Lake Levels for the Midwest Guys?

[North Woody]

I know you guys out West are seeing some pretty tough drought conditions, but those of us in the Upper Midwest are seeing record or near-record water levels which are changing our lakes. When we bought our place just outside of Eagle River, WI in the summer of 2013, we had almost 150 feet of beach and some exposed lake bed between our grass and the water. As of this summer, we now have officially lost ALL of our beach! The water is now up to the “Ordinary High Water Mark”, which pretty much matches the all-time high water level from about 40 years ago.

As it turns out, our 450-acre seepage lake is actually on the Lake Superior water table, so as the Great Lakes rise, we see our lake level rise with it. It’s so high that we actually had to install a bunch of rip rap to stop any further erosion to our shoreline where we have a stand of Birch, Maple and Pine trees that now sits at water’s edge. Here’s a pic of when we bought our place in Aug 2013 versus today:





What are you guys seeing on your lakes…?

[aromeo]

wow! here in south eastern wisconsin the lakes are low..

[bturner]

On the lake I'm on the Drain Commissioner typically screws with the lake levels so bad that by mid to late August the lake is near unusable it's so low. This year with all the rainfall and storms so late in the season even the idiot Drain Commissioner couldn't screw it up and the lake is perfect for boating at near full pool. We also have a place on Lake Erie (well my wife has a place on Lake Erie in Canada which we haven't seen in 2 years due to Covid restrictions) so we keep pretty close tabs on lake levels there. Last couple years have been pretty scary with near recorded lake level highs. I've had to sandbag the boat ramp and raised the property level 4" to help with drainage. The good news is even though it seems like we've been getting drenched and the inland lakes are high this late in the year, per the attached chart the Great Lakes are actually trending back down. 6" for Lake Erie doesn't sound like a lot but it makes a big difference when you're out there and one of the infamous storms starts rolling in. The good news for us is that Erie tends to follow the up stream lakes for levels. We're hoping to see that -11 inch drop that St. Clair is seeing now by the end of the year.

I've been boating/living near or on Lake Erie for 50 years and have seen this cycle 3 times. The worst was when I was a kid in the 70s with high water wiping out our beach and forcing everyone to either install rock or seawalls. We also saw lows in the 90s that exposed reefs and sunken islands causing havoc with shipping and boating. In the early 70s the expert environmentalists were saying Toronto and Detroit would be underwater by the 90s. In the 90s the same environmentalists were saying the Great Lakes would be a third of their size, there would be drinking water shortages and the ecosystem would be destroyed in 10 - 15 years. AOC (you know, the highly educated bar tender turned expert on everything and leader of the progressive squad) predicted the earth would end in 12 years back in 2019.

So what have I learned and what has been my take away from all of this..... Well for good or bad Detroit is still there as is our little cottage on Lake Erie. I fully expect AOC and her prediction to be full of.... well, you know. Lake levels will fluctuate so enjoy what good the high and low levels bring as best you can. The Goldilocks levels are few and far between as it's typically feast of famine quite a bit of the time so get out there and enjoy the boating season you get as best you can. As for me right now, I'm eating up this full pool, late season water level as I know next year the Drain Commissioner will do his best to drain the lake by mid July.... again.

[CHassmann]

Our lake normally raises and lowers fairly quickly since it is less than 220 acres. We did hit a fairly high point earlier in July. The attached pic sho the high point, which is a about 2.5' above normal.

[Stevemo14]

Maumee river was at flood stage a few weeks ago. Didn't have to pull the campers though.

[mpost]

We were 6 inches below normal levels after Ice out this spring. Since then we have lost another 18 inches. Will need to move the dock out further and the lift this weekend. Just barely getting off the lift now.

[North Woody]

I know that the guys out in California are having a brutal time …. I saw these photos of Folsom Lake from earlier this summer that prompted this thread, and I don’t think it’s getting much better. Hope things return to normal for everyone!

[99bison]

Nw MN is low, not CA low though.

[MTRBTR]

bturner.
thanks for the voice of reason. Very good post. We are dry in MT too but I get sick of everyone saying it’s the driest they have ever seen. I’m only 44 and I know better than that…. We have some lakes that I have never seen this low but some guys are just all doom and gloom.

[bturner]

Another rainy Saturday. Was dry all week for the first time this summer. Planned an early surf session with friends for the morning and wake up to this. We've had this pattern going since mid July which is not typical. Hopefully you guys out west can start getting some of this.....

[North Woody]

bturner.
thanks for the voice of reason. Very good post. We are dry in MT too but I get sick of everyone saying it’s the driest they have ever seen. I’m only 44 and I know better than that…. We have some lakes that I have never seen this low but some guys are just all doom and gloom.

Totally agree … when we bought our place in 2013 and the lake level was down, there were folks screaming that it was the end of the lake, property values would tank, and it was climate change that was destroying everything. Now that we’re seeing higher water levels some of those same folks are spreading pretty much the same thing! But looking at the historical charts of water levels going back 100+ years of records on our lake there is a clear cyclicality to water levels so it’s good to keep this all in historical perspective ….