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| Iknow we have been having alot of south wind, but how can the Bay drop over a foot so fast? Is this normal for this time of year? It just seems unusually low considering we actually had average to above average precip for October. |
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| Wind can and does have a big effect on the Bay. And the Fox River. I've been on the Fox when it has dropped over 1 foot in the course of two hours. Soutwest wind sucked all the water out into the bay. It is a seiche-related phenomena. |
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Location: in the boat off the east shore somewhere | maybe it is because lake michigan is low due to all of the water getting sucked out of the water table to be used to water all the deserts ... to grow corn so we can use more fuel and energy to refine it into a gallon of gas than we get when we are done making the gallon... oh and every gallon of ethinal produced uses 11 houndread and some gallons of fresh water to produce..4 gallons of water per gallon of ethinal at the ethinal plant and the rest used to water the corn. lets face it all the lakes are connected in some way shap or form using the underground water table ... you drill a new well to water your 5000 acre organic vegitable farm your sucking the water from somewhere.. that is connected to water somewhere else.. hmmm .. the bay is down by 3 feet but so is the small lake 50 mile away.... conected ? ya most likely.. somehow.. everyone thinks we are running out of oil... ya ok .. at least when all the water is gone. we will have oil , by then cars will run on water... and we will be up to ten dollars a gallon on that ... oh well.. fun to be dumb. |
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Location: McFarland, WI | I was told by a usually reliable source that they are studying the impact of dredging the channel between St. Clair and Erie. Some speculate the flow rate has increased dramatically lowing the lakes upstream. Anyone hear any info regarding this line of thought. |
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| The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinal did an extensive series on the dredging issue recently. If you can dig it up, it had tons of information and diverse opinions on the subject.
Take care,
Jim O |
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| Water also expands in the summer giving the lakes a higher level. Which is much more noticeable on a huge body of water like Lake Mich. |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Although I'd love to point the finger at one source for low water so that we could get a quick fix, I believe that there are numerous reasons why we are experiencing this problem. And, unless we as a society do something about this the problem will continue and get worst.
Possible problem areas:
Dredging
Thermal warming
Too many users drawing water from system
Erosion
Mother Nature, not enough rain or snow
Too warm in winter, we need ice cover on whole system to prevent evaporation
Diversion of water from system, fewer streams and rivers adding to water flow
Adding canals to system so more people have access
Anyone have more ideas to add to the list |
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| The Fox river in De Pere is the lowest I have ever seen it, I travel over the 172 bridge almost daily and I could not believe how low it was today, if this keeps up there will be nothing left but the channel. I'm sure it will come back up a little once the wind switches up, I hope! |
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Location: Fox Lake, Illinois | The ramp in Kipling on Little Bay is almost unusable, it's just over a foot there. When I went in August, it was almost three. Everyone there wondering what's happening too |
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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Historically, the Great Lakes slowly/continually rise during the course of the summer and peak in mid to late June, as the local and Canadian winter snow/ice melt off and works its way slowly through the whole system towards Erie, Niagara Falls, Lake Ontario and finally the Atlantic ocean. The pinch point on the St. Claire is one of the biggest corks in this bottle. And dredging it and dynamiting it during spring ice jams is another of our mistakes. The waters then continually fall through the fall and winter months of that same remaining year until spring run-off starts the process over again the next year, with evaporation and other water using dynamics only adding to the problem. Now, this is what it does over here on Lake Huron. But we are the recipients of 2 of the Great Lakes Waters as the waters work their way through this system I just described. Lake Michigan might (and probably does) receive the most negative impact of this whole scenario, because it continually looses water at both it's top and bottom ends virtually all year long. When and if the rainy seasons fail or fall short over on the West side of Michigan of the West side of the Lake where most of you guys live, I'm thinking your low water problems are double what ours are on Lake Huron. And brother that aint good this year either. 
Edited by walleye express 11/13/2007 11:52 PM
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| Prevailing winds during the fall are west/North west winds. This blows a lot of water out of Green Bay. Couple that with a severe drought this summer in the UP and northern WI. This will add to the lower than usual water conditions. There are also other variables, including st. clair/detroit river dredging, so on and so forth.
Keep in mind, the water of Green Bay has always been cycleable, right now we are on a down turn period from the high water period of the '80s. It'll come back some day. And then all the politcians will probably be talking about the next "ice age" like they were 25-30 years ago.
History can teach us a lot.  |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Also, speaking of cyclic, if you research the high water low water periods you will find that the water level in 1964 was lower than what it is today. Nature has its own way of letting food grow for all inhabitants of the world. |
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Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | Here's a link with historic lake level data dating back to about 1918. You'll have to use the drop down menu's to select which lake, then I suggest selecting "All Years" and "All Months" and "Record Lows" in the table form. After you hit "submit" you'll have more data than you can shake a 30" walleye at.
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/greatlakes/hh/greatlakeswaterlevels/h...
Cooler temps to shrink water levels somewhat, but my guess is that most of what people are seeing is wind related. Lake Michigan is near its record low, but as Stacker points out, it has been lower. If you look at the data, please note the measurements are in meters. A change of 0.3 meters is about 1 foot.
Edited by Brad B 11/14/2007 10:28 AM
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| Great, since were playing Green Bay nerd wars. Here's another tid bit about Green Bay's Geology. Cut and pasted from the Web site Fox River watch.
Green Bay is within the glaciated area of Wisconsin and Michigan. The Wisconsin portion is within the ancient lake system. The bedrock of the Green Bay area is paleozoic in age and composed of at least three formations, the Niagara (Dilurian, dolomite) of Door Peninsula, the Maquoketa (Ordovician, dolomitic shale) on the southeast shore, and the Platteville-Galena Group (Ordovician, dolomite and limestone) on the western edge of the Bay. Other important formations within the Bay’s watershed are the Prairie du Chien Group (Ordivician, dolomite), Cambrian sandstones and Precambrian granite and undifferentiated igneous and metamorphic rocks.
The post glacial history of Green Bay is one of advancing and retreating shorelines. 10,000 years ago, Lake Chicago, which occupied the present Lake Michigan Basin, was at about 600 feet in elevation (183 m), about 20 feet (6 m) above the present stage. The Lake drained southward and through the Chicago outlet. As the ice continued to retreat, the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron basins combined through the Little Traverse Bay Lowlands. The combined basins maintained an elevation of 605 feet (184 m) for almost 3,000 years. Distinct shoreline features developed during the period. At the end of the Algonquin period, about 7,000 years ago, Green Bay drained in four major steps until it was totally emptied. At least one beach may be evident 90 feet (27 m) below the present lake level.
Sixty-seven hundred years ago, with the bay completely drained, the west shore- rivers probably joined to form one great north flowing river. With Lake Superior at a much higher elevation, over 1,000 feet (303 m), a major drainage developed across Little Bay de Noc in Lake Michigan. This steep-walled channel is two miles wide and 100 feet deep (30.3) m) and extends across Northern Green Bay. That the bay filled rapidly to 605 feet (183 m) about 4,500 years ago is evidenced by the fact that little major deposition or erosion occurred in the former drainage channel.
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Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | "Great, since were playing Green Bay nerd wars."
You win. |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Get back to work, both of you, thats enough, no one wants to know how good you are at finding egg headed info on the net. Know one knows what the heck you are talking about any how. GET BACK TO WORK!! The water will come back, to deep, and it will erode the shorelines till houses drop in the water, then they can complain about that.
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | More reading if you have the time and desire:
Warmth, wind may be cutting Lake Superior level, scientist says
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=682205
Time to plug the drain?
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=682206
Video hurts 'drain hole' theory
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=681634 |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | Gosh, you guys are not mad at me are you? |
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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Stacker.
I've never felt it neccessary to slap a cat. No sense in it. They never learn why your slapping them anyway.   |
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| It's interesting that the dredgeing of St. Clair get's blamed for lower water levels. Yet the last time it was dredged was 1960 to a depth of 27 ft. In 1986, 26 years later mind you, Lake MI was at it's record high.
Kind of seems like some knee jerk reactions.
I think we need snow.....and lots of it, a decade and change of "mild" winters I think is more to blame. |
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| Dan, I don't think I quite understand your comment. Who do you feel is not worthy of being slapped? One might read it as if some others are to dumb to understand what is being said.
Or is this the voice of experience and we should all sit back and just listen?
I'm curious on your intentions? |
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Location: Appleton wi | You guys dont have a clue! Everyone in gb knows why the water table has dropped past 3 months. Its the packer players using all that nice ice cold water to cool off after practice and games!!!!! When you Hot nothing better than ice cold rinse! |
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Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay. | Jayman - 11/14/2007 3:27 PM
Dan, I don't think I quite understand your comment. Who do you feel is not worthy of being slapped? One might read it as if some others are to dumb to understand what is being said.
Or is this the voice of experience and we should all sit back and just listen?
I'm curious on your intentions?
Jayman.
My comments were neither aimed or meant to insinuate anything imparticular about any one person imparticular. Stacker asked if we were mad about his comments. Debating rather we're mad at his comments falls under the uselessness of slaping a cat to me.
Now let me ask you, have I offended you in the past somehow? I sense in a few recent posts some verbal or other tensions between us. Can't see why there would be unless it's my stunning personallity that may be rubbing you the wrong way. I certainly hope not, because if I didn't change for 3 wives I don't see me starting now.
Edited by walleye express 11/14/2007 3:28 PM
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| No offense taken. Again, I was only trying to understand your intentions. |
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Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | Hahaha Stacker... I can't get mad at anybody right now. Since I sold my boat, anyone with a one is a potential ride.
You wouldn't happen to have any new 19 to 21 foot rigs with full electronics, 225 opti, pro kicker, and a minn kota autopilot bow mount on a 95% off sale right now, would ya? |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | yep, got one at 95% off. At what price is it discounted down 95% off. That always seems to be the problem. Do have a 40,000.00 fully rigged brand new Tuffy however. Yep, 40K even plus tax |
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Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | I'm sure it's a great boat, but another boat simply isn't in the works at present. I would like a ride in yours sometime next spring though... never road in a Tuffy and would like to see how they handle the bay or 'bago on a rough day.
Boat shopping might start next spring, but probably not until next fall. |
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Why is the Bay of GB so low?