Slow the Outflow to Save the Great Lakes

Capture river flow with power generating turbines

It is now obvious to those watching lake levels that something is seriously concerning about Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron levels. According to the January 2011 report from the US Army Corps of Engineers on water levels, in December monthly mean water levels in Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair and Erie were 13, 19, 7 and 5 inches below long-term average, respectively. Lake Ontario was near its long-term average. For close to 12 years water levels on Michigan and Huron have hovered around 176M: close to record lows. Wetlands have dried up, becoming meadows but they now have 6 feet high pine and birch trees young forests. Shorelines have become exposed allowing invasive species like Phragmites australis to take over; water intake pipes become unusable; and recreational boating and shipping are restricted due to shallow channels.

Yes, these levels have been seen before but only for a few years – both in the 1930s and 1960s when Seaway navigation dredging was taking place. No navigation dredging has taken place since the early 1960s, but beginning in 1999 something has changed in the St. Clair River that has been drawing down Michigan/Huron. In fact the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Upper Lakes Study Board has admitted that the outflow capacity in the St. Clair River has increased by 5.8% but in their Phase I Final Report recommended that nothing be done about that increase! And in an attempt to address low water levels on Lake Michigan and Huron the Lake Superior Control Board has increased the outflow from Lake Superior. That is like robbing Peter to pay Paul but for every centimeter that the Control Board attempts to raise Michigan and Huron levels they have to draw down the headwaters, Lake Superior, by 2 centimeters.  But with a leak at the outflow it has done little to help the middle lakes.

But wait a minute – recently released flow data shows that the government agencies have finally figured out (as the 2005 independently-sponsored Baird Report pointed out) that their formula for determining the amount of water in each Great Lake had errors. The formula has been corrected and the lakes data base has been corrected. And guess what the government agencies have found?  The conveyance capacity has increased not just in the St Clair River but also in the Detroit River and the Niagara Rivers! So with no one “watching the store” for 30 years the middle lakes have sprung a leak and so far the IJC’s response has been to do nothing. 

Sierra Club thinks it is high time that one coordinated control board for all the lakes be established and that temporary outflow control measures be placed in the three connecting rivers of the middle lakes. At least until our governments can come up with an environmentally sound long term solution. With only a 1% renewable resource in the Great Lakes it makes no sense to be drawing down 5.8% of Lakes Michigan and Huron/Georgian Bay waters when options like green energy submerged turbines are not even being considered. Lake Erie to date has to some extent been the beneficiary of increased outflow from Lakes Michigan and Huron. But that benefit will soon run out as the upstream bathtub has been drawn down now for two decades.  If nothing is done soon, maybe even this summer, the levels on Michigan/Huron/Georgian Bay will drop enough that the flow down the St Clair and Detroit Rivers will decrease and Lake Erie (a much smaller lake) will also drop to record lows. Lake Erie has problems now with nutrient loading and they will only get worse with shallower waters especially in the western basin where the algal problems could intensify. How bad will this get before they pursue a solution?  

The Baird Report (http://tinyurl.com/BairdReport2005) found that the outflow capacity had increased by 10%. Even a 5% increase in the water flowing out of the St. Clair River is 2 ½ times the amount of water diverted at Chicago. If Chicago decided to double its diversion, there would be a public outcry across all the Great Lakes! For an unrevealed reason though, the IJC’s Study Board thinks nothing needs to be done about the St. Clair River issue.

We at in the SCO Great Lakes Section beg to differ. When the Seaway was designed, locks were proposed and designed for the St. Clair River. We now know that locks are not needed or wanted: the environmental and financial costs are prohibitive. Temporary low-cost gabian walls (rocks encased in wire) could be placed along the side of all three rivers on an emergency basis as recommended in the IJC’s own 1993 Crisis Conditions Annex 6 Report. Then there is the possibility of placing submerged turbines in the deep parts of the rivers (following a full environmental impact study, of course). These turbines could “run with the river” to generate green electricity, with their resistance increased they could reduce the river’s outflow when appropriate considering both upstream and downstream conditions.