Great Lakes Water Levels

Down the plug 'ole

Water levels in the Great Lakes, particularly Lakes Michigan and Huron, are dropping severely. This isn't exactly news to boaters, marina operators and cottagers in the region, who have been complaining about the reduction in depths for years.

The Georgian Bay Association hired the internationally renowned hydrological firm Baird & Associates, to look at water levels, and they confirmed that levels are continuing to drop. Extensive reviews by the association's Bill Bialkowski further reinforces the fact that levels in the Bay itself are on a continual downward trend, even though other lakes have experienced the normal up and down cycles.

As well, the Baird Report funded by GBA Foundation confirms GBA's water levels committee findings ; ongoing erosion and shoreline alterations at outflow of Lake Huron into St. Clair River is increasing conveyance capacity and is lowering Lakes Michigan and Huron.

What to do? When the US Army Corp of Engineers dredged the St Clair channel in the 1960s (to enable the passage of larger commercial vessels), they intended to reinforce the river bottom to prevent erosion. This was never done. Suggestions aired recently revolve around depositing a great quantity of large rocks in the channel for this purpose.

Seems to me they have hit upon something .... to my personal (blush) knowledge, Georgian Bay is full of such rocks and they are all the more evident due to the loss of water. Blasting out some of the ones I've "touched" upon over the years and dumping them in the St Clair river might just solve two problems at one fell swoop.

To what extent the level of Georgian Bay would be further reduced by removing all the problem (for sailors) rocks, is beyond my science. Just a thought.

Well, the International Joint Commission has now decided to bring its water level study forward by a year or so. Maybe they will discover the answer.


CBC Report - Who pulled the plug on Lake Huron?