Here is NOAA current and historical data on Great Lakes Water Levels: http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/now/wlevels/levels.html
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Interesting stuff
Greg: This is very interesting stuff. We do not have this type of problem in our area (California Delta). We have fresh water comming down the rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains that feed the rivers where we sail. We have a tidal influence from the ocean (S.F. Bay) that controls the water levels. If the winters are dry we end up with salt or brackish water farther up into the delta area. The sailing is not affected by these droughts but the eco systems are. The farmers depend on the fresh water for irrigation of their crops and the aquatic life will migrate farther upstream. The problem we have had over the last few years has to do with the excess amounts of water that has come downstream from the mountains. This has caused silting in the harbors and rivers. The problem has been mostly in the harbor entrances. Our harbor was dredged at the cost of $80,000 last year. Now we know why berthing costs so much. How long will it take to make up $80k is lost profit?
Greg: This is very interesting stuff. We do not have this type of problem in our area (California Delta). We have fresh water comming down the rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains that feed the rivers where we sail. We have a tidal influence from the ocean (S.F. Bay) that controls the water levels. If the winters are dry we end up with salt or brackish water farther up into the delta area. The sailing is not affected by these droughts but the eco systems are. The farmers depend on the fresh water for irrigation of their crops and the aquatic life will migrate farther upstream. The problem we have had over the last few years has to do with the excess amounts of water that has come downstream from the mountains. This has caused silting in the harbors and rivers. The problem has been mostly in the harbor entrances. Our harbor was dredged at the cost of $80,000 last year. Now we know why berthing costs so much. How long will it take to make up $80k is lost profit?
T
terry dornan
the sky is not falling
Having lived on the Great Lakes my entire life _ almost 50 years, and this includes upper and lower lake Michigan, Lake St Claire and Lake Erie. I have seen these ups and downs before. In the early 1960's you could almost walk (what seemed to be ) half way to Kelley's Island in Ohio. In 1972 the same area (The Sandusky Bay Area) was flooding horrifically due to high lake levels. In 1984 Low Levels were about equal to what they are presently. In 1986 I watched three of my neighbor's homes fall into Lake Michigan, North of the Illinois State Line, due to high lake levels. I have heard the sky is falling (or not falling) due to-- the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway, Nuclear Arms Testing, Global Cooling, Global Warming, Deforestation in the Rain Forest and in Michigan, and the Martians are Stealing The Water. When I look at the NOAA charts we seem to be just about on the mean water level. I am and have always been an active environmentalist, in fact I have worked in the industry since 1974. I think we should do everything possible to avoid prolonged air quality problems, and study the effects of weather trends. However lets not use every event (such as a natural cyclic event) to jump on soap boxes and generate undo concern. Two driving influences seem to scream for attention each time there is a fluctuation in Lake Levels, high or low. One is the need for government agencies to seize the opportunity to spend money and fund research. The second is the reaction of the real-estate market. I know people that at this date are reacting furiously, because canals behind their new condominium are empty. Reminds me of the same reactions when I observed my neighbors watch their houses float away. Four years ago when the lake levels where up and you could run a boat up to the back yard on any ditch you could get the local DNR to Permit. Development Firms and little blonde real-estate girls in red jeep Cherokees, ran around and said what a great deal x$$$$$$ / 1/4 acre was because the area is so hot. The mean lake levels where published then exactly as they are right now. Those little grassy patches mean marshland not seascape. My point is very simple, I do not think that government funding need be spent to enhance property values of developments that have been depressed as a result of profiteering in an uneducated market. Dredging has always been a way of life in the great lakes, I can remember having trouble getting runabouts out of West Harbor in Lake Erie, much less a sailboat. Normal dredging pratices for commercial trade on commercial waterways of the Great Lakes have long been established. Private marinas have funded dredging through revenues collected. Calls for state and federal funding to dredge private marinas is both unfair to the general public and to long established operators that have foreseen and planned for such activities. The Jet Steam moves a little south, we get some rain, some snow, and in 2 years the same people ranting about low levels will be demanding explanations for why the Corps of Engineers did not use the low level opportunities to build improved break water systems. Please leave global politics and economics out of our Great Lakes. Or maybe better yet --- the next research program to be funded, NOAA, NASA, whoever has to write a money back guarantee, when they are done lake levels jump up 2 feet or they send the funding back to the American Public.
Having lived on the Great Lakes my entire life _ almost 50 years, and this includes upper and lower lake Michigan, Lake St Claire and Lake Erie. I have seen these ups and downs before. In the early 1960's you could almost walk (what seemed to be ) half way to Kelley's Island in Ohio. In 1972 the same area (The Sandusky Bay Area) was flooding horrifically due to high lake levels. In 1984 Low Levels were about equal to what they are presently. In 1986 I watched three of my neighbor's homes fall into Lake Michigan, North of the Illinois State Line, due to high lake levels. I have heard the sky is falling (or not falling) due to-- the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway, Nuclear Arms Testing, Global Cooling, Global Warming, Deforestation in the Rain Forest and in Michigan, and the Martians are Stealing The Water. When I look at the NOAA charts we seem to be just about on the mean water level. I am and have always been an active environmentalist, in fact I have worked in the industry since 1974. I think we should do everything possible to avoid prolonged air quality problems, and study the effects of weather trends. However lets not use every event (such as a natural cyclic event) to jump on soap boxes and generate undo concern. Two driving influences seem to scream for attention each time there is a fluctuation in Lake Levels, high or low. One is the need for government agencies to seize the opportunity to spend money and fund research. The second is the reaction of the real-estate market. I know people that at this date are reacting furiously, because canals behind their new condominium are empty. Reminds me of the same reactions when I observed my neighbors watch their houses float away. Four years ago when the lake levels where up and you could run a boat up to the back yard on any ditch you could get the local DNR to Permit. Development Firms and little blonde real-estate girls in red jeep Cherokees, ran around and said what a great deal x$$$$$$ / 1/4 acre was because the area is so hot. The mean lake levels where published then exactly as they are right now. Those little grassy patches mean marshland not seascape. My point is very simple, I do not think that government funding need be spent to enhance property values of developments that have been depressed as a result of profiteering in an uneducated market. Dredging has always been a way of life in the great lakes, I can remember having trouble getting runabouts out of West Harbor in Lake Erie, much less a sailboat. Normal dredging pratices for commercial trade on commercial waterways of the Great Lakes have long been established. Private marinas have funded dredging through revenues collected. Calls for state and federal funding to dredge private marinas is both unfair to the general public and to long established operators that have foreseen and planned for such activities. The Jet Steam moves a little south, we get some rain, some snow, and in 2 years the same people ranting about low levels will be demanding explanations for why the Corps of Engineers did not use the low level opportunities to build improved break water systems. Please leave global politics and economics out of our Great Lakes. Or maybe better yet --- the next research program to be funded, NOAA, NASA, whoever has to write a money back guarantee, when they are done lake levels jump up 2 feet or they send the funding back to the American Public.
R
Russ King
Interesting...
I saw a chart of Lake Ontario mean annual water levels in a maritime museum in Prince Edward County (Ontario) a few years ago. It was easier to see the long-term effects on that chart (he was complaining how water levels had dropped since the St. Lawrence Seaway had opened). I'm hearing quite a bit about the effects of water levels in the Great Lakes on the Canadian Weather Channel. When water levels drop one inch, the freighters' have to lighten their load by 100 tonnes or so. The most interesting part of the hydrographic charts is a) the obvious effect of the 1930's drought, and b) the cyclical nature (regular, periodic) of droughts.
I saw a chart of Lake Ontario mean annual water levels in a maritime museum in Prince Edward County (Ontario) a few years ago. It was easier to see the long-term effects on that chart (he was complaining how water levels had dropped since the St. Lawrence Seaway had opened). I'm hearing quite a bit about the effects of water levels in the Great Lakes on the Canadian Weather Channel. When water levels drop one inch, the freighters' have to lighten their load by 100 tonnes or so. The most interesting part of the hydrographic charts is a) the obvious effect of the 1930's drought, and b) the cyclical nature (regular, periodic) of droughts.
G
Greg
So who said the sky was falling?
The reason I shared the URL on Great Lakes levels was because I trailer my 26' Hunter and fluctuating lake levels determine which public ramps are usable. Thought other people launching small boats might fine the information useful. Anything else that was read into my post is your stuff, not mine. Greg
The reason I shared the URL on Great Lakes levels was because I trailer my 26' Hunter and fluctuating lake levels determine which public ramps are usable. Thought other people launching small boats might fine the information useful. Anything else that was read into my post is your stuff, not mine. Greg
B
Bob England
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