high water?

Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Never mind the fact that it would be a huge engineering challenge to develop a means of transporting perhaps trillions of gallons of fresh water to any of the states west of the rockies.
Perhaps it would be easier to develop a Star Trek like “transporter”. Beam the lake over Scotty.

Really only need to get the water into the Colorado River. The river can carry the water through to the canal that moves water to LA.

We pump oil north south across the country maybe water will be next. Maybe along the way we could add a few storage lakes for sailors to use in the plains.
 
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May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
lakes michigan/huron are 18" higher today than one year ago! 5 and 1/2 ft higher than this date in 2013.
i'm thinking a five year plan for us shore line residents is in order. around door county it is obvious that the lake was10' to 12' feet higher for quite a long time. my house was built just above the ancient bank. this rising in level, at this rate, shows no sign of stopping for years to come.
'life is change'
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
So when your home was built the Lake was 10-12 feet higher then today?
The lake receded from then to now?
When was the home built?
 
Sep 22, 2018
1,869
Hunter 216 Kingston
lakes michigan/huron are 18" higher today
Lake Ontario is also substantially above “average”. Total supply is again well above outflow and well above average. Guess I should get started building the “ark” again ;)

28031800-527B-4A1B-8FE1-E413EAA27D04.png
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
no the water was near where it is today. the house was finished in 1870. blt by great great grandfather. that said, lake michigan is only 10,000 years old and the shoreline around door county clearly shows that the level was 10 to 12 feet higher for an extended period of time. that it, the water, cut into the rocks of the niagara escarpment for a very long time. same as here in nw ohio, its easy to see in the terrain that the old shores of lake erie were 40 miles west of here. so, when that was i have no knowledge, but i have watched, in my life time, in sturge, developers take swamp that all the locals knew to be useless, and put up high end housing during low water years and sell for top money. building on shoreline sand dunes has been popular too for the last 40 years. sorta like those that have built on barrier islands in the carolinas, to think these structures are more than temporary is silly. just my $0.02
gramma, born in 1882 said to keep planting trees along the shore to hold the bank. new neighbors like to cut all the shore trees to improve their view. the trees in sturge have a habit of growing tall then blowing over in the wind. very thin soil to grab to. the trees also help to buffet the wind to get it to deflect up and over the house. the gales of november damaging to say the least.
 

DArcy

.
Feb 11, 2017
1,690
Islander Freeport 36 Ottawa
That puts things in perspective. It seems Lake Michigan/Huron have been hardest hit, having an almost 2 meter increase over the last 7 years where the rest of the lakes are somewhere around 1 meter increase in that time. It looks like Lake Michigan water was higher in 1986 according to that chart but (and it's hard to tell from this scale) it looks like the level usually drops more than it has this winter so could be looking at higher water this year.
Interesting how people adapt to their surroundings, 12 meter tides are the norm on the Bay of Fundy but if you are expecting no more than 1/2 a meter change in level then 2 meters is a lot.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Interesting how people adapt to their surroundings,
:plus:... So true.

I am reading a book "Uncharted" by a woman sailor who is sailing their 54ft Moody "Heron" from Seattle to the Northern coast in search of the "Spirit Bear". She read a National Geographic article and decided she and her husbund should go look at them. Supposedly more rare than panda's.

In their exploration of the waters they started to live their life based upon "Tidal Time". It determines when they can move due to tidal currents and where they can rest (anchor) based on 12 foot and more water depth changes.

In other words they adapted to the what mother nature provided. So unlike the builders of buildings on sand flats. Builders who build, sell, then leave the new owners to the fate of nature. Said owners then get upset when they discover that Mother Nature doesn't agree with the location of their building.

Who or how should adaptation be accomplished, appears to be the question.
 
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TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
lakes michigan/huron are 18" higher today than one year ago! 5 and 1/2 ft higher than this date in 2013.
i'm thinking a five year plan for us shore line residents is in order. around door county it is obvious that the lake was10' to 12' feet higher for quite a long time. my house was built just above the ancient bank. this rising in level, at this rate, shows no sign of stopping for years to come.
'life is change'
What is your thinking regards a 'five year plan', Jon? Are most properties above the ancient high water line you mention?
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
i'm reading and i'm learning. the great lakes have lots of cloudy days. it was nice to enjoy a sunny day
 
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May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
tom, capt robert laurie, my great great grandfather, was the first white guy to live on sturgeon bay. first ship builder on the bay. in the 1840's he had been a ships carpenter on tea clippers out of glasgow scotland. the mid west was advertising for settlers. by chance, he was first to choose a homestead on the bay. so, like any common sense person getting first dibbs, we are on high ground near the shore. the front door is on the old indian path that ran along the shore. i'm no one special tom. just lucky i guess. my grandmother, hester laurie, was robert's granddaughter. born on that property in 1882. her father was raised there as was she. Hester lived to 1980. went from horse and buggy to lear jets. i knew her well. my 5 year plan, sit on the high ground where the house is and go sailing every summer as much as i can.


side note Tom: i chuckled when you mentioned the old maine/ mass, hissy fit thing from a very long time ago. well, my middle name is winthrop, yep john winthrop is my namesake. 1635. mom's side of the family. you should see the winthrop furniture mom left us. now in the laurie house. i.m a descendant of gov. bradford/ mayflower guy/ best friends with john alden, i get to sail a john alden, all this stuff.... i'm a lucky man. i cannot guess why i have been so lucky. i just keep saying thank you. i'm just the caretaker if you will. john paul jones hated the snobby winthrops. i am a fan of JP, oh well. it's just old storys. funny history. i'm just an old sailor.

i love sailing aldens, especially in big breezes.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
michigan/huron went up 3" in just this past week. now at record level