Lake Huron level up a foot over last year

Spiel · April 3, 2009

Lake Huron level up a foot over last year

April 1, 2009

LAKE HURON-The level of Lake Huron is a foot higher than it was last year at this time and nearly two feet higher than it was in 1964.

That's quite a turnaround from just two years ago, when the lake dipped to within three inches of its all-time low and many feared a new record for shallowness might be set.

As March drew to a close, Lakes Huron and Michigan had risen 31 centimetres (12.2 inches) above last year's measurement for the same date, and were 51 centimetres (20 inches) above their mid-'60s nadir, according to data from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The lakes-which function as one system, being connected by the Straits of Mackinac-are still below average, but only marginally so. As April begins, these big bodies of water are just 23 centimetres, or nine inches, shy of their long-term mean, which is as close as they've been to normal in years.

Lake Superior is also on the rise, up 13 centimetres (five inches) from a year ago, and just 15 centimetres (six inches) short of its long-term average for this time of year.

This also, of course, bodes well for Lake Huron, as the mighty lake to the northwest contributes a massive amount of H20 to its downstream neighbour via the St. Mary's River. The average annual outflow from Lake Superior into Lake Huron is 2,000 cubic metres-70,600 cubic feet-of water per second.

Great Lakes experts credit two snowy winters for an increased supply of water to the basin and a reversal of the dwindling trend experienced through most of this decade.

As promising as this is, there remain disconcerting signs that the lakes may not continue to swell over the long run, however, unless climate change and structural issues are addressed.

According to a recent story from the Associated Press, scientists affiliated with the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, are alarmed by shrinking ice cover on the lakes, which in turn leads to lower lake levels due to increased evaporation over the winter months.

These researchers say the ice cover on the Great Lakes has shrunk by more than 30 percent since the 1970s, a development that is particularly noticeable in the deepest parts of Huron, Michigan, and Superior.

The Georgian Bay Association (GBA), meanwhile, continues to bemoan what it calls "a staggering daily loss" of Lake Huron water through the St. Clair River, which has been deepened and widened by dredging and erosion.

In the estimation of the GBA, six billion extra gallons are flushed from Huron each day because of changes over the past two decades to the shipping channel at the lake's outlet. "This represents a 5 percent increase in outflow!" the association charges in its spring newsletter, adding that this is a non-renewable loss of water.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) has been examining the St. Clair situation as part of a five-year study of the Upper Great Lakes, and is expected to share its findings in late April, according to the GBA. A public comment period will follow, although it "looks as if there will be only one Georgian Bay public meeting, which will probably be held sometime in June," the association reports.

The IJC researchers have acknowledged an increase in conveyance capacity through the St. Clair River, the cottagers' association says, and it is imperative for "everyone who cares about the bay (to) attend the June public meeting and send in written comments in support of encouraging the IJC finally, after 90 years of neglect, to do the right thing."