained by "averaging" the recorded water levels of a representative network of gages located around both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. This is done because Lake Michigan/Huron is hydraulically considered to be one body of water, connected by the Straits of Mackinac at the north end of the two lakes.
The "lowest" monthly average lake level for the representative network of gages on Lake Michigan/Huron, 576.05 feet IGLD 1985 International Great Lakes Datum, occurred in March 1964. The "highest" monthly average lake level for the network of gages, 582.35 feet IGLD 1985, occurred in October 1986. This is a difference of 6.30 feet in water level elevation since records have been kept.
If you look at the monthly averages of each of the "individual" gage stations around the two lakes, the all time "highest monthly average" lake level for a gage station, 582.64 feet IGLD 1985, occurred on Lake Huron at the Harbor Beach, Michigan gage in June 1886.
Expected Lake Level This Week:
If you are interested in the "expected lake level" for this week, go to the following Detroit Corps of Engineers web site, and under the topic "Water Level Forecasts" click on "weekly".
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/greatlakes/hh/greatlakeswaterlevels/
This provides a "weekly data summary" of the representative gage stations around Lake Michigan/Huron and gives an estimate of the present lake level for the week. While this information is very preliminary, this "expected lake level" might be used as a "reference elevation" to estimate where the "Ordinary High Watermark (OHW)" elevation of State jurisdiction is located on the beach face.
http://www.in.gov/dnr/water/lake_michigan/coastal/ord_hwm.html
The Ordinary High Watermark is used in Indiana to define the separation between private ownership above, and public ownership (State property) below the OHW on the beach. The OHW elevation is used for regulatory (State permitting) and public access determinations.
Lake Michigan Lake Levels (Graphs and Tables)
Lake Level Graph 1996-2008 (pdf file)
Lake Level Graph 1960-2008 (pdf file)
Water Level Table 1981-2008 Lake Michigan (pdf file)
Water Level Table 1951-1980 Lake Michigan (pdf file)
Water Level Table 1918-1950 Lake Michigan (pdf file)
Water Level Table Record Max. Min. Mean Lake Michigan (pdf file)
Water Level Graph 1918-2002 Historic Lake Michigan (pdf file)
Whole Water Level Table 1918-2004 Lake Michigan (pdf file)
Historical Lake Level Graph 1860-1969 Milwaukee Gage (pdf file
Historical Water Level Table 1860-1969 Milwaukee Gage (pdf file