The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been tracking water levels on the Great Lakes for over 100 years, since 1918.
Paul Braun, Manitowoc City Planner, and Harbormaster, told Seehafer News the water level on Lake Michigan, last taken on March 4th was 8-inches higher than the long-term average.
While it was two-thirds of a foot higher than average, Braun pointed out, “We are 17-inches lower than March 4th of last year. We are 28-inches lower than the all-time high in 2020, but we are 37-inches higher than the all-time low which was in 1964.”
So, he says, from the all-time low to all-time high water levels, there’s about a five and a half foot difference.
Braun explained that lake levels are a double-edged sword.
“When lake levels are low, you have great beaches. The problem is a lot of the marinas in Manitowoc and elsewhere on the Great Lakes invest money in dredging, they don’t have the clearance,” he said. “But when levels are high like we had in 2020 we have a lot of erosion issues along Lake Michigan and the shorelines. We had flooding in downtown areas that came up during easterly winds when the wave actions roll up over the sheetwall.”
Braun added, “There’s never a happy medium; when levels are low we have dredging issues; when they’re high you have problems with erosion.
