Lake level down 11" this year...

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Rotary- I suspect jigngrub is responding to comments you made like this one-

> I'm pretty sure in a lot of places that water front property just became worthless.

A bit over dramatic as time will likely cure any short term fluctuations. And I have a similar sentiment- I don't shed any tears for people who bought waterfront property thinking it would never change. The place I grew up along lake Michigan had home owners crying to anyone who would listen how the erosion was encroaching on their precious homes and the state or feds HAD to do something to stop it.

Yeah, the point of my comment in context was, that if the Chesapeake lost 12" of water we would hear about it.

I also don't shed any tears for those people that bought/built the million dollar mansion on the sand dunes along Lake Michigan. You know that story about building a house on sand? I also grew up near the shores of Lake Michigan and that parable was all I could think about when I would hear about it on the news.

Also, note that I have not nor do I intend to complain like this is something I expect the government to "fix". I acknowledge and fully accept that this is predominately a cyclic thing that we have, at best, negligable control over.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

People can actually use times of low water to their advantage.

Now would be a good time to build that seawall to prevent erosion if you don't have one, or extend your launch ramp and work on docks and piers. Coffer damming and pumping is expensive and you can save a lot of money on a building project if you don't have to do it where you normally would.

Just think, when the floods come... not only will businesses suffer, but there will be property damage as wel...l making flooding much worse than low water times.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Great minds think alike. I just hope I can get the neccessary permits and have the funds available to make many of the improvements you mentioned. I'd especially like to get our launch ramp improved.

I'm not too concerned about flooding. We are currently 70" below the highest recorded water level in 1986. The top of my seawall is about 72" above our current water level. If it comes to that, well, I can't say I'd be happy but quite honestly in my mind it is easier to deal with too much water than not enough.

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Ok, I guess I am thankful it's not down 12"

LK

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Living and using the great lakes as my primary pleasure water, and owning lakefront residential property, I can share a view. For me the lower levels are just fine, I now have some really nice sandy beach, and it increases my land value and usage too. For commercial guys this problem of low water cycles is real, and water is being diverted and used in so many ways it's hard to measure and manage. Nestle one of the biggest bottlers of water is located right here in Michigan and many speculate that the water tables in Michigan's great lakes are being affected by them and many other municipal entities. Others think there are pipelines that are feeding western states that are depending on other locations to operate the entire city water needs.
I have seen the high water marks in the cycles these lakes have, but I admit, I have never seen it this low, in my 52 years of living here. Commercial dredging of the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, so large cargo hauling boats can carry larger loads (more $$$) is suspected as one culprit that removes water at astronomical amounts. They have deepened and widened these shipping lanes with little regard to long term effects. This natural resource is being abused and politicians are concerned with today, they care not about what is right or correct, long term. So yes all our water could be flowing to Erie, Ontario, and the ocean, but it's going other places too. I hope these guys who depend on the level to continue their businesses get some form of relief, but I cant see how. Very tough issue to solve, especially when we have already granted private industry to steal and sell this water for little or no cost to them.

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

It seems to me, that if a 12 INCH drop is grounding sailboats, somebody did some really bad planning.

In late Summer I went to Blue Mesa Reservoir, in western Colorado. At that time they were down about 50 feet. I asked if there would be a problem with getting a slip, and their reply was "No WAY. In 2003 we were down 82 feet and we were still in full operation."

 

[QC]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Yeah, us Western boaters don't get this. We've dealt with 80 - 120 ft. down at Lake Mead for almost 10 years . . . Doesn't change their predicament though. Good luck with that

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

I have no data to back it up but I suspect the primary reason is natural variation. No doubt humans are diverting ever more water from the lakes but the amount of water and time period would require an astronomical diversion. The extreme drought throughout the region and large watershed area feeding the lakes is more likely the cause.

I recall a few years back seeing surveys showing the size of the Ogalala (sp?) reservior then versus 25 years prior. It was something like 1/2 the size! This is the primary underground reservior that feeds most of the agriculture in the midwest. It's being sucked dry at an alarming pace.

I live very close to the Merrimac river. The tides significantly affect the water height even 5 miles up river. Many boats are moored well off shore and people use tenders to reach them. For those people, it's not a temporary condition but they survive just fine and the property values do not seem to be affected much by it...

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Yeah. Reservoirs and the very low levels sucks. I can only have nightmares about what would happen if/when our levels drop another 12"...let alone 10 ft.

It isn't poor planning that we are having issues. It is geography.

When you dam a river and fill the steep walled valley with water you have several hundred feet of water to work with. When you have known and planned fluctuations of dozens of feet you build the infastructure to suit. When you have an uplanned drop of 60' you move the docks build longer ramps and continue life.

When you have a natural river or delta flowing into a lake that has surface area of 45,300 sqaure miles and the water has only fluctuated 70" since records were being kept, you build the infastructure to suit. When you are 29" below the long term average you start running into issues.

Out front of my place the lake freighters (1000' x 100') need a minimum of 28' of water. The channel is 30' deep...mostly because the ship traffic keeps in cleared. Between the end of my dock and the channel it goes from 4' to 10' on a gradual slope. Then drops at the edge of the channel. If I have less than 40" of water, I'm pretty much out of business.

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

It seems to me, that if a 12 INCH drop is grounding sailboats, somebody did some really bad planning.

11" is just from this spring, They are WAY low over the last few years.

LK

 

[chrisf695]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

The lake i live on is over 2ft below water level... its scary!!!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

How about 12 Feet!?

... and in case y'all haven't noticed, you're not alone. There are a lot of marinas in the midwest that're closed because of the drought and low water levels.

Maybe the water levels in the great lakes will continue to fall in the coming years and it'll make 2012 look like a good year?

 

[laserbrn]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

It seems to me that there is a documented history of the lakes water levels getting down this in the past without conspiracy theories about Nestle bottling water, other cities and municipalities using the resource, etc.

Water is a resource that belongs to many more than the people that live near the lake and/or have beach front/marina property. I would be more concerned with the long term availability of an important freshwater supply than I am about the economic impact to shipping companies and marina owners. In that long term assessment we'd certainly needn't worry or make hasty action simply because the water level returned to a level as low as it was 40 years ago. We'll see what happens this winter and if it doesn't return then, yes, it would be a cause for alarm.

Out of curiosity since we are talking about an 11" drop since spring...which is arbitrary, how did the highest level in spring compare with the highest level in the previous spring(s)?

 

[backyardhockey3]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

FYI from todays Chicago Trib (The editors must read Iboats

www.chicagotribune.com/.../ct-met-lake-michigan-water-drop-20121019,0, 6293838.story?...

 

[laserbrn]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

FYI from todays Chicago Trib (The editors must read Iboats

www.chicagotribune.com/.../ct-met-lake-michigan-water-drop-20121019,0, 6293838.story?...

Worst attempt to make a link in internet history .

I eventually searched for the article, but you have to be a newspaper subscriber. I don't know why these dummies don't realize you make revenue on the internet through advertising, not through charging subscription fees. You aren't providing an "exclusive" article, it's just that now you've limited your audience! SMH.

 

[backyardhockey3]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Yeah, us Western boaters don't get this. We've dealt with 80 - 120 ft. down at Lake Mead for almost 10 years . . . Doesn't change their predicament though. Good luck with that

I'm always fasinated by those changes of level. And how it exposes the canyons.

But we have delt with a 6 foot high-low range since any of us have been alive. This is over thousands of miles of coast. So this might be the brink of a new era. And change is almost always bad!

 

[r.j.dawg]

Re: Lake level down 11" this year...

Worst attempt to make a link in internet history .

I eventually searched for the article, but you have to be a newspaper subscriber. I don't know why these dummies don't realize you make revenue on the internet through advertising, not through charging subscription fees. You aren't providing an "exclusive" article, it's just that now you've limited your audience! SMH.

Here ya go. This works.