Great Lakes water levels mean some boaters ‘playing Russian roulette’

By Richard J. Brennan Toronto Star September 18, 2012

Low water levels across the Great Lakes are playing havoc with boaters and forcing commercial ships to lighten their loads. Pleasure boaters on Lake Erie are “playing Russian roulette” when they venture out onto the most shallow lake among the five Great Lakes, says Jim Biddle, owner of Biddle Marine Services, in St. Williams, Ont.

“Boaters are running into rocks a mile off shore,” Biddle told the Star.

According to Environment Canada, Erie is down 22 centimetres over the roughly 100-year average for this time of year and 34 centimetres below last year’s levels for the same time; Lake Ontario, 23 cm. lower than average and 24 from last year; Lakes Michigan- Huron, 63 centimetres below average for this time of year and 24 below last year, and Superior is 34 centimetres below its long-term average for this time of year or two centimetres lower than last year.

Water levels on Lake Huron-Michigan and Lake Superior have been below average for 10 to 12 years, John Nevin, a spokesperson for the International Joint Commission (IJC), told the Star on Monday.

The lower levels are particularly noticeable along the lower lakes and Welland Canal system which includes Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and the St. Lawrence River near Montreal where clearance is at a premium.

“Lower water levels in areas of the Great Lakes are affecting some shipping cargo routes. For every inch of draft reduction, it means less cargo can be carried by a vessel,” Ray Johnston, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce, stated in an email.

Glen Nekvasil, vice-president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, representing American shipping interests, said depending on the size of the ship, every 2.5 centimetres or one inch less in draft — how deep a vessel sits in the water when loaded — “you lose anywhere from 50 to 270 tons.” Its members tend to use larger ships than members of the Canadian Shipowners Association and carry cargo only in the upper Great Lakes.

“Obviously that is impacting companies’ bottom lines and it is also impacting the efficiency of the customers we serve. Now you have to make more trips to carry the same amount of cargo,” said Nekvasil, noting that the added problem is that harbours are not being dredged properly.

The reduced water levels are another reminder that recreational boating and commercial shipping are subject to the whims of Mother Nature. A relatively snow free winter across many parts of Ontario, almost unheard of lack of ice cover throughout much of the Great Lakes basin, and an unusually dry summer all contributed to a lack of supply.

Docks are left high and dry, underwater weeds thrive in shallow water, unsuspecting boaters and even those more experienced are running up on sandbars and rocks that earlier in the season weren’t there.

And according to the Environment Canada, the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better this year.

While experts say there is no reason to panic, Lake Erie pleasure boaters are taking no chances and are getting out while the getting is good.

“There has been a general panic for the last two weeks, people with bigger boats, wanting to get their boats out in a hurry,” said Biddle, who figured the water level in Long Point Bay was down about a foot.

Biddle had a busy season replacing engines “due to water coming up through the exhaust when they hit sandbars.”

“This year we have done more engine replacement than we ever have. I usually five or six years a year and we’ve done 13 this year,” he said, adding that can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $7,000, which in many cases is covered by insurance.

“Boating this time of year is like playing Russian roulette, if it isn’t the low water, it’s the weeds,” Biddle said.

Robert Lewis-Manning, president of the Canadian Shipowners Association, said most in the shipping industry are expecting the lake levels to go lower yet.

“Certainly we are seeing lower cargo volumes just out of constraint from draft — the amount of water available to a ship — in certain sections of the system from Duluth-Superior all the way out to the St. Lawrence River,” Lewis-Manning said.

But he said it’s nowhere near the point yet where the bottom line is being seriously impacted.

William Hryb, president and managing director for Thunder Bay Shipping Inc., said in the past several years low water levels have plagued the shipping industry in general, especially in Lake Superior in the early spring and fall and winter periods.

“Every centimetre of draft that a ship does not load means a net cargo loss of about 40 metric tons,” he said.

“The bottom line is less cargo loaded means more trips, consequently consumers pay in the long run for increases in food items due to the extra costs ship owners experience,” Hryb said.

Chuck Southam, a water resources engineer for Environment Canada, said if dry weather persist, “we could see record lows on lakes Michigan and Huron as we leave the year … we could see much lower levels of the two lower lakes (Erie and Ontario) as well.”

“My big concern right now is that we do see a greater than average decline,” Southam told the Star.