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I think some of the reasons you don't hear people complaining about the low lake levels in Michigan might be due to geography and population distribution. Lake MI in Michigan obviously has a lot of shoreline but I'm just guessing people in general don't complain too much when their big white sandy beach gets a little bigger. As for population, since the majority of people in Michigan live in the Southeast, individuals aren't going to be as acutely aware of low water levels on the lakes. Take a look at a population map of Michigan then look at one of Wisconsin. You'll notice that Milwaukee is situated along Lake MI whereas the Detroit area is situated closer to Lake St. Claire and the Detroit River.
Edit: I just read the other thread and one thing that stands out to me is that most people posting don't seem to have a connection to the area other than tourism. TC proper only has a population of 15,000 or so residents. I don't know if anyone understands what I'm digging at but just think about it this way-- I'll reiterate, few people live on the Western boarder of MI compared to the East. There tourism industry does exist, and I'm sure word will get around about the negative impacts of low water levels in Lake MI, but it's only rather recently that I've seen people really complaining about the low water levels. It's going to take a while to get around that certain beaches in the state look like crap due to exposed rocks, piers, etc.
I live near the Saginaw Bay area and the water here is extremely low. People who don't use the water for recreation don't care too much though because we don't see the water much and not many people use it for recreation. Moreover, Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland are all inland and do not make use of the shoreline. For what it's worth, I did hear some complaining on Mlive about exposed rocks in the Bay due to low water levels this winter, but nothing on the local news programs on television.
Thanks for sharing this article. Whether global warming is real or not, people need to stop raping the earth.
When big boats can't do their business because the waters are too low maybe people will wake up once they can no longer get their 'STUFF'.
Your water is being hauled off to China, too. Canada had the intelligence to say no, and saved Superior.
I am going to call your reps even though I don't live in the midwest. I was born and raised there and plan to return, and this is very upsetting to see.
People in Canada spoke up and put a stop to such stupidity and greed.
This is astonishing to me that people all over WI and MI are not making a huge protest about their precious water source being dismantled. From what I can tell, these bills never made it out of committee.
best,
toodie
Quote:
In 1998, a Canadian company called Nova Group received a permit from Ottawa to sell China Lake Superior water at the rate of 160 million gallons by tanker ship. After much political and public outcry, Ottawa officials canceled the permit in 1999. Concern for protecting the Great Lakes Basin resulted in the 2006 Great Lakes Compact which was signed by President Bush in October 2008.
A loophole in the 2006 Great Lakes Compact allows the water to be called a product and sold off outside the basin. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact, after public interest organizations and politicians campaigned for it for ten years, was an effort to permanently safeguard the Great Lakes' twenty percent of the world's fresh water.
There have been some as yet unsuccessful attempts to close the "bottled water loophole" by people like Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak. He introduced H.RES.551 to amend the Compact and prohibit sales, diversion or exportation of Great Lakes water outside the basin. The Great Lakes Basin is a 290,000-square-mile area whose waters feed the lakes and includes parts of eight states--Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are also affected. The resolution remains in the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.
Michigan House Bill-5319 was introduced by Rep. Dan Scripps to establish that both groundwater and the Great Lakes water are a “public trust". It was referred to the House Great Lakes and Environment Committee in September 2009.
I think some of the reasons you don't hear people complaining about the low lake levels in Michigan might be due to geography and population distribution. Lake MI in Michigan obviously has a lot of shoreline but I'm just guessing people in general don't complain too much when their big white sandy beach gets a little bigger. As for population, since the majority of people in Michigan live in the Southeast, individuals aren't going to be as acutely aware of low water levels on the lakes. Take a look at a population map of Michigan then look at one of Wisconsin. You'll notice that Milwaukee is situated along Lake MI whereas the Detroit area is situated closer to Lake St. Claire and the Detroit River.
Edit: I just read the other thread and one thing that stands out to me is that most people posting don't seem to have a connection to the area other than tourism. TC proper only has a population of 15,000 or so residents. I don't know if anyone understands what I'm digging at but just think about it this way-- I'll reiterate, few people live on the Western boarder of MI compared to the East. There tourism industry does exist, and I'm sure word will get around about the negative impacts of low water levels in Lake MI, but it's only rather recently that I've seen people really complaining about the low water levels. It's going to take a while to get around that certain beaches in the state look like crap due to exposed rocks, piers, etc.
I live near the Saginaw Bay area and the water here is extremely low. People who don't use the water for recreation don't care too much though because we don't see the water much and not many people use it for recreation. Moreover, Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland are all inland and do not make use of the shoreline. For what it's worth, I did hear some complaining on Mlive about exposed rocks in the Bay due to low water levels this winter, but nothing on the local news programs on television.
I think you're right. Even Grand Rapids and Kent County are a good 40 minutes from Lake Michigan, so people go about their day and haven't seen the low lake levels. Or they have and just think it's natural. Most people seem to have bought into the theory that it's because of lower than average precipitation (and we got very little snow last winter).
And right now with Lake Michigan at an all time low, it's really hard to tell with the ice pack covering the beaches. It will be interesting to see how people react this Spring and Summer when they return to the beaches. According to the WOODTV weather blog above, the lake is only predicted to go back up an inch through the Spring, even with a pretty good amount of snow this year (Muskegon broke an all time record for snow this season).
I was in Saugatuck in the fall and there were boats grounded in the middle of the Kalamazoo River. That really shocked me. I know several marinas are trying to sell to the State, or get State emergency funds, because they can't afford to dredge anymore.
I think as more and more businesses start to feel the effects, the cry will get louder. So far the only ones raising a fuss are the Canadians, and right-wing-ish Michigan tends to dismiss their claims when it comes to natural resources and the environment.
I think as more and more businesses start to feel the effects, the cry will get louder. So far the only ones raising a fuss are the Canadians, and right-wing-ish Michigan tends to dismiss their claims when it comes to natural resources and the environment.
I think the key for getting Michigan residents on board will be to focus on the non-climate change cause. Dredging is not a hot-button political issue.
Right or wrong, when Climate Change is mentioned, 50% of people automatically tune it out. That is a very difficult starting point for getting this fixed. And, if climate change is the cause, it also essentially impossible to fix it in the short term.
Basically, the dredging theory needs to be true, and it needs to be focused on, if this is going to get fixed.
I think some of the reasons you don't hear people complaining about the low lake levels in Michigan might be due to geography and population distribution. Lake MI in Michigan obviously has a lot of shoreline but I'm just guessing people in general don't complain too much when their big white sandy beach gets a little bigger. As for population, since the majority of people in Michigan live in the Southeast, individuals aren't going to be as acutely aware of low water levels on the lakes. Take a look at a population map of Michigan then look at one of Wisconsin. You'll notice that Milwaukee is situated along Lake MI whereas the Detroit area is situated closer to Lake St. Claire and the Detroit River.
Edit: I just read the other thread and one thing that stands out to me is that most people posting don't seem to have a connection to the area other than tourism. TC proper only has a population of 15,000 or so residents. I don't know if anyone understands what I'm digging at but just think about it this way-- I'll reiterate, few people live on the Western boarder of MI compared to the East. There tourism industry does exist, and I'm sure word will get around about the negative impacts of low water levels in Lake MI, but it's only rather recently that I've seen people really complaining about the low water levels. It's going to take a while to get around that certain beaches in the state look like crap due to exposed rocks, piers, etc.
I live near the Saginaw Bay area and the water here is extremely low. People who don't use the water for recreation don't care too much though because we don't see the water much and not many people use it for recreation. Moreover, Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland are all inland and do not make use of the shoreline. For what it's worth, I did hear some complaining on Mlive about exposed rocks in the Bay due to low water levels this winter, but nothing on the local news programs on television.
You could read much complaining on the sports forums.
At least the bay froze this year and the evaporation did not continue all winter as it did over years.
I think the key for getting Michigan residents on board will be to focus on the non-climate change cause. Dredging is not a hot-button political issue.
Right or wrong, when Climate Change is mentioned, 50% of people automatically tune it out. That is a very difficult starting point for getting this fixed. And, if climate change is the cause, it also essentially impossible to fix it in the short term.
Basically, the dredging theory needs to be true, and it needs to be focused on, if this is going to get fixed.
More than 60% of Americans now believe that global climate change is occurring. But you're right, people feel powerless to make enough changes to affect the level of a big lake like Lake Michigan, if that were the cause.
If it's something that someone can be blamed directly for (Army Corps), which has apparently already studied remedies over the last 20 years but hasn't done anything, then people will rally and put pressure on them.
I hate to be one to recommend studies, but I do believe in science and I think a non-partisan, U.S. based, unbiased group needs to study the St Clair River situation heavily, and fast, if it hasn't been done already. How do we put pressure on our legislature to get moving on this? All they seem to be focused on lately is Detroit (for good and bad).
It's either spend the money now on a study, or spend the money to bail out all the marinas and businesses that are in jeopardy along the lakeshore (which will probably happen now anyway). The Pure Michigan campaign is the most successful ever. Might as well flush it all down the toilet if people can't enjoy Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Imagine if Mackinaw Island became inaccessible because the boats couldn't dock? Eesh.
Doing some math, I think this outlet that is allowing 2.5 billion gallons of water a day to leave the upper great lakes amounts to about a 1 inch lowering of the upper great lakes. I don't think this is the cause of the dramatic drops and risings in the upper lakes. I think less snowfall/rain, less ice on the lakes in winter is helping cause most of this.
Doing some math, I think this outlet that is allowing 2.5 billion gallons of water a day to leave the upper great lakes amounts to about a 1 inch lowering of the upper great lakes. I don't think this is the cause of the dramatic drops and risings in the upper lakes. I think less snowfall/rain, less ice on the lakes in winter is helping cause most of this.
Like the teachers always say: "Show your work" pugboy.
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