Are the Great Lakes Being Drained?
8 February 2005
Seattle – A short time ago my good friend Eugene forwarded me an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal that reports “a conservation group” has released a study claiming a hole has been punched in the Great Lakes, and is responsible for “draining” Lake Michigan.
The Georgian Bay Association commissioned a study (.pdf – careful, it’s big!) and released a press release claiming a 1962 dredging project in the St. Clair River effectively pulled the plug on the Great Lakes.
After a little poking around I found the US Army Corps of Engineers’ take on this same question in a document from 2000 titled, A Geologic Perpective on Lake Michigan Water Levels. As you might expect, the Corps sees no problem with the current levels (as of 2000) and chalks up the low levels seen recently to normal fluctuations.
Additionally, Bucky Smith of St. Joseph, MI reports in saying, since water levels are up slightly, “the Army Corps of Engineers may not have to dredge as much.”