Fluctuating lake levels and intense storms are getting more extreme and more frequent due to climate change. The threat these storms pose to Great Lakes shoreline communities — including damage to roads, marinas, water systems and coastal properties — is enormous. The Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study will look at areas around the region that are particularly vulnerable to water level changes and offer recommendations for ways these coastal communities can manage and adapt to changes brought on by the climate crisis. As the project moves forward in collaboration with Great Lakes states, the Corps should prioritize natural shorelines, enhanced coastal buffers like wetlands, and offshore reefs to dissipate wave energy as ways for communities to manage changes in lake levels.

Truly resilient shorelines won’t be built parcel by parcel, but miles at a time. Investing in the Great Lakes’ coasts needs to be a top priority for Congress, and this study is a critical step to identify the places most in need. The coasts are some of the most economically and ecologically important parts of the lakes, and we are looking forward to working with the Corps and the states to restore and protect our shores at the scale the Great Lakes deserve.

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Media contact: Please connect with our media team at TeamGreatLakes@mrss.com.

The post Alliance Applauds Agreement to Move Forward with Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.

We may be spared from many threats facing other regions, but the climate change threats facing the lakes are no less concerning.

“Our region is often referred to as a ‘climate refuge,’ a place where people from rapidly warming parts of the U.S. will seek shelter. We should prepare for this by acknowledging the problems climate change has already caused and the unpredictable future the region faces,” said Joel Brammeier, Alliance for the Great Lakes President & CEO. “The Great Lakes region must plan now for climate change. The changes we make today can make the Great Lakes a healthy place for people who live here now and for future generations.”

Climate change can feel overwhelming. But we see hope for the future. We’ve identified the biggest climate change challenges facing the Great Lakes and actionable ideas that will ensure healthy lakes for future generations.

Volatile Water Levels

Climate Impact: The Great Lakes naturally swing between lows and highs over several decades. They have gone from record low water levels to record high levels within about a decade, a stunningly fast swing. These rapid transitions between extreme highs and lows represent a new cycle for the lakes. Scientists agree that the sharp shifts in water levels are related to climate change. Severe high water levels cause serious problems for waterfront properties and infrastructure like roads, marinas, and water systems. Extreme low levels cause problems for water intakes, shipping, and recreational infrastructure like marinas.

What we can do now: The main factors that affect water levels are rainfall and evaporation. We can’t control precipitation or ice cover, but we can be prepared to deal with fluctuating water levels. Natural shorelines, including dunes and wetlands, can weather these extremes. State and federal governments should plan now for how to invest in restoring our shorelines on a large scale. Communities can focus on ensuring construction does not harm natural shorelines while also adapting water systems and roads to weather this volatility.

Extreme Weather

Climate Impact: A warming climate will increase extreme weather events, including intense rains and severe drought. The Great Lakes region is already experiencing this impact. For example, last June, up to 7 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours in the Detroit metro area, flooding thousands of homes and businesses and costing tens of millions of dollars in damage. Storm events like this are becoming more frequent. Often the impacts from these storms are not felt equitably. In Chicago, for instance, a study found that 87% of flood damage insurance claims were paid in communities of color.

What we can do now: Great Lakes communities can begin investing today to repair or replace failing wastewater systems. Federal and state agencies must ensure that these projects are climate-resilient, using green (natural) infrastructure that mimics nature’s ability to absorb water. And communities most impacted must have a seat at the table when project decisions are made to ensure equitable climate-resilient development.

Native Species at Risk

Climate Impact: Warming air temperatures are warming the lakes, threatening cold water species, and creating new habitat for non-native species. Lake Superior, notorious for its cold water, is warming faster than many large lakes around the world. The lake’s cold water has historically kept out many invasive species that thrive in other parts of the Great Lakes.

What we can do now: Numerous state and federal agencies manage fisheries and habitat restoration projects across the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative sets the agenda for federal spending and must be updated to ensure restoration efforts are climate-resilient.

Intensifying Harmful Algal Blooms

Climate Impact: The massive harmful algal bloom that covers western Lake Erie each summer threatens drinking water supplies and puts the region’s economy at risk, hampering tourism and recreational use. Warmer water fuels algal growth and extreme rains flush more nutrient pollution, the primary fuel for algae, off farm fields into waterways. Algal blooms are showing up in parts of the lakes, like Lake Superior, that have never experienced this problem.

What we can do now: The cause of the worst algal blooms is nutrient pollution flowing off agricultural lands. Farming practices and regulations must change to reduce nutrient pollution and prevent harmful algal blooms. Downstream communities that bear the brunt of water contamination and increased water treatment costs must be at the table when decisions are being made about solving this problem.

The post 4 Ways Climate Change Is Challenging the Great Lakes appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.

It’s natural for the Great Lakes to rise and fall over time, but the lakes are currently experiencing a period of record high water levels. The Midwest has experienced extreme rain and wet conditions over the past few years. And the pattern has continued, with water levels expected to stay high in the coming months.

According to data from the Army Corps of Engineers and reported by The Detroit News:

• The Great Lakes basin saw its wettest 60-month period in 120 years of record-keeping (ending Aug. 31, 2019).
• The Corps’ monthly water levels bulletin showed that the average levels for Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, St. Clair and Ontario in October all were about a foot higher than the same month in 2018.

Q: Weren’t Great Lakes water levels really low not long ago?

Between 1999 and 2014, the Upper Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Michigan and Huron) experienced the longest period of low water in recorded history.

In 2013 the water levels were so low, some residents around Lakes Michigan and Huron even worried that the lakes were “disappearing.” As described in National Geographic, agencies even studied the possibility of building dams or other structures to hold back more water in the lakes.

Within about a decade, the Great Lakes have gone from record low levels to record high levels, a stunningly fast swing. The lakes naturally swing between low and high water levels but typically over several decades. These rapid transitions between extreme high and low water levels now represent a new cycle for the lakes.

Scientists are in agreement that the sharp shifts in water levels are due to climate change. More specifically a warming climate will continue to cause extreme weather, including severe floods and droughts, which spells disaster for lakeside homeowners, towns and cities, tourism, and shipping.

For more, we recommend several helpful articles:

• Drew Gronewold’s (associate professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan) and Richard B. Rood’s (professor of climate and space sciences and engineering at the University of Michigan) essay – Climate change is driving rapid shifts between high and low water levels on the Great Lakes – at The Conversation.
• Dan Egan’s (author of The Death and Life of the Great Lakes) 2013 coverage of low water levels from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
• Peter Annin’s (author of The Great Lakes Water Wars) 2020 op-ed in the New York Times

Q: What is the impact of currently high Great Lakes water levels?

Even though high lake levels are more apparent in the summer when people are out on the lake, they can actually do more damage in the fall and winter due to intense wind-driven storms that push huge waves up into the shoreline and increase the erosion.

The impact is being felt along lakefronts far and wide. Communities around the lakes are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes millions, to fight the erosion of roads and beaches and to protect national parks. Impacts include beaches that have been swallowed up, bluffs collapsing in western Michigan, stronger currents making swimming more dangerous, and closed water-damaged roads, parks, and bridges.

Our Great Lakes shorelines define our communities and are a vital part of our way of life around the region. While we want to protect our shorelines and our communities, healthy sustainable coasts are tied to our local economies and culture.

But, we can’t resort to knee-jerk, short-term solutions. We have to think – and plan – long-term knowing that the Great Lakes are dynamic systems that will continue to change.

Learn more in this interview with Alliance for the Great Lakes CEO Joel Brammeier on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight.

Q: Is there anything we can do to prevent damage from high water levels?

In some places, it makes sense to protect breakwalls or other infrastructure already in place. But generally, natural, “living” shorelines are a better long-term choice for the Great Lakes and our communities.

This approach relies on dunes, native plants, natural barrier reefs, and other nature-based solutions. All of these dampen wave action, provide habitat, and create a much needed buffer between the lakes’ damaging waves and homes, roads, and other infrastructure. Check out this helpful video for more information and a look at living shorelines.

In a recent Chicago Sun-Times editorial, Alliance for the Great Lakes CEO Joel Brammeier said: “Infrastructure has been built too close to the shoreline. We are not going back to having an early 19th century shoreline in Illinois, but we need to have solutions where the hardening is less invasive. Planning should mean planning for the next 100 years.”

For more, read an August 2019 editorial from the Chicago Sun-Times and a recent Indianapolis Star article on erosion by London Gibson and Sarah Bowman, or watch this segment from WTTW-TV on high water levels.

Q: Is there anything we can do to lower the level of the lakes?

Any kind of drainage or diversion won’t make much of an impact, and frankly, it’s a bit of a ridiculous idea.

First, it’s just not practical. While the idea sounds easy – just drain the water to somewhere else –  it would take a massive engineering feat. You would need to drain about 400 billion gallons from Lake Michigan to lower the water level just one inch.

And second, legally, it’s not an option. The Great Lakes states and provinces spent a decade between 1998-2008 creating a precedent-setting legal standard called the Great Lakes Compact and Agreement. This law bans all significant diversions of water beyond Great Lakes county borders. Any water withdrawal would need to be approved by representatives from all the states in the U.S. and Canada that border the lakes.

It’s important to remember – Great Lakes water levels rise and fall. It’s part of the natural cycle that makes the lakes so special. Over centuries these ever-changing cycles have created some of our most favorite places – Sleeping Bear Dunes, Niagara Falls, Pictured Rocks, Indiana Dunes, and more.

But, climate change is throwing the system out of whack. Scientists believe that water levels are likely to fall again on their own, though no one knows when, and the variable high and low extremes represent the new standard.

For more, take a look at this story on the rising and falling of water levels from WGN.

Q: Will Great Lakes water levels keep rising?

Water levels in the Great Lakes vary naturally over time and will recede eventually.

According to Drew Gronewold, associate professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan, and Richard B. Rood, professor of climate and space sciences and engineering at the University of Michigan, “We believe rapid transitions between extreme high and low water levels in the Great Lakes represent the ‘new normal.’”

For more, read this article on the rising and falling of water levels from WGN, and Gronewold and Rood’s essay at The Conversation.

Q: How should property owners along the Great Lakes prepare for both extremes of rising and falling water levels?

In the short-term, building fortifications and walls may seem tempting, but it may not be a good long-term solution due to destruction of native wetlands, species, and habitats. These “solutions” also can cause serious, unintended damage to adjacent properties. Often, they just cause more problems over the long-term than they fix.

Currently, the cities of Quebec and New York’s responses offer a stark contrast. Quebec officials have encouraged flooded property owners to take buyouts to break the cycle of flood-bailout-rebuild, repeat, while New York has encouraged Lake Ontario property owners to armor their shorelines and hunker down.

In the long-term, some towns are establishing regulations to make sure property is built a safe distance away from the shoreline. St. Joseph, MI, established a 200-foot coastal setback to prevent new construction in areas threatened by flooding and erosion.

There’s also a need for more research. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study (GRCS) would provide the Great Lakes states with region-wide information to help plan for the long-term. Although the study is not currently funded by the federal government, states continue to push for it. Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and New York have already pledged to help fund the 25 percent non-federal share required to complete the study.

For more, read MLive’s article on the GRCS and Peter Annin’s New York Times op-ed.

The post Great Lakes Water Levels Q & A appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Plan 2014 implements a more natural way of managing water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Water levels on the lake and river are regulated due to a large hydro-power dam downstream. A more natural approach to water levels regulation will improve the health of nearly 64,000 acres of wetlands. Healthy wetlands will lead to improved water quality and habitat for fish and wildlife. The new plan is the first major update to Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River regulation in more than 50 years.

Nate Drag, our Watershed Project Manager based in Buffalo, New York, shares his reflections on the news:

A few years ago, while in Michigan for a conference, I stopped by one of the state’s many breweries. While in the gift shop, I noticed a tote bag that had an image of the Great Lakes on it and was immediately drawn to it. After a few seconds, I noticed something was missing. I asked the sales clerk why they left off one of the Great Lakes. The clerk gave me a confused look and said she had never noticed a lake was missing.

The bag with the slogan “Great Lakes, Great Beer” had completely left off Lake Ontario from its drawing of the Great Lakes.

I later showed the bag to a colleague and asked if he noticed anything missing, to which he promptly stated that they left out the St. Lawrence River. A bit embarrassed, I realized that I had forgotten about the river in my frustration over Lake Ontario’s absence.

My point in sharing this story isn’t to talk about a couple of guys from New York feeling left out in a brewery gift shop. Nor is it to point fingers at an excellent brewery that makes amazing beer. It’s to talk about the need to view our Great Lakes as an entire system. What happens on one end – for better or worse – impacts the whole basin.

Balancing the environment and the economy

On the surface, yesterday’s announcement of the approval of Plan 2014, which will create a more naturalized water level regime for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, seems to have a pretty limited geographic impact. Unless you are from upstate New York or eastern Ontario, you probably have never heard of Plan 2014.

But with its approval by the federal governments of Canada and the United States, this plan showcases a decision making process that placed the ecosystem of the Great Lakes on par with the economies and communities in the region. The model of Plan 2014’s balanced approach can lead us in a more sustainable direction.

Variability critical to lake and river health

Plan 2014 is the first update to the water level regulation plan for Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River since the completion of the Moses-Saunders Power Dam in 1958. Since the 1950’s, water levels have been artificially stabilized on the lake and river to provide consistency for hydropower production and shipping.

At first glance, controlled water levels seems like a good idea. Who doesn’t like stability? However, water levels variability is critical to the health of rivers and lakes, particularly wetlands. Wetlands act like the heart and lungs for rivers and lakes. Without healthy heart and lungs, rivers and lakes cannot thrive.

The past 58 years of controlled water levels provided consistent hydro-power production, shipping, and shoreline development on the lake and river. But it also denied fragile wetlands the water level fluctuation they require. Wetlands are crucial habitat for native Great Lakes species like northern pike and common tern.

The decline of coastal habitats impacted the wildlife that depend on them as well as the communities that rely on the multi-million dollar tourism, hunting, and fishing industries. Artificially stabilized water levels resulted in coastal areas along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river that:

• lacked biodiversity,
• made them vulnerable to increased flooding and erosion,
• created conditions for increased algae blooms and,
• reduced the ability of wetlands to improve water quality by filtering out pollution.

The approval of Plan 2014 will restore 64,000 acres of these essential wetlands. Most importantly, this restoration will happen with no additional taxpayer investment from taxpayers. By allowing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River water levels to fluctuate more naturally, while still avoiding extreme level changes, these wetlands will recover through natural processes.

Collaboration critical for strong Great Lakes

The approval of the plan does not end the story. The new water level plan will require collaboration with shoreline communities that are facing the challenges of living on the shores of ever changing waterways. Communities along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River continue to face challenges due to climate change and extreme weather.

But by building new partnerships, our waterways and our communities will be stronger and more resilient on Lake Ontario, the St Lawrence River, and the entire Great Lakes basin.

Balancing the interest of shoreline communities, commercial and recreational use of waterways, and ecosystem benefits should be applied to every key decision the Great Lakes will face in the future.

From decisions on crude oil pipelines in sensitive areas or protecting the lakes from new invasive species, giving ecological concerns equal standing to the social and economic concerns is the right path creating a sustainable Great Lake region in the 21^st century.

The post A big decision for Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence River appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.