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Water Levels in Great Lakes Keep Rising


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3 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Yeah... Because thats the fetch of the Bay pointed right at Syracuse and then added with Ontario.

 

Geologically the Bay is a spill over from Huron.  The Niagara Escarpment goes under water there and pops up again rounding and impounding Huron and L.Michigan all the way down through Door County, Green Bay into Lower Wisconsin:

 

 

220px-Niagara_Escarpment_map.png

I'm enjoying this discussion.

 

Can you explain a bit how the escarpment does this rounding and impounding?

 

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6 hours ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

This is what makes the world go round.  It's not just a Great Lakes "problem."   Weather has Always been cyclical, and really is uncontrolled by all the hand wringers..

 

Last year central Europe had a very dry Spring/Summer.  That dropped the water levels in the Danube, Maine, and to a lesser extent the Rhine.  This year, mostly back to normal, to above normal levels.  Really screwed up the river cruise business with the low water.  The controlling river authority(s) closed portions of the rivers, at various times.

 

Passau Germany sits at the confluence of three rivers, and had the worst floods in 500 years, in 2013.  Last year high and dry, this year back to normal.  All these rivers are controlled by a series of locks to facilitate barge transportation, and to a lesser extent river cruise ships but there's only so much of nature that ever really gets "controlled."  At least Passau had the benefit of 500+ years of weather/river data to compare.  While We're still falling back on geology to try to figure it out.

I have a friend whose European river cruise was cancelled last year due to low water.  They opted to have it rescheduled for this year. It looks like it will happen this time. 

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7 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

This makes no sense.  How does polluted water increase evaporation????!!!!

Polluted water doesn't freeze.  Hence it stays warmer.  Hence come summer, during the prime evap months of July and August, H2O temps are elevated. 

 

Warmer = higher evaporation

 

Suppressed temps because ice has been floating around = less evaporation.

 

Also.  With ice cover... There is none to little winter evaporation.

 

Set up a fish tank.  Leave it.  Where does the water go after a few months.

 

The water is getting cleaner and cleaner.  Low water during my years here have been during the warm winters.  At one time, this river barely froze it was so hot.

 

Icebergs floating around L.Superior in June and hunks of ice falling from the Apostle Islands "sea caves" in July, up in Northern Wisconsin really do play a part.

 

Global Warming really does play a part.  Evaporation will fall outside the basin.

 

Notice Lakes started going up after the hard freeze of 2014?

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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5 hours ago, Poleshifter said:

I'm enjoying this discussion.

 

Can you explain a bit how the escarpment does this rounding and impounding?

 

Remember... Lakes are melting hunks of ice.  See were Escarpment goes under Lake Huron and water spills into Georgian Bay?  See where it goes under L.Michigan @ Door County and water spills into Green Bay?

 

L.Superior to the North I believe is volcanic, basalt.  The Michigan-Huron, Erie share common impounded geology.  Georgian Bay, Green Bay are beyond that.  Superior different.  Ontario different.

 

I am NOT a geologist... But I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

Any professional geologist out there care to expound?  This is an experts only slope.

 

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8 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

Turns out....Lake Ontario is a filthy *****.

Sure is!!! Through the years....2000s when Middle Lakes went low.  Ontario stayed static because of the St.Lawrence and shipping.  It should have been allowed to drop.  Naturally cleanse itself.  If it dropped, drew down... The reserve capacity would have been able to handle it what Erie, Michigan-Huron (& Superior, but Superior is controlled) giving it!

 

 

Little known fact.  Canada puts water IN to Superior from the Arctic watershed 25% MORE than Chicago diverts daily and around (rough #s) 10% MORE than what goes over The Falls daily.

 

Blame Canada Hydro up in the wilds of Ontario... Tell them to stop generating power for Toronto and stop adding water to L.Superior.

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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34 minutes ago, BringBackFergy said:

You’re new here aren’t ya?

 

There is no such thing as a “brief” explanation when it comes to @ExiledInIllinois and the Corps. 

Blame my Grade 11 West Seneca West English teacher.  LoL...

 

And tell @Gugny I just checked water temps going back to 2012.  The river which is usually 10-20° warmer than Big Lake today is 66°

 

In:

 

2012: 75°

2013: 69°

2014: 71° (Cold year, icebergs on Superior in June, ice still falling off north cliffs in July!)

2015: 71°

2016: 73°

2017: 74°

2018: 73°

2019: 66°

 

Lake Michigan has to be in low 50s° ???

 

Just checked:

Mid Lake Bouy: 44°!!

 

High water started after 2013-14 winter!

 

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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21 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Blame my Grade 11 West Seneca West English teacher.  LoL...

 

And tell @Gugny I just checked water temps going back to 2012.  The river which is usually 10-20° warmer than Big Lake today is 66°

 

In:

 

2012: 75°

2013: 69°

2014: 71° (Cold year, icebergs on Superior in June, ice still falling off north cliffs in July!)

2015: 71°

2016: 73°

2017: 74°

2018: 73°

2019: 66°

 

Lake Michigan has to be in low 50s° ???

 

Just checked:

Mid Lake Bouy: 44°!!

 

High water started after 2013-14 winter!

 

I wonder if the wineries that rely on microclimates near the lakes will have a bad year.  

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4 minutes ago, Gray Beard said:

I wonder if the wineries that rely on microclimates near the lakes will have a bad year.  

Good question.

 

The Lake water temp @ St.Joseph in Michigan is 68°.  They are in wine country.  Tempered by Lake, alee like BFLo...

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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2 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

So... It seems the microclimates power through.  68° at St.Joseph Light is warm!!! Warmer than a 9 foot deep river here!

Nobody is eating meat anymore!!!  All this fake crap!

I've always wanted to be a minority, now I'm there.

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10 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Polluted water doesn't freeze.  Hence it stays warmer.  Hence come summer, during the prime evap months of July and August, H2O temps are elevated. 

 

Warmer = higher evaporation

 

Suppressed temps because ice has been floating around = less evaporation.

 

Also.  With ice cover... There is none to little winter evaporation.

 

Set up a fish tank.  Leave it.  Where does the water go after a few months.

 

The water is getting cleaner and cleaner.  Low water during my years here have been during the warm winters.  At one time, this river barely froze it was so hot.

 

Icebergs floating around L.Superior in June and hunks of ice falling from the Apostle Islands "sea caves" in July, up in Northern Wisconsin really do play a part.

 

Global Warming really does play a part.  Evaporation will fall outside the basin.

 

Notice Lakes started going up after the hard freeze of 2014?

i'm beginning to think you may have been water boarded once, possibly twice before. 

 

9 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

... High water started after 2013-14 winter!

 

it's called, Plan 2014.

 

your welcome.

Edited by Foxx
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14 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Remember... Lakes are melting hunks of ice.  See were Escarpment goes under Lake Huron and water spills into Georgian Bay?  See where it goes under L.Michigan @ Door County and water spills into Green Bay?

 

L.Superior to the North I believe is volcanic, basalt.  The Michigan-Huron, Erie share common impounded geology.  Georgian Bay, Green Bay are beyond that.  Superior different.  Ontario different.

 

I am NOT a geologist... But I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

 

Any professional geologist out there care to expound?  This is an experts only slope.

 

Thanks for the explanation.

 

And "salties" = ocean-going ships? (either that or some little fishies)

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I have worked in tourism in Niagara Falls for the past 25 years. The water levels in the lower Niagara are higher than they've ever been. This past Friday the Hornblower and Maid of the Mist boats lost a full day of business for the first time in history because the water level submerged the docks that passengers use to access the boats. It was the 5th day this season they had a shutdown ( the other four were just partial day losses.)

 

It's a huge problem and is not going to get better anytime soon. I was told by one engineer that they are hoping for sustained hot weather with increased air-conditioner useage so that the increase demand for hydro will call for more water to be sent through the upper-river water intakes to the power plants.

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https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2019/06/08/flood-watch-effect-lake-ontario-shoreline/1393188001/

 

A flood watch is in effect for the Lake Ontario shoreline from Niagara to Jefferson counties.

The National Weather Service issues the watch at 1 p.m. The watch is set to expire at 5 p.m. for Niagara, Orleans, Monroe and Wayne counties, but will last until 11 p.m. for Jefferson, northern Cayuga and Oswego counties.

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On 6/15/2019 at 7:19 PM, ExiledInIllinois said:

 

Yes they can.  Next thing you'll tell me that when you take a dump and flush... The new toilet water is just as dirty as before the flush.

 

And it's really a "controlling works" because it acts just like the toilet in your house.  It's just a big azz one.

 

We would flush more water, dilute even more... But Illinois is bound by SCOTUS rulings going back over 100 years to NOT to divert more than ~4,000 cfs (cubic feet per second).  There you have it, the original "low flow" water closet.

 

Anyway... Back to original topic.  The Great Lakes are over flowing because winters have been more severe since 2014.  The more ice cover on Michigan-Huron & Erie supress Lake temps... So as during the main evaporation months of July and August there is less evaporation that falls outside the basin.  Rate of water accumulation beats the rate of abatement.  Which means more net water gain than goes out over the Niagara Falls and through Chicago for the middle three lakes.

 

A buddy of mine sometimes has that problem after I leave his house....

 

Image result for toilet upperdecker

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1 hour ago, BringBackFergy said:

I thought it was called “climate change”? 

 

It is. Same thing, both can be used interchangeably.

 

Less pollution, cleaner water... Generally better environment than we have been accustomed to be living in.   Harder freezes are associated with global warming.  I know, hard to believe right? Harder freezes lead to more water retention in Great Lakes.

 

Why are people so negative?  The environment is getting better for us in general here in the US. Why the constant "revolution" that the sky is falling?  Wolf always at the door?  We will leave things better for our children than our parents left it for us. Now... Other parts of the world, I am not so sure.  IMO, we need to fix what we are doing there.

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5 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

It is. Same thing, both can be used interchangeably.

 

Less pollution, cleaner water... Generally better environment than we have been accustomed to be living in.   Harder freezes are associated with global warming.  I know, hard to believe right? Harder freezes lead to more water retention in Great Lakes.

 

Why are people so negative?  The environment is getting better for us in general here in the US. Why the constant "revolution" that the sky is falling?  Wolf always at the door?  We will leave things better for our children than our parents left it for us. Now... Other parts of the world, I am not so sure.  IMO, we need to fix what we are doing there.

Maybe the Corps should start building some canals and locks in Kenya, Istanbul, Afghanistan....then we can monitor their pollution levels easier and maybe take over their ports, inland waters and economy in general?

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Put pipes in the ground and send it to California.  

Put a lot of people to work installing the 30’ pipes in the ground. 

 

Lower the lakes reduce the flooding and water the grapes ?  ????????

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13 minutes ago, mead107 said:

Put pipes in the ground and send it to California.  

Put a lot of people to work installing the 30’ pipes in the ground. 

 

Lower the lakes reduce the flooding and water the grapes ?  ????????

That would be good!  On the one hand the enviro's can't stand pipelines while on the other their tongues are hanging out for water. 

 

Can't overlook all the midwest flooding from winter snow melt that flooding the farmer's fields.  That could be a shorter pipeline.  Should we all buy US Steel yet?

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3 hours ago, BringBackFergy said:

Maybe the Corps should start building some canals and locks in Kenya, Istanbul, Afghanistan....then we can monitor their pollution levels easier and maybe take over their ports, inland waters and economy in general?

Marco!

 

Just between you & me, we should keep this under our Stetsons.  I won't confirm this yes or no, but you are getting close with your ideas.  Not necessarily those places you mentioned, we aren't just in the canal business.

 

 

POLO!

 

 

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On 6/17/2019 at 11:48 AM, ChevyVanMiller said:

 

It's a huge problem and is not going to get better anytime soon. I was told by one engineer that they are hoping for sustained hot weather with increased air-conditioner useage so that the increase demand for hydro will call for more water to be sent through the upper-river water intakes to the power plants.

         This does not make sense to me.  If the water from the Upper river flows over the falls or around the falls through the power intakes, it still raises the level of Lake Ontario, which in the end determines the level of water in the lower river.

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5 minutes ago, Greybeard said:

         This does not make sense to me.  If the water from the Upper river flows over the falls or around the falls through the power intakes, it still raises the level of Lake Ontario, which in the end determines the level of water in the lower river.

Yeah.  There are reserve storage reservoirs, but they can't possibly be that big on Canadian and American sides. Lower the flow at the Falls for aesthetic quality and tourism even during daylight hours... But I can't imagine they have that much storage.  Around 3 billion gallons flow over Falls a day.  Maybe their reserve storage at reservoirs are filled to the brim.  Then in that case they will have increase flow over Falls for Tourism.

 

Ontario is in a bind.  They take in all what the other Lakes send her.  Shut down the Welland Canal.  Shutting down the Welland Canal will make Erie go up 6", Huron 3", & Michigan 2".  OR: open wide down the St.Lawrence.  I jest.

 

Anyway... Why pray for hydro demand?  Stop putting in from them the Arctic TO Superior.  Slow it down at The Soo.

 

Here is a good  book:

 

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Great_Lakes_Water_Wars.html?id=3vgzhwmmmw4C&source=kp_book_description

 

Island Press, Aug 25, 2009 - Nature - 320 pages
The Great Lakes are the largest collection of fresh surface water on earth, and more than 40 million Americans and Canadians live in their basin. Will we divert water from the Great Lakes, causing them to end up like Central Asia's Aral Sea, which has lost 90 percent of its surface area and 75 percent of its volume since 1960? Or will we come to see that unregulated water withdrawals are ultimately catastrophic? Peter Annin writes a fast-paced account of the people and stories behind these upcoming battles. Destined to be the definitive story for the general public as well as policymakers, The Great Lakes Water Wars is a balanced, comprehensive look behind the scenes at the conflicts and compromises that are the past-and future-of this unique resource.

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Yeah.  There are reserve storage reservoirs, but they can't possibly be that big on Canadian and American sides. Lower the flow at the Falls for aesthetic quality and tourism even during daylight hours... But I can't imagine they have that much storage.  Around 3 billion gallons flow over Falls a day.  Maybe their reserve storage at reservoirs are filled to the brim.  Then in that case they will have increase flow over Falls for Tourism.

 

Ontario is in a bind.  They take in all what the other Lakes send her.  Shut down the Welland Canal.  Shutting down the Welland Canal will make Erie go up 6", Huron 3", & Michigan 2".  OR: open wide down the St.Lawrence.  I jest.

 

Anyway... Why pray for hydro demand?  Stop putting in from them the Arctic TO Superior.  Slow it down at The Soo.

 

Here is a good  book:

 

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Great_Lakes_Water_Wars.html?id=3vgzhwmmmw4C&source=kp_book_description

 

Island Press, Aug 25, 2009 - Nature - 320 pages
The Great Lakes are the largest collection of fresh surface water on earth, and more than 40 million Americans and Canadians live in their basin. Will we divert water from the Great Lakes, causing them to end up like Central Asia's Aral Sea, which has lost 90 percent of its surface area and 75 percent of its volume since 1960? Or will we come to see that unregulated water withdrawals are ultimately catastrophic? Peter Annin writes a fast-paced account of the people and stories behind these upcoming battles. Destined to be the definitive story for the general public as well as policymakers, The Great Lakes Water Wars is a balanced, comprehensive look behind the scenes at the conflicts and compromises that are the past-and future-of this unique resource.

 

 

 

 

       Here is a link to math solutions which happen to include some on what it takes to create energy.   Not for everyone but I found it interesting. 

https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/11/pump-up-the-storage/

 

      I was looking for the capacity of the reservoir at the power plant, which I found at the link below.  What I never realized is that they pump water up to the reservoir at night to store energy.  I had always thought it was just to store water at the level of the upper Niagara River.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses_Niagara_Power_Plant

 

    And thanks for the book idea.

 

     

Edited by Greybeard
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4 minutes ago, Greybeard said:

       Here is a link to math solutions which happen to include some on what it takes to create energy.   Not for everyone but I found it interesting. 

https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/11/pump-up-the-storage/

 

      I was looking for the capacity of the reservoir at the power plant, which I found at the link below.  What I never realized is that they pump water up to the reservoir at night to store energy.  I had always thought it was just to store water at the level of the upper Niagara River.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses_Niagara_Power_Plant

 

    And thanks for the book idea.

 

     

Kinzua is also pumped storage:

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinzua_Dam

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Pumped_Storage_Generating_Station

 

I would have thought Niagara was all gravity fed. 

 

FWIW... I think they are still digging extra capacity on the Canadian side.

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On 6/17/2019 at 1:05 AM, ExiledInIllinois said:

LakeEvaporation

 

I stand corrected.  Winter is critical too:

 

Screenshot_20190616-235820.jpg

On Monday, the Senate Minority Leader toured a business in Fair Haven and called for the international body to "tear-up" its Plan 2014, which many have blamed for the flooding in 2017 and this year.

 

Humans Are Not Responsible for Global Warming

 

you're welcome.

Edited by Foxx
copy and pasted the wrong link. Ell will want his 'thumbs up' back.
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