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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Lakes' Levels Fall Faster

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/15/2007 : 08:48:39

For Great Lakes sailors...

[url="http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/METRO/708150401&theme=Metro-GreatLakes&imw=Y"]Lakes' Levels Fall Faster[/url]

Study: Mich., Huron lose water three times quicker

Don Lucier

North Star SR/FK

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 08/15/2007 : 09:49:51

It seems like the St. Claire shipping channel has been dredged for a long time and the levels have gone up and down since... Is Erie up? That theory would suggest so... although Erie has a natural level control. I guess if Superior drops another 35' or so, Niagra will stop letting it all out and Ontario will dry up altogether. Meanwhile, the level here goes up.......

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 08/15/2007 09:52:38

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/15/2007 : 15:05:51

Erie seems to be okay both at the Islands and down by me.

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Renzo
Admiral

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USA
621 Posts

Response Posted - 08/15/2007 : 16:26:34

That extra water ain't making it into lake St.Clair our levels are lower this year than last year so where is it going. Anybody check the Main Drain in Chicago?

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/16/2007 : 06:38:15

Hey Larry there's also that auxilliary run off drain over in Buffalo that they claim is only running at 25%.

Edited by - on

Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2030 Posts

Response Posted - 08/16/2007 : 07:44:00

The saltmines under lake Erie are filling?

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Renzo
Admiral

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USA
621 Posts

Response Posted - 08/16/2007 : 07:58:29

And don't forget the hundreds of forign freighters passing through the Great Lakes that can suck up fresh lake water to sell to the water hungry markets in North Africa, Arabia, and Asia.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 08/16/2007 : 08:51:07

Maybe the Cuyahoga R. has reversed--check the satellite photos to see if the flames are moving southward thru Ohio...

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osmepneo
Past Commodore

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USA
1420 Posts

Response Posted - 08/16/2007 : 14:16:02

Our lake (Great Sacandaga) is very low for this time of the year, and this weekend the bigger boats are going out. C25's are ok for now.

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djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/16/2007 : 17:44:24

Hey Larry, I was hailing you as you passed by the North Star Sail Club the other night. I have my new, to my, boat at the NSSC. When you are going there from your place, right when you get to the driveway, look over to the south cut and you can see my red "Shady Lady" in all her glory. Cheers.

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Renzo
Admiral

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USA
621 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2007 : 07:41:54

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by djn
 Hey Larry, I was hailing you as you passed by the North Star Sail Club the other night. I have my new, to my, boat at the NSSC. When you are going there from your place, right when you get to the driveway, look over to the south cut and you can see my red "Shady Lady" in all her glory. Cheers.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Hi Dennis, sorry I didn't hear you hailing. I'll keep an eye out for your boat when I go out this weekend.

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John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2007 : 19:20:08

Went out this afternoon (for about 5 minutes - another story) and listened to the NOAA weather since the wind was blowin like snot. The interesting thing was that they were reporting Lake Erie at 12" above Low Water Datum. Just 2 weeks ago the report was 29" above LWD.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 08/18/2007 : 22:24:12

Could that have been the winds, John? A big westerly wind will drop the level on the west end and raise it on the east.

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/19/2007 : 07:18:07

my question is how long did you actually listen to the weather. It takes a good 50 minute cycle including inland weather to even get lucky enough to hear about the water level.

If I recall we had an S ton of rain over the past two weeks. 4 inches in a half hour. That would be enough to raise the lake for a while.

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 08/19/2007 : 09:14:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Champipple
 my question is how long did you actually listen to the weather. It takes a good 50 minute cycle including inland weather to even get lucky enough to hear about the water level.

If I recall we had an S ton of rain over the past two weeks. 4 inches in a half hour. That would be enough to raise the lake for a while.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yeah, it was a fluke that I turned it on at the time they were mentioning water level.

I thought the same thing about the rain but I think lake water levels are more effected by what's going on upstream than rain run-off. (With no science to support that BTW) But, the reason it stuck with me was that I had the same thought. How could it be down with all that rain we've had? Although, I was sailing in the Sandusky Bay getting sunburned while Marginal Road got 4 inches of rain in an hour. Plus, a lot of that water got sucked up by the might dry dirt since we had so little rain in June & July.

Maybe this will help: http://www.weather.com/weather/map/interactive/44870?from=36hour_map_large& zoom=5& interactiveMapLayer=radar

Edited by - John Russell on 08/19/2007 10:16:05

lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 08/19/2007 : 22:37:08

Our own Folsom Lake is low as well. Last winter's snowpack in the American River watershed (Folsom Lake's source of water) was only 40% of normal, and the highest pond elevation for the lake this season was 20 feet below full - we all knew this was bad news back in May, when the lake level peaked, and that an early marina closure was likely. Well, it happened: another premature closure of the marina right in the middle of boating season (August 1st), the third time since 2001 that the marina has had to close in July or August

. "Closure of the Marina" means that the docks have less than 5 feet of water under them, and everyone has to pull their boats due to low water and store them up in the parking lot for the rest of the year. The water is dropping so fast that as of today, August 19th, most of the docks are high and dry on the mud. Normal pull-date is December 1st, so all the slip renters were shorted 4 months. Folsom Lake Marina does not give refunds for premature closure due to low lake level, so the cost per month for the slip renters this year was $300 (ouch). In a good year, the slip renters get 9 months of slip use (March 1 to December 1), costing $133/month. Here's a link to the marina website with a picture of the docks on the mud.
http://www.folsomlakemarina.com/Lowwaterpics.html

I don't have an in-water slip (Quiet Time is in dry storage) so this premature closure doesn't affect me as much, except that most of my sailing club friends do have slips, and have stripped and de-rigged their boats after pulling them, to prevent theft of outboard motors, sails, rudders, and other parts. So this means our club activities on Folsom Lake are probably over for the year. One of the launch ramps will still be open until the lake drops 20 more feet, so I should be able to still use my boat for the rest of the season, but I think I will probably bring Quiet Time home next month and start work on all the maintenance that needs to get done before I head up to the San Juans next July.

Edited by - on

DanM
Captain

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USA
256 Posts

Response Posted - 08/21/2007 : 18:26:38

Dave, for us on the east end of Lake Erie, an east or north wind typically lowers our level 6 to 12 inches. We seem to have had a lot of such winds this summer and it has affected several boats on shallow moorings in Abino Bay.
I agree with John. One morning in late August 2006 my wife wondered at the amount of exposed lakebottom after 20 hours of pounding rain and easterly winds. She asked, "who pulled the plug?" Several boats moored inshore near the town launch ramp looked like they were beached. We were experiencing a seiche. All that rain did not raise the lake and although the creeks feeding the lake did briefly rise, no lasting effect.
I later found that Perfect Day had grounded on her mooring and the fibreglass on the bottom of the keel was chewed up. A costly repair. I requested a deeper mooring assignment this year.

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