By Jeff Kart
February 3, 2011
Roger J. Smithe asked members of the Great Lakes Coalition to sound off on a request from the International Joint Commission to investigate water restoration options for Lakes Michigan-Huron. The majority response: Leave Mother Nature alone.
Smithe, chairman of the Coalition, also is a member of the Public Interest Advisory Group to the International Upper Great Lakes Study. The Study Board has been asked by the IJC to examine the effects of raising the lakes by 0 to 20 inches.
“IJC WILL INVESTIGATE RAISING LAKE LEVELS BY 20 INCHES!!” reads the top headline in the Coalition’s Winter 2010 newsletter.
“Why did the IJC make this request?” Smith wrote. “Because they received lots of letters from Georgian Bay folks asking them to, and they are being responsive to them. They received very few letters from Lake Michigan people.”
While some Georgian Bay residents believe it’s worth looking at structures and other ways of restoring water levels to those in the 1960s and earlier, some Lake Michigan folks have an opposite view. After all, regulating Great Lakes levels is a balancing act, and changes made to one part of the system, like the St. Clair River, would have positive and negative consequences throughout the basin.
About two dozen comments have been received since Smithe put out the call. Most of the letter writers were against taking steps to raise Lakes Michigan-Huron. The comments received include:
We’ll also be listening on Facebook. These are informal comments for now. But bookmark the IUGLS website, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up to date on the Study. You’ll be the first to know when official public comments begin on the Study’s draft findings, and when and where public meetings will be held.
Smithe, chairman of the Coalition, also is a member of the Public Interest Advisory Group to the International Upper Great Lakes Study. The Study Board has been asked by the IJC to examine the effects of raising the lakes by 0 to 20 inches.
“IJC WILL INVESTIGATE RAISING LAKE LEVELS BY 20 INCHES!!” reads the top headline in the Coalition’s Winter 2010 newsletter.
“Why did the IJC make this request?” Smith wrote. “Because they received lots of letters from Georgian Bay folks asking them to, and they are being responsive to them. They received very few letters from Lake Michigan people.”
While some Georgian Bay residents believe it’s worth looking at structures and other ways of restoring water levels to those in the 1960s and earlier, some Lake Michigan folks have an opposite view. After all, regulating Great Lakes levels is a balancing act, and changes made to one part of the system, like the St. Clair River, would have positive and negative consequences throughout the basin.
About two dozen comments have been received since Smithe put out the call. Most of the letter writers were against taking steps to raise Lakes Michigan-Huron. The comments received include:
I live on the shore of Lake Michigan and am adamantly opposed to any proposed raising of the Lake Michigan level to accommodate those living on the Georgian Bay. Leave the lakes alone.- Roger B. Wilschke, St. Joseph, Michigan
We can no longer use many public boat launches due to the water levels so low. I’ve personally seen the water move away from my home 150 feet … reducing my property value. … Please! If you are able to increase the level of Lake Michigan, do it as soon as possible.- Fred Sytsma, Charlevoix, Michigan
I have had three properties in the past 30 years that were either on Lake Michigan or on an estuary that fed into the lake and all were at one time or other impacted in a negative manner. … Just imagine what purposefully raising the lake’s level 20 inches will do. There also are many residential projects that would be negatively impacted and this would stifle economic development along the lake.- Philip T. Lunsford, Stevensville, Michigan
We ask only that you let nature take its course, let the winds blow and the waters flow naturally, without human intervention. Engineering to alter the natural course of events, although well-meaning, usually results in negative, unintended consequences.- Jessie and Ronald Dalman, Holland, MichiganFor his part, IJC spokesman Frank Bevacqua explains that during public meetings in March 2010, his agency heard concerns from citizens in Georgian Bay about how dredging in the St. Clair River had impacted water levels in Lakes Michigan-Huron.
We also heard concerns from citizens on Lake Michigan about possible measures to remediate these impacts,” Bevacqua said. “We asked the Study Board to investigate restoration options because we thought it was time to add some factual information to the discussion about the implications that possible remedial measures could have, both upstream and downstream.Smithe had his members address letters to the IJC in Washington, D.C. You can follow this “Contact Us” link to send in your own comments to those leading the Study.
We’ll also be listening on Facebook. These are informal comments for now. But bookmark the IUGLS website, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up to date on the Study. You’ll be the first to know when official public comments begin on the Study’s draft findings, and when and where public meetings will be held.