Superior rising too fast

[Lee Borgersen]

                                   Lake Superior rising too fast

Lake Superior has risen well past its normal level and into above normal water levels so fast that an emergency order was announced Tuesday to open more gates and release more water from the big lake to avoid flooding.


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Just a year after concerns that water levels were too low, now officials say they are nearly too high.

The International Lake Superior Board of Control said it was increasing from five gates to seven gates fully open where the lake ends and the St. Marys’ River begins.

That extra water pouring out of the big lake could create unsafe conditions of fast water in the river, and the board warned boaters and anglers on the river to be aware of rising water.

The board took action after heavy May and June rainfall in the Lake Superior basin is pushing the lake up unusually fast. The lake now sits 6.3 inches above normal for this time in June. Lakes Huron and Michigan are way up from recent low water periods as well, but are still 5.5 inches below the long-term average and thus can handle the extra water from Superior.

“To reduce the risk of extremely high water levels on Lake Superior, and to minimize adverse effects of lower water levels on Lake Michigan-Huron, it is necessary to act now by increasing flow through the Compensating Works,’’ the board said in its notice released Tuesday. “Should wet conditions prevail, it may prove necessary to further increase the gate opening settings later this summer.”

     Lake Superior is more than 14 inches above the level at this time last year and was at its highest May level since 1997, ending more than a decade of concern over lower-than-normal water levels.

Lakes Huron and Michigan are continuing an even more remarkable comeback, from nearly 3 feet below normal and record low levels in recent years to just 7 inches below normal on June 1 this year. The lakes hit their all-time lowest mark in January 2013. The lakes rose 6 inches during May, double their usual 3 inches, and now sit more than 13 inches higher than the June 1 level in 2013.