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REGIONAL NEWS & INVESTIGATIONS
PO BOX 161702, Duluth MN 55816
Email contact@duluthmonitor.com
Phone (218) 391 - 8791
- All rights reserved.
Don’t build on what is actually a very large, yet temporary sand bar. Especially one no longer being replenished by natural sediment after you’ve created a channel, added a jetty and dredge channels every year. Oh, by the way, exactly why is the public paying for this?
There’s no point in calling erosion a problem. It’s just process. Lakes constantly reform their shorelines for any number of reasons, but often because river sediments create shallower shore depths, and shallower shore depths cause higher wave runup with more energy that eats the banks, and etc. Over time all lakes will expand their shorelines as river sediments continue to flow in.
This isn’t new. Lake levels are not rising; record levels were recorded 35 years ago. How can they rise when the St. Mary’s outlet regulates the level? Fluctuation, sure. Rising? Not happening. Do a practical experiment with a bucket to prove it. Lake Superior will always have a surface elevation near 183m with seasonal fluctuations.
Anything that’s done to the shore will impact another part since that’s the way hydrologic systems work. Replenish here, create a shallower spot with more erosion elsewhere. Just accept the geologic scale. In any case, fooling around with it will only cost money and be temporary. Sorry residents, but that’s just the way it goes. Accept your remaining time, then celebrate the house collapse as your participation in nature.
Well, since the Corps needs to put their dredge sand somewhere, there’s no reason not to put it on the beach. Or does your laissez-faire attitude about natural systems mean we should stop dredging the shipping channels, too?
Nothing laissez-faire about it. Replenish the sand if they want but there will be repercussions in another area of shoreline. Natural systems don’t care about home assessments. Take a look at the offshore east coast islands that became the vacation retreats of the wealthy: turns out the islands have always been in motion. Whoops. Bye bye $10M house.
The lake levels will never rise, but they can always drop. Maybe there will be 500′ of extra beach in 5,000 years if there’s a reduction in precipitation. Happy lakefront owners.
But then Spirit Mountain will complain… Where does it all end?!
Yeah, I don’t get why the taxpayer needs to support those who choose to live on a sandbar …. so weird that water makes its way into your house… wtf.
The International Joint Commission actually sets the lake levels of Lake Superior as well as all the Great Lakes. In 2017, a new regulatory policy was enacted, Policy 2014. This sets outflow restrictions of Lake Superior’s water to a more restrictive limit, thus increasing the lake’s water levels to a higher level, based on these outflows. This trend will continue. The IJC is a joint US/Canada regulatory agency. The reason for lake levels adjustments are mainly to serve the shipping and hydropower generation industries. The new policies are aware of the damage potentials to shorelines and infrastructure but treat these issues as a side line to the shipping interests, leaving communities with the costs to mitigate these flooding and erosion issues while solely benefiting the shipping and hydro interests. Here’s a link if you’re interested to learn more about this. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaGv3DV1ACTJG8EmC3lhEQRfLHeb0V0gN
That link has opinions without data. The lake level is set at 183.4m, and historically between 1918-2018 has fluctuated approximately 1/2 meter higher and lower than that. This isn’t going to change. Approximately 183.4m elevation will continue. Outflow changes made at the St. Mary’s River only affect lake levels by inches.
Here’s a link with data: http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/water_levels