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That spells trouble for cottagers, marinas, commercial shippers and the environment, says Bob Duncanson,
executive director of the Georgian Bay Association, which has been sounding the alarm about low Huron levels and
resulting economic and ecological impacts.
“People should be worried about it. If they haven’t connected the dots, they should take a close look at where their
water comes from and why it’s threatened,” Duncanson said.
While lake waters rise and fall seasonally — usually lowest in winter and highest in mid-summer — levels have been
steadily dropping through the years and haven’t come close to the high-water marks of three decades ago.
Lakes Huron and Michigan are 71 centimetres lower than the long-term average; all the other lakes are down as well,
though less dramatically.
The International Joint Commission is expected, within weeks, to release a report and recommendations on Great
Lakes water levels.
An IJC study group drew considerable fire from many Ontarians when it said the biggest factor was climate change,
rather than a change in water flow, and that no remedial measures were necessary.
Critics said the report discounted the impact of St. Clair River dredging in 1962 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Critics maintain the dredging let water flow more quickly out of Superior and Michigan-Huron, like pulling the plug on
a giant bathtub.
To combat this great leak from the Great Lakes, they say, “speed bumps” — flow-impeding sills — should be installed
on the riverbed.
“We have now gone from what was a crisis situation into what is being called a disaster,” said Mary Muter, who heads
the Sierra Club’s Great Lakes section.
She expects the IJC will recommend some action and, on both sides of the border, “there are fewer and fewer folks
who think bigger and better beaches is a good idea.”
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley doesn’t think meddling with the St. Clair River is a good answer. “Let nature be nature,”
he said. “Every time man has fooled with nature, the result has not been positive.”
He said low water levels have affected commercial shipping and recreational boating, but human intervention might
have even worse consequences. “It’s playing Russian roulette with the Great Lakes and you don’t want to pull the
trigger on that.”
Duncanson said in Georgian Bay, many cottagers only have water access to their properties and their docks are high
and dry. Marinas face the pricey prospect of dredging, blasting or relocating.
In the bigger picture, some shippers are being forced to lighten their loads — fearing running aground because data
charts don’t reflect lower water levels — wetlands are drying up, and water quality is deteriorating for species in and
around the lake.
Duncanson said the IJC study committee was flawed in part because “they didn’t do a full costing of the economic
impact of doing nothing.”
The Georgian Bay Association says it doesn’t have the expertise to recommend a solution that moderates some of
the highest highs and lowest lows. “Our point is there’s a problem (and) it needs to be addressed,” Duncanson said.
deb.vanbrenk@sunmedia.ca
Twitter.com.DebatLFPress
Lake levels
December Great Lakes-area water levels, in metres above sea level (record low in brackets)
116