Low Water Continues to Plague Great Lakes Shippers, Boaters and Fishers
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NOAA photo shows dramatically how low water affects the shoreline in the Great Lakes basin.
Shorefont dwellers sometimes have a big first step out their front door. (NOAA photo.)
Low water levels continue in the Great Lakes, costing shippers in lost cargoes, plaguing boaters and fishers and creating unsightly beaches for vacationers and waterfront dwellers.
Expect more of the same, possibly worse, predicts the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit district.
Lack of precipitation, normal cyclical effects, dredging, and, possibly, global warming all may be contributing to the low levels, experts say.
The water level of each lake is expected to be below that of a year ago during the next few months, according to the Corps.
Lakes St. Clair, Michigan-Huron, and Ontario are projected to decline 3 inches over the next month while Lake Superior and Lake Erie will fall 1 and 6 inches, respectively.
The Corps reports that currently, Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, and Erie are 3-5 inches lower than last year's levels.
Lakes Huron and Michigan are about 2 feet below their long-term average levels, while Lake Superior is about 20 inches off. Lake Ontario is about 7 inches below its long-term average and Lake Erie is a few inches down.
Commercial shippers, who haul iron ore and coal across the lakes to manufacturing centers such as Detroit, have been unable to fill cargo holds to capacity for fear of scraping bottom in shallow channels.
The Lake Carriers Association says low water levels have severely impacted its members this year.
August shipments totaled only 11.3 million net tons, a decrease of 2.7 percent compared to a year ago, and nearly 5 percent below the month's 5-year average.
The largest vessels in the fleet, the 1,000-footers, were most noticeably impacted by the dredging crisis, according to the association.
The largest coal cargo to transit the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, in a 1,000-foot long Laker totaled 64,504 tons. A coal cargo from Superior, Wisconsin, to nearby Silver Bay, Minnesota, an Open-Lake transit, totaled even less - 64,450 tons. Yet 10 years ago, when high water levels offset the lack of dredging, ships this size were carrying nearly 71,000 tons of coal each trip.
Limestone, iron ore and coal shippers all report reduced loads up to eight percent in September.
The Great Lakes are the largest body of fresh water in the world. Comprising about 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water, The Great Lakes have been in decline since the late 1990s.
The record low water point in Lake Huron was in 1964, when the level dropped to 175.39 meters. The previous low lake level was recorded in 1936, not quite as low as the 1964 mark.
The Oct. 5 level was about 176.0 meters, according to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Research Laboratory at Ann Arbor.
Recent reports by news agencies assert that drought and mild temperatures have dropped Lake Superior's water level to its lowest point on record for this time of year.
Lake St. Clair and Lake Ontario are 9 and 11 inches below their levels of one year ago, respectively.###
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