Lake St Clair Landmarks deedsphotos

Lake St. Clair, Detroiters like to say, is the smallest of the Great Lakes. It's a boundary between the U.S. and Canada and a link between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. It's a shallow lake about 25 miles across at its widest point and is bisected by a dredged channel which allows the passage of ore boats and access to the upper Great Lakes by world freighters. It's a paradise for sailors, power boatsmen, duck hunters, swimmers and fishermen for perch, walleye, muskie and other fresh water species.

Great Lakes water levels rise after decade of drops

Scientists cite cold and wet weather

BY SHERI McWHIRTER • TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE • July 26, 2009

TRAVERSE CITY -- Water levels in the Great Lakes are rising after receding for a decade.

Great Lakes water levels fell in recent years, a trend that hammered the maritime industry and even fed conspiracy theories about plots to drain the inland seas that make up nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.

The three biggest lakes -- Superior, Huron and Michigan -- have risen steadily since fall 2007, when for a couple of months, Superior's levels were the lowest on record and the others nearly so.

Erie, the shallowest of the lakes, actually exceeded its long-term average in June. So did Lake Ontario, although its level is determined more by artificial structures than nature.

"It's important to remember lake levels naturally change over time. We appear to be on the natural upswing. It's part of nature," said Andy Knott, executive director at the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay.

Trouble with lake levels

The lakes follow cycles, rising and falling over time. Scientists say it's a natural process with environmental benefits, such as replenishing coastal wetlands.

But extreme ups or downs wreak havoc for people. During the mid-1980s, levels got so high that houses, businesses and even sections of roads were swept away along Lake Michigan's southeastern shoreline.

Then a sudden, deep drop-off began in the late 1990s:

• Cargo ships had to substantially lighten their loads.

• Marina operators were unable to lease slips.

• Dredging to deepen boat passageways released pollutants that had been buried for years under layers of sediment.

Scientists attribute the rebound primarily to wetter, colder weather the past couple of years. But if grim computer modeling proves accurate, global warming will cause the lakes to recede up to 3 feet this century.

"Climate projections say the lakes will go up and down around a decreasing average," said Don Scavia, director of the University of Michigan's Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute. "The lows will be lower than in the past and the highs will be lower than in the past."

Water trends

Records extending to the mid-1800s document a series of larger rises and dips at about 30-year intervals, said Craig Stow, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.

So the drop in the 1990s wasn't unexpected, but its suddenness and severity caught many off guard.

Drought and warming temperatures didn't help as winter ice caps, crucial for limiting evaporation, formed in ever smaller areas.

Since fall 2007, rain and snow have picked up and winters have been colder. The lakes had substantial ice cover during the past winter, meteorologists say.

At the end of June, Lakes Huron and Michigan -- which hydrologically are one lake -- were 10 inches higher than the previous year. Erie had risen 5 inches; Superior was near the same level, and Ontario was an inch lower.

Ontario and Erie were 5 inches above their long-term averages, while the others were within 6 inches of theirs.

Lake St. Clair is up 10 inches from last year and down just 2 inches from its normal for July.

I took most of the pictures in this Hub in the fall of 2005 while helping my good friend Chuck Middleton sail his Beneteau 37 Parallax from Detroit Yacht Club 20 miles up Lake St. Clair to the Clinton River in Mt.Clemens to put her away for the winter. These kinds of trips can be boring so I brought my camera and recorded the landmarks as we sailed up the lake. A few of the pictures were taken on other occasions. I took all the pictures except for the aerial view of Crescent Sail Club

I took the last eight pictures of houses along Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Farms and Shores and the photo of Night Heron from my car as I drove along Lake Shore.

I have added a link below to Mervue Publications and three excellent historical books on Lake St. Clair by my sailing friend and fellow lover of Lake St. Clair, Mike Dixon.