Michigan water levels

mtudb24

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The whole "30 year cycle" is out the window here on Saginaw Bay in Michigan. 2 years ago, we had to raise our docks because the water level was so high and our neighbor across the canal had all this rock put in at his place. No sand was showing. Now, we've lost over 3 feet of water and its just a mess. We actually have a "beach" at the end of our stairs that was covered to water up to the top step. UGH.

You can't win against mother nature. I ended up having to lower my dock earlier this spring so the Benny doesn't slide "under" the dock now.
 

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I sent you as much water as I could 2 years ago when Smallwood, Wixom and Sanford Lake emptied! :(

On the bright side I sold the Sylvan and got a Bennington and now spend my days at Higgins Lake.

The day prior to the dam breaching, the aftermath 3 days later, and today...
 

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My water levels move up and down daily! I’d rather have more water than not enough for boating.
 
I sent you as much water as I could 2 years ago when Smallwood, Wixom and Sanford Lake emptied! :(

On the bright side I sold the Sylvan and got a Bennington and now spend my days at Higgins Lake.

The day prior to the dam breaching, the aftermath 3 days later, and today...
So very sorry what all of you went through in that disaster. So sad. i can't imagine what that was like.
 
In Northern Michigan , the Inland Waterway is down a few inches ,due to lack of rain and a warmer than normal winter . Great Lakes did not freeze as much ,causing some evaporation and more lake effect snow .
 
On top of Jack mentioned above impacting our lake (Houghton Lake), they also have a dam repair issue causing boards to be open more than they should be due to dam upkeep and management. :mad:

The rumor I am hearing from someone VERY well connected is it could be MUCH WORSE than normal this year for us. I was told it could be a few feet lower at the current flow rates by the heart of summer up here. For reference, we are in 1.5-2.5’ of depth for the first 200-220’ out from shoreline in mid summer normally. :oops:

I think we have lost somewhere between 8” - 1’ of depth dockside in the last month alone. This is during a time of season we would otherwise hold steady, or maybe increase slightly due to spring rains.

Anyone that knows Houghton Lake knows it is super shallow already, and gets worse through the season as is. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get as bad as I hear in regards to some potential estimates. However, it currently seems to be going in that direction.
 
What aggravates me is that the lever of the entire Inland Waterway is lowered starting about the 3rd week of July for August boat races . It is lowered because they allow them to race in No Wake Zones .
The Cheboygan and Alanson locks are opened and it is let out into Lake Huron .
They also close the rivers at times for those races also .

link for the races

 
That would burn my bottom Jack!
 
I was fortunate to have only minor damage to my home. Minor being just a few thousand dollars.

Neighbors adjacent to me had 3' of water and mud in their walkout basement. Just a few homes north of me, those who were at lake level and not on a bluff lost everything. Keep in mind no one technically lived in a flood plain and had insurance to cover any of this. All claims were denied. Fair warning to those who live on a body of water that is controlled by a private entity, our "owner" had years of violations and fines that were never enforced.

I believe Michigan alone has over 200+ dams that are privately held.

Here is where my boat ended up. One section of my dock was still attached, the rest is AWOL.

So very sorry what all of you went through in that disaster. So sad. i can't imagine what that was like.
 

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Jeff, who owns the dam on Houghton Lake? See my comments above, as a community we should have pressed the issue much harder than we did. NO ONE expected the dam to fail.
On top of Jack mentioned above impacting our lake (Houghton Lake), they also have a dam repair issue causing boards to be open more than they should be due to dam upkeep and management. :mad:

The rumor I am hearing from someone VERY well connected is it could be MUCH WORSE than normal this year for us. I was told it could be a few feet lower at the current flow rates by the heart of summer up here. For reference, we are in 1.5-2.5’ of depth for the first 200-220’ out from shoreline in mid summer normally. :oops:

I think we have lost somewhere between 8” - 1’ of depth dockside in the last month alone. This is during a time of season we would otherwise hold steady, or maybe increase slightly due to spring rains.

Anyone that knows Houghton Lake knows it is super shallow already, and gets worse through the season as is. Fingers crossed it doesn’t get as bad as I hear in regards to some potential estimates. However, it currently seems to be going in that direction.
 
Jeff, who owns the dam on Houghton Lake? See my comments above, as a community we should have pressed the issue much harder than we did. NO ONE expected the dam to fail.
My understanding is the Reedsburg Dam is public and managed by the DNR directly. Built by the CCC back in 1938-40. It’s one of the more important DNR dams as it both controls the HL water level, but then water flow amounts and levels for the Muskegon River (which originates out of HL).

It just went through a BIG repair and reconstruction project a couple years ago. However, 1 or 2 of the boards is some how damaged, or has problems, leading to the current issue. Given the extent of construction and repairs recently, it’s all the more bewildering to hear the talk I have heard recently regarding the water level management of Houghton Lake. We’ll see how it plays out as they need to repair those boards.
 
I should have 5’ in my slip right now, I have 2.5’ (Texas) and it’s going down by the day. Inside of 2’ is where I pull the plug out of concern to hit something that is now at “prop level” that wasn’t a few inches higher.

Sucks but think 4th of July will be the end of the boat season and it will be jet skis for the rest of the year. Burns my behind but nothing you can do, droughts come and thankfully they will go.

Figure I’ll have enough water to drop the boat in from the lift and run the engines to keep batteries charged throughout the season.

Ugh.
 
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