By Ashley Lesser, P.E.
If you’ve visited your favorite Great Lakes beach, shoreline fishing location or a local marina lately, you may have noticed some changes. Lake levels never saw their typical decline last fall, setting the stage for record high water levels this spring. Despite record outflows into the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes remain more than full.
According to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data for Belle Isle, water levels in southeast Michigan reached their peak just before Memorial Day. The current forecast for Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River is for a gradual decline over the summer months. Lakefront communities on the west side of the state will continue to experience high water through the summer, peaking around July.
According to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers data for Belle Isle, water levels in southeast Michigan reached their peak just before Memorial Day. The current forecast for Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River is for a gradual decline over the summer months. Lakefront communities on the west side of the state will continue to experience high water through the summer, peaking around July.
 High lake levels overtopping seawalls along the Detroit River |  Sink hole due to the deterioration of timber sheet piling behind an existing relieving platform |
The impacts are not only recreational; an abundance of critical infrastructure—public and private—resides along the Great Lakes. These include power plants, drinking water intakes, and municipal sewage systems as well as privately owned industrial sites and marine terminals. Even when inland flooding and erosion do not threaten occupied structures, they can expose underground utilities, wash out pavements, and cause sinkholes and slope failures. After the recent shoreline failure at Detroit Bulk Storage in late November 2019, the City of Detroit stepped up inspections the shoreline within the City including existing docks and seawalls and initiated enforcement of the maintenance requirements in city code. Citations and fines have been issued as a result.
Because natural shorelines undergo a dynamic process of erosion and deposition, resilient designs are needed to adapt to these changes. Appropriate solutions can help private owners and municipalities alike adapt to the changing lake levels, avoid property damage, and reduce maintenance and repair costs. NTH has extensive experience with shoreline projects on the Great Lakes and Detroit River. We have ongoing relationships with divers and seawall contractors and can assist with evaluation of current conditions and rehabilitation of existing structures.
Because natural shorelines undergo a dynamic process of erosion and deposition, resilient designs are needed to adapt to these changes. Appropriate solutions can help private owners and municipalities alike adapt to the changing lake levels, avoid property damage, and reduce maintenance and repair costs. NTH has extensive experience with shoreline projects on the Great Lakes and Detroit River. We have ongoing relationships with divers and seawall contractors and can assist with evaluation of current conditions and rehabilitation of existing structures.
 Meet N.E.S.S., our submarine drone for underwater inspections |  |
Even though the current levels have broken records, they may not be an anomaly. Although lake levels were low several years ago, water levels have significantly exceeded the historical averages for the last three years due to increasingly intense storms and rainfall. Shoreline protection has never been more important, and investments made now – both private and public -- will protect valuable recreational, commercial and industrial assets into the future.
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