Surging Great Lakes water levels shrink beaches, flood docks in Michigan

By Jim Malewitz (Bridge)

Lakes Erie, St. Clair and Superior broke records for average water heights during the month of May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday.

And as wet weather persists across the region, all five Great Lakes — as well as Lake St. Clair — may set additional records, the agency added, stirring concerns about ongoing flooding and shoreline erosion.

“Our June forecast shows additional record highs likely this summer,” Keith Kompoltowicz, chief of watershed hydrology, in the Corps’ Detroit District, said in a news release.

The Great Lakes Basin last month saw 21 percent more precipitation than normal, filling the lakes to levels unseen in decades. Average water heights hovered 1 to 3 inches above previous May records set in 1986.

Winds often affect local water levels, pushing them dramatically higher during storms, the Corps warned. Flood risks extend to communities along rivers and other channels connecting the Great Lakes.

The full lakes are breaking records just six years after low water levels bedevilled ships that haul iron ore, grain and other commodities between ports.

“These changes are a response to unusual combinations of extreme lake evaporation, persistent increases in the magnitude and intensity of precipitation events, and intermittent outbursts of cold arctic air,” a Drew Gronewold, a hydrologist with the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, said in a statement Tuesday.

Though ship captains and some marina owners welcome the recovery from low levels years ago, the flooding has shrunk beaches and left docks underwater across the Great Lakes region.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday declared an emergency in Tuscola County, which borders the Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron, after flooding washed away roads and caused millions of dollars in damage. That came one month after Whitmer declared a flooding emergency in Wayne County, which borders the Detroit River, the nexus between Lakes Erie and St. Clair. The county saw more than 3,000 homes damaged, according to media reports.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the correct location of Saginaw Bay.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.