There was a front page article on July 11 in the New York Times which mentioned something I did not see earlier, or ever in the Canadian media. It was a four page, well illustrated article discussing Chicago and Lake Michigan (and the other Great Lakes). The article said how Lake Michigan almost reached historic lows in 2013 only to rise rapidly, come close to record high levels in 2020 and beyond. This had effects on shipping when low, and is causing concern for the future now it is high and due to the rate of change.
Since many Dopers are, for obvious reasons, from Chicago, wondered about a local perspective and their takes on this curiosity. Why it’s happening, what the impact is, what’s being done and yada yada.
Several years of consistenty heavy rains in Lake Michigan’s watershed, it looks like.
I’m in Cook County, and I do know that, every time it’s windy now, my weather app tells me that there’s a “Beach Hazards Advisory,” which I’m guessing is a combination of the high lake levels and wind-driven waves.
Also, there’s a lot of concern about beach erosion along Lake Michigan, and the need for new seawalls and other measures to protect buildings and towns that are right on the shoreline.
And, wind-driven waves forced Chicago to close portions of Lake Shore Drive in January of 2020. This article mentions that, as well as a lot more impacts that it’s having, and not just in Chicago.
As an average Chicagoan, my thoughts on watching Lake Michigan’s huge waves pounding the shoreline are ‘Cool! Lookit that!’
Honestly, if Chicagoans are thinking about the rising lake levels at all, it’s with a sense of relief after all the talk about the drought in the West.
Not from Chicago, but for a South Easter Michigan perspective. Michigan and Huron have a wide enough channel that they have a common water level, and are, geologically speaking, one lake.
I knew a lot of people really panicked about their lakeside real estate back near the lows. They had bought expensive lakeside property with boat launches that were suddenly high and dry. I knew a few nearing retiree age who sold in a panic that their property might not be “lakeside” in a few years.
Other than that there has never really been any concern about water level I ever heard from the common man.
Oh, I and my family have paid attention to Lake Michigan levels for over a century. We’ve lived right on the shore of it since 1850. Last year the lake came knocking at our door yet again, threatening to undermine our house. Fortunately the seawall my father and I put in back in the mid 1980’s stood up to the surge. And now it’s headed down again, thankfully
The lake rises, the lake goes down. All long range formulas to predict it fail to do so, it all depends on short term conditions over a few years or decades. I don’t think it’s truly controllable via the outlets (Niagara Falls, Chicago river) or the inlets (Soo locks/St. Mary’s river).
Now the extremes of high/low may also rely on our new climate status, and who knows how that’ll pan out? There are conflicting predictions. If one wants to live by the edge of the lake, one needs to be ready to pay the price.
As for supplying water, those folks living within the drainage basin have pretty much all the water they need. Places like Joliet are outside the basin, but have rights to access it due to the Chicago River diversion. Such rights don’t apply to most other communities outside the basin. Lake Michigan won’t be supplying many such communities with water.
Lake Michigan will supply them with water if they all move closer to Lake Michigan, tho. And as I said, communities all over that area are poised to run out of groundwater. If people can’t find a way to bring water to where they are, they’ll change where they are.