National Water Availability and Use Program Lake-Level Variability and Water Availability in the Great Lakes Circular 1311 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Front-cover photo: Drowned-river-mouth wetland in Pigeon River near Port Sheldon, Michigan, in late summer 2000; photo shows mostly annual emergent plants along the shore that grew from the seed bank in exposed shoreline sediments after Lake Michigan water levels dropped more than 1.5 feet from what they were in 1998. (Photo by Douglas Wilcox, U.S. Geological Survey) Above: Same area in spring 1999, before growth of the emergent plants. (Photo by Douglas Wilcox, U.S. Geological Survey) Lake-Level Variability and Water Availability in the Great Lakes By Douglas A. Wilcox, Todd A. Thompson, Robert K. Booth, and J.R. Nicholas National Water Availability and Use Program Circular 1311 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Mark D. Myers, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2007 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report. Suggested citation: Wilcox, D.A, Thompson, T.A., Booth, R.K., and Nicholas, J.R., 2007, Lake-level variability and water availability in the Great Lakes: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1311, 25 p. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lake-level variability and water availability in the Great Lakes / by Douglas A. Wilcox . [et al.]. p. cm. – (Circular; 1311) Includes bibliographical references. 1. Paleohydrology–Michigan, Lake. 2. Water levels–Michigan, Lake. 3. Paleohydrology–Huron, Lake (Mich. and Ont.) 4. Water levels– Huron, Lake (Mich. and Ont.) 5. Paleohydrology–Superior, Lake. 6. Water levels–Superior, Lake. I. Wilcox, Douglas A. QE39.5.P27L34 2007 551.48’20977–dc22 2007011951 ISBN 978-1-4113-1811-3 iii Contents Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1 Physical Setting.....................................................................................................................................1 Hydrologic Setting ................................................................................................................................2 Water Balance ......................................................................................................................................3 Water Availability ...........................................................................................................................................5 Great Lakes Water Levels ...................................................................................................................5 Recorded Water-Level History ..................................................................................................6 Reconstructed Water-Level History .........................................................................................6 Relation to Climate ................................................................................................................................9 Relation to Storage .............................................................................................................................12 Relation to Coastal Ecosystems .......................................................................................................13 Relation to Human Activities .............................................................................................................17 Summary........................................................................................................................................................20 References Cited..........................................................................................................................................21 Glossary .........................................................................................................................................................24 Figures 1. Map of the Great Lakes showing the extent of the drainage basin .............................................2 2–6. Graphs Showing— 2. Volume and land and lake area for each of the Great Lakes. ......................................3 3. Water inflow to the lakes ...................................................................................................4 4. Water outflow from the lakes ........................................................................................... 4 5. Water balance for the Great Lakes, including types of input to and output from the lakes .......................................................................................................................5 6. Historical lake levels for the Great Lakes, 1860–2005....................................................7 7. Oblique aerial photograph of a strandplain of beach ridges near Manistique, Michigan ............................................................................................................................................8 8. Hydrograph of late Holocene lake level and historical lake level for Lake Michigan- Huron ................................................................................................................................................10 9. Graph showing late Holocene lake level interpreted from beach-ridge studies in relation to surface moisture interpreted from testate amoeba studies in peatlands .........11 10. Graph showing water storage for the Great Lakes, 1860–2005 ..................................................12 11. Simplified diagram of the effects of water-level fluctuations on coastal wetland plant communities ....................................................................................................................................14 12. Profile of a typical coastal marsh from lake to upland showing changes in plant communities related to lake-level history ..................................................................................17 13. Graph showing inferred late Holocene levels of Lake Michigan compared with peaks in probability of inferred dune building .......................................................................................18 14. Schematic sections depicting the structural habitat provided by plant communities characteristic of regulated Lakes Ontario and Superior .........................................................19 15. Photograph showing armored shoreline on Lake Ontario that disrupts natural coastal processes and generally results in accelerated erosion ..........................................20 iv Conversion Factors, Datum, and Abbreviations Multiply By To obtain Length inch (in.) 2.54 centimeter (cm) inch (in.) 25.4 millimeter (mm) foot (ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Area square mile (mi2) 259.0 hectare (ha) square mile (mi2) 2.590 square kilometer (km2) Volume gallon (gal) 3.785 liter (L) cubic mile (mi3) 4.168 cubic kilometer (km3) Flow rate cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 0.02832 cubic meter per second (m3/s) Temperature in degrees Celsius (°C) may be converted to degrees Fahrenheit (°F) as follows: °F=(1.8×°C)+32 Great Lakes water levels are referenced to the International Great Lakes Datum of 1985 (IGLD 1985). Lake-Level Variability and Water Availability in the Great Lakes By Douglas A. Wilcox1, Todd A. Thompson2, Robert K. Booth3, and J.R. Nicholas1 Introduction Commission (1999). Much of the information contained in the above literature is brought together in “Toward a Water Key components of water availability in a hydrologic Resources Management Decision Support System” (Great system4 are the amount of water in storage and the variability Lakes Commission, 2003) and “Uncertainty in the Great of that amount. In the Great Lakes Basin, a vast amount of Lakes Water Balance” (Neff and Nicholas, 2005). This circular water is stored in the lakes themselves. Because of the lakes’ borrows heavily from these latter two publications in the sec- size, small changes in water levels cause huge changes in the tions that describe physical setting, hydrologic setting, water amount of water in storage. Approximately 5,439 mi3 of water, balance, and recorded water-level history. measured at chart datum, is stored in the Great Lakes. A change of 1 ft in water level over the total Great Lakes surface area of 94,250 mi2 means a change of 18 mi3 of water in stor- Physical Setting age. Changes in lake level over time also play an important role in human activities and in coastal processes and near- The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River System comprises shore ecosystems, including development and maintenance of (1) Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, (2) beaches, dunes, and wetlands. their connecting channels, the St. Marys River, the St. Clair The purpose of this report is to present recorded and River, Lake St. Clair,