You may have noticed that Georgian Bay has looked a little low lately.
Recent predictions from the US Army Corps of Engineers project that water levels in Lake Huron will reach an all-time low by mid-November. In response, stakeholders from around Georgian Bay have been voicing support for action that would provide controls for the lake's water level.
David Sweetnam, executive director of Georgian Bay Forever, said projections have the lakes continuing to decrease in depth until they're significantly below chart datum - the level navigational charts are based on.
"That's kind of concerning for us. The forecasts make it look like there's a potential to go down to about 21 inches below that chart datum level, which would put us well over half a metre below average. It's very scary down there," said Sweetnam.
The economic effects of a decrease in water level could be significant. Billions of dollars worth of goods are shipped across the lake and even a slight decrease can make it difficult for ships carrying freight to operate safely.
On a more local level, marinas, and private docks require the water to be a certain level to operate safely. Georgian Bay could lose its desirability as a tourism destination if boaters bottoming out becomes more common while at the same time wildlife that depends on the water level becomes more scarce.
Sweetnam said the decreasing water level has helped damaging invasive species get a foothold in the area.
"What you would normally have on the coast is a healthy wetland and the wetland has established plants in it that would prevent any invasion by these kinds of plants. When you drain the water away the wetlands effectively disappear, and you get these mudflats which are very susceptable to invasion," Sweetnam said.
Several Georgian Bay stakeholders, including Georgian Bay Forever, advocate what's known as a multi-lake regulation approach. This would mean regulating the great lakes system, from the tip of lake superior to the mouth of the St. Lawrence, as a single system instead of as a series of individual areas.
One potential solution is to build a series of strategically placed structures that would enable the regulation of water outflow. For example, a structure in the upper Niagara River would cause an increase in the water level of Lake Erie, thus creating water pressure all the way up through to Lake Huron and Michigan.
"It needs a bit of manmade help," said Sweetnam. "This option was modeled to show it can mitigate against extreme low water levels. It's a good option, and we're really pushing hard for the International Joint Commission to take it up and they're listening quite respectively. Everyone's on them about low water levels and we're seeing it everywhere."
The international Joint Commission is the bilateral commission comprised of representatives from the U.S. and Canada that creates plans and reviews problems relating to the waterways between the U.S. and Canada. Recently, the commission has been criticized for a lack of action on the low water level currently present in the system.
Groups around the Georgian Bay area have come together to petition politicians and the International Joint Commission to act on the issue. Jane Whitwell, president of the Carling Township farmers market, recently sent out a petition that advocated measures to protect the water level of Lake Huron and Michigan.
"Many of us have been here since the '40s and '50s, so we know where the water level was," said Whitwell. "The fact is the environment relies on a strong high water level, whether its the fish or the fowl or whomever - people as well."
For many of those who have owned property on Georgian Bay for multiple decades, the decreasing water level has been a slow but steady process. Boathouses and docks built midway through the last century are, in many cases, far from the water today.
"Personally, we're on a beach and our boathouse and some of the others built in the '40s and '50s, they've been drydocked for years now," said Whitwell. "We took our dock out years ago and the boathouse is maybe 30 feet out from the waterline now. It's been a gradual decline into the bay. We don't have a boat now, I mean, why? Can't get to the water."
For more information on the lowering water levels in Georgian Bay visit www.georgianbayforever.org.