Lake Michigan's water levels drop rapidly, raising concerns about climate impact

GREAT LAKES, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) — If you’ve driven along the Lake Michigan shoreline recently, you’ve probably noticed low water levels. While we’re not at historical lows, levels continue to drop.

“We’re about 12 inches below the long-term average for the lake,” Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay Waterkeeper Heather Smith said. “We are lower than last month and certainly lower than we were last year.”

Smith said the current drop is normal for this time of year, but the speed of the decline is unusual and concerning.

“Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are still above the lowest low on record. There’s about a foot and a half to go before reaching that lowest low on record,” Smith said. “However, we are predicted to continue falling into winter, which is part of a normal cycle for the Great Lakes.”

She notes that in 2019 and 2020, the lakes were near record highs.

“What researchers and practitioners are understanding is that climate change is having an impact on water levels,” Smith said. “We’re switching between the highs and lows quicker, and we’re expected to have higher highs and lower lows in face of a changing climate.”

The last few months have seen one of the largest drops in a short period.

“We were down several inches in September when typically, we don’t see such a steep decline. I think it’s more evident to folks that water levels are dropping because it’s happening really rapidly,” Smith said. “And that’s in part to the evaporation and the lack of precipitation that we’ve received this fall.”

Water levels will likely start to climb after the spring snowmelt, but Smith stresses the importance of slow, steady melting and consistent light rain.

“The lake water temperature is much warmer than that surface on the air that’s coming across the surface of the lakes. We get a lot of evaporation. We usually experience our lowest low of the year in the winter and then we’re rising through the spring and the summer,” Smith said.

Smith adds that the situation is a reminder that conditions are changing and communities need to adapt.

“At the Watershed Center, we’re working with communities on coastal resiliency best practices,” Smith said. “Essentially these are practices to help our communities withstand and recover from these extreme high and low water years and kind of the extreme weather events that we’ve been experiencing with our changing climate future.”