Lake Michigan - Boating experts call low-water levels a disaster

DOUGLAS, Mich. (WZZM) - Boating experts along the Lakeshore call low-water levels a disaster that's getting worse all the time.

R.J. Peterson, the owner of Tower Marina in Saugatuck, says low water levels are causing harbors to disappear in the Saugatuck-Douglas area. Now, Peterson is working with Gov. Snyder on finding a solution to the problem.

Along parts of the Kalamazoo River where boats used to set sail, now birds stand on dry land.

"Its been totally neglected," says Peterson.

Peterson says he spends $100,000 on dredging the harbor, but it's never enough.

"There was no one in the state of Michigan who felt the slightest responsibility for these harbors," says Peterson.

Peterson arranged for WZZM 13 to go on a boat with the dredge operator to see the problem first hand. On the river, a tugboat had been stranded for years and there were several large sandbars. Peterson says just a year ago small boats were docking, where one of the sandbars has now emerged.

Peterson, who's been appointed by Gov. Snyder to the Michigan Waterways Commission, is pushing for a state department in charge of maintaining the harbors.

"In a city when you have a snow storm there's a way of taking care of it, but here our disaster of low-water levels has exposed all the siltation and there's no way to take care of it," says Peterson.

Peterson eventually wants man-made islands built.

"It would require engineering and reconfiguration of the lake," says Peterson.

Peterson says that project would allow the silt to flow out into Lake Michigan.

Peterson will meet with the Michigan Waterways Commission on Friday. The cities of Saugatuck and Douglas have recently created a Harbor Authority. Saugatuck's city manager released a statement saying, " A dredging plan has been prepared and funding sources are currently being explored."

Boating experts call low-water levels a disaster | wzzm13.com

fox17 ran a story the same night about the lake levels. man it is not looking good. sure glad i got the dux boat so i can still boat around grand haven.

todd

It is sad how we keep getting f'd on anything and everything

Douglas marine / Skater has been bringing there boats to Holland for the last few years now................ because of the water level which actually is almost a stones throw from my house .......................Dam .......maybe i should have kept that a secret hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm .

I cannot believe how low the water is getting. Daryl walked from his place to almost the end of A dock at the anchorage.......

in boots....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ratickle

I cannot believe how low the water is getting. Daryl walked from his place to almost the end of A dock at the anchorage.......

in boots....

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I know yesterday i walked down that two track next to that little white cottage down the road from Daryl's place and could not believe how shallow it really is .

Yeah, there are seagulls on land in the middle of the lake!!!!

sheri and i went out to grand haven yesterday and checked out 3 of the ship wrecks that have surfaced near the boat ramp. was pretty neat to see them. i had seen a 4th one just up from the power plant the first part of october. the island between grand isle and the holiday inn is almost doubled in size, since last year.

todd

Hotrod2 was saying this was a good year to be in the outdrive repair business. :eek:

Low lake levels may affect North Shore boating, beachgoing
BY STEVE SCHERING
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
February 25, 2013 9:40AM


Record low water levels in Lake Michigan could have an impact during the summer beach season. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~
WINNETKA — A variety of weather patterns combined with the severe drought the Midwest has seen may mean drastic changes for boaters and beachgoers in the north shore this summer.

During a presentation with Jon Shabica of Shabica & Associates, Inc. Feb. 21 it was revealed the water levels in Lake Michigan are down more than five feet since 1997.

“You can walk offshore in some spots 50 to 100 feet out and still be in waist-deep water,” Shabica said. “Since about June of last summer we’re about 17 inches down in lake level.”

The meeting was well attended, mostly by boaters, who had several questions about the impact the low lake levels may have on them getting their boats in and out of the water.

“One of the issues we have is a lot of the boat launching facilities were not designed to deal with a lake level like this,” Shabica said. “We anticipate we’ll have significant launching hazards with the low lake level.”

Shabica said the swimming boundaries at Elder Lane Beach currently are only at waist level. One option would be to move them further out, but that may put swimmers in higher traffic boating areas.

“Unfortunately with low lake levels is (an increase) in the amount of people who are going to get hurt,” Shabica said. “If you’re water skiing offshore you should be in at least eight feet of water.”

The lack of cold weather, as well as a very dry 2012, have contributed to the water loss. Typically ice that sits on top of the lake slows evaporation, but is noticeably absent with warmer temperatures.

“We need colder winters and more precipitation,” Shabica said.

Unique weather patterns, such as the effects of Hurricane Sandy, have also led to increased sand levels on area beaches. Shabica said winds from the northeast are ideal for erosion, but winds from Sandy came straight out of the north and pushed deep-water sand from Door County to the lake’s southernmost beaches.

Dredging and sand removal are costly, temporary fixes and Shabica said the Park District is looking at a long-term plan with regard to Winnetka’s beaches and the Lloyd boat launch.

Josh Mark of the Winnetka Yacht Club said recent high winds combined with low water levels he’s seen would affect launching even a small sailboat.

“It would be very difficult to get a Sunfish off the beach,” Mark said. “It was very frightening.”

Shabica collected email addresses and contact info from concerned sailors and pledged to keep them informed of any issues that may arise. He said one or two good storms might make the meeting “a moot point,” but wanted people to be ready.

“You’re going to have to note that your habits may need to change,” Shabica said. “We’re not going to open the ramp unless we can make it safe and usable. We’d like to have a minimum of three feet (of water). The ramp has a big question mark right now.”

If the Lloyd launch is unable to be used boaters may be directed to other launches in Evanston, Chicago, Waukegan or North Point Marina.


http://wilmette.suntimes.com/news/18...eachgoing.html

Great Lakes water level slump over, future unclear

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Two unusually wet years have finally ended the lengthiest period on record of low Great Lakes water levels — a blessing for long-suffering cargo shippers and recreational boaters — although scientists said Tuesday it's uncertain whether the recovery is temporary or heralds a trend.

Four of the giant lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie — were above their average monthly levels in November, while Lake Ontario was slightly below. In September, all five were simultaneously above average for the first time since the drop-off began in the late 1990s. A newly released forecast predicts little change over the next six months.

It's a dramatic and remarkably swift rebound from January 2013, when Michigan and Huron — which are linked and have the same level — reached their lowest point since the government began keeping records nearly a century earlier. The others were mired in a prolonged slump, although Ontario was better off because hydropower dams help regulate its ups and downs.

"On Superior, Michigan and Huron, we haven't seen two-year water level increases of this magnitude" in recorded history, said Keith Kompoltowicz, a hydrologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district office in Detroit.

The wild swing illustrates the uncertainty that may confront the eight states and two Canadian provinces where the lakes are an economic pillar and source of drinking water for more than 30 million people.

Entire Article: http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/top...ear/ar-BBgCU3S

I was down at the lake a few days ago at a friends place. The water was over 50' from his seawall the beginning of last summer. Now it's back up and lapping at the seawall, no more beach between the water and wall. It's back up to where it was ten years ago almost.

How about now?

Boosted by rain, Lake Michigan approaches 20-year high water level

Boosted by above-average rainfall this spring, Lake Michigan is on pace to swell to its highest water level in two decades.

The rising water, which could climb more than 1 1/2 feet above its long-term average this month, has swallowed up mounds of beach along Illinois' shoreline and created an opportunity for taller, stronger waves that could accelerate erosion. With forecasts suggesting Lake Michigan could remain high through the next six months, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, communities will likely be on guard for powerful autumn storms that could pulverize lakefront property.

The surge was brought on, in part, by an unexpected deluge this spring, when Chicago saw 43 percent more precipitation than usual, including an April with nearly double the normal rainfall, according to data from the National Weather Service.

"We always think of the Great Lakes as responding very slowly to these events, but they can actually be moving rather quickly," said Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel.

During 15 years of persistently low levels, Lake Michigan dipped to a record low in January 2013. In a dramatic reversal, two years later it rebounded nearly 4 feet, largely because of increased ice cover from back-to-back polar vortex winters that limited evaporation. Lake levels have continued to be elevated, though they are still 2 feet below the record high set in 1986.

Periods of high and low lake levels have drawbacks, said Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology for the Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District.

"For a decade and a half, we had impacts from low lake levels, and those issues are mainly access-related," Kompoltowicz said. "You can't get your boat into the harbor. A commercial vessel carries less cargo because of insufficient depth. There's much more shoreline exposed which may increase the amount of unsightly vegetation that grows.

"Flip the switch to high levels, and the issues shift to more of a property angle," he said. Bigger waves increase erosion and flooding, and they carry the potential for structures to be damaged.

Water levels on all five Great Lakes — the world's largest system of freshwater lakes — currently exceed their historical average.

Lakes Michigan, Huron, Superior and Erie are expected to reach their highest average monthly levels since the late 1990s, while Lake Ontario rose in May to its highest average mark since agencies began keeping records in 1918, the Army Corps announced this week.

As the water levels have risen, the shrinking beaches and bigger waves haven't escaped the notice of local residents.

Ihor Hulovatyy, who moved to Chicago from Ukraine in 2012, said he goes for a swim every morning before work. Even in the winter, he takes a quick dip in the bracing water, or if the lake is iced over, simply stands in the snow. Hulovatyy, who lives in the Near North neighborhood, said because there was less ice this winter, he was able to spend more mornings in the water.

"The water isn't as cold as before," he said Wednesday, moments after getting out of the lake at Oak Street Beach. "But I feel that the waves are much stronger this year."

Ron Guinazzo, who was walking up and down the beach with his metal detector looking for coins in the sand, agreed. The beaches are getting shorter, washed away by waves and sinking into the lake, he said.

The Great Lakes water levels generally peak in the summer after they are nourished by runoff from melting snow and rain in spring. So, forecasts initially predicted a slight decline in lake levels this summer compared with last year, because of mild winter temperatures and relatively little snowfall and ice cover.

However, experts found themselves surprised when "the faucet turned on" over the Great Lakes region in April and May, Kompolowicz said.

Chicago saw 13.7 inches of precipitation during the spring, more than 4 inches above normal, according to the National Weather Service. The downpours appear to be continuing with half an inch of rain recorded at O'Hare International Airport and 1 inch at Midway Airport on Wednesday.

Angel, the climatologist, said the sizable bump in Great lakes water levels is connected to an increase in heavy rainfall documented across the area. Springtime in Illinois has become about 15 percent wetter over the last century, a trend Angel attributes to climate change.

"The concept is that as you warm up the atmosphere, it is able to hold more water and the next thunderstorm can then take that moisture," he said. "So there is a direct link between these heavy rainfalls and climate change."

Experts also suspect lake evaporation was stunted over the winter. Usually, ice cover dictates how much evaporation can occur, but heavy cloud cover and warmer air temperatures likely contributed to less evaporation. Peak evaporation usually happens in late fall, when arctic air meets the relatively warm surface water. But last winter was not that cold, Kompolowicz said.

"It's often a battle between how much water is coming in versus how much is leaving," he said.

Forecasts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicate Lake Michigan levels will stay above their historic average heading into the fall, a season in which powerful storms have historically punished the Illinois shoreline.
During the 2014 Halloween storm, when lake levels were about a foot lower, winds whipped up 20-foot waves, which flooded Lake Shore Drive and tore away large slabs of asphalt along the Lakefront Trail on the Near North Side.

Pointing to the water lapping at the side of a concrete berm, Guinazzo said he recalled seeing 20-foot waves washing onto Lake Shore several years ago.

"If we get those storms now, the people on the other side of the road will be in trouble."

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...615-story.html

Great Lakes water levels this summer expected to be highest in decades

By The Associated Press |

DETROIT — A wet spring season has experts predicting that summer water levels for the Great Lakes could be higher than normal and above last year’s mark through early fall.
The Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit district announced Monday in its six-month water level forecast that summer water levels on lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair and Erie will be at their highest since 1996-1998.

“Above average precipitation on the Great Lakes and very wet conditions in the months of April and May pushed levels higher than originally forecasted,” said Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of Watershed Hydrology at the Army Corps Detroit District.

The group’s forecast data also show that as of Sunday, Lake Ontario is up nearly 3 feet from the level it was at this time last year. The lake exceeded its highest elevation ever for June, which was set in 1952.

Army Corps officials said that the water levels on Ontario are expected to continue this month before they begin their seasonal decline.

“It would be great for us if water levels stayed stable, but that never seems to happen,” said Larry Taunt, commodore for the Muskegon Yacht Club, which may soon need to raise its fixed docks to keep them above the water line at a cost of about $15,000.

“We’re not there yet, but we are looking at that,” he said.

The Army Corps works with Environment and Climate Change Canada to release the official six-month forecast.

Year-round recording of Great Lakes water levels has occurred since 1918.

Well, now we're back to 1987 when the houses were falling into the lakes cause the water was so high.......

Feast or famine