Not Looking Good For Great Lakes Water Levels!

[Ratickle]

Great Lakes boaters and shippers to likely face record-low water levels into 2013

MUSKEGON, MI – Mariners – both commercial and recreational – are being warned that the Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior water levels are dangerously close to all-time record lows.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday provided estimates that if the current trend of Great Lakes water level drops continue, the three upper lakes – Michigan, Huron and Superior – will hit historic lows later this fall or in early 2013.

The biggest factor in Great Lake water levels is the region's climate, according to Keith Kompoltowicz, chief hydrologist for the Army Corps' Detroit District Office. A combination of a mild winter and little snow last year with a hot summer and little rain this year has brought about the current lake conditions, he said.

"We are seeing much lower water levels than we had last year and that is the case all over the Great Lakes," Kompoltowicz said.

Even the above average rain falls in the past month have not changed the direction of lake levels, Kompoltowicz said. The Great Lakes basin will need a typical winter with much more snow than last year to stem the likely, he said.

Great Lakes boaters and shippers to likely face record-low water levels into 2013 | MLive.com

This pic is of the south side of the inlet at Muskegon Lake where people anchor and raft up. July 2011 vs October 2012.




http://photos.mlive.com/muskegonchro...egon_l_10.html