Water quality issues fall into three categories:
The Water Levels Committee works with Georgian Bay Forever and other NGOs to voice the interests of GBA members on water levels.
Learn more about what we do, as well as get tips on what you can do in this section.
Water Satellite Imagery
View a real time satellite image of the Bay here:
GBA continues to closely monitor the impacts on water quality from the fish farm operation at Lake Wolsey, an embayment of the North Channel on the north coast of Manitoulin island. We received photographs taken on the August Civic Holiday weekend by a local resident of the nasty blankets of algae in this bay, which prohibited normal enjoyment and impacted the safety of the waters. View the photos here: Algae on Lake Wolsey The same embayment has had annual toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) outbreaks as seen in the photo. These outbreaks pose a threat to humans, wildlife and pets. Public Health warnings are issued when this occurs. There appears to be a rise in dog deaths in North America from ingesting water containing cyanobacteria. Read more about it here.
High water levels are expected to continue on the Great Lakes despite the fact that all of the lake are expected to decline over the next month. Lakes St. Clair and Erie are 2 and 3 inches, respectively, above their highest monthly average August levels. Lake Ontario is 4 inches below its highest monthly average August level. All of the Great Lakes are forecasted to decline over the next month as follows: Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario by 2, 3, 5, 6, and 12 inches, respectively. Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Marys River and the Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow through the St. Clair River are predicted to be above average for August. Outflows from Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River, and outflows from Lake Erie into the Niagara River, are als
Although Great Lakes water levels are beginning their seasonal declines, they remain near record high levels. Over the last month Lakes Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, and Erie have declined 2 to 4 inches, Lake Superior is unchanged and Lake Ontario has declined by 10 inches. The projected net change in levels over the next month show water levels declining by 2 inches on Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron, by 5 to 6 inches on Lakes St. Clair and Erie, and by 12 inches on Lake Ontario. Lake Superior’s outflow through the St. Mary’s River and the Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow through the St. Clair River are predicted to be above average for August. Outflows from Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River, and outflows from Lake Erie outflow into the Niagara River, are also projected to be
Water levels across the Great Lakes remain high. Lake St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario are forecasted to exceed their highest recorded monthly average for August by 2 to 5 inches, Lake Superior is projected to meet its record, and Lake Michigan-Huron will be 2 inches below its record. Lake levels exceed last year by 8 to 15 inches on all lakes except for Lake Ontario, which is 27 inches above. The forecasted levels for September 9th for Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are 1, 2, 4, 6 and 12 inches, respectively, below their current levels, in accordance with the usual seasonal declines. Outflows from all lakes: Lake Superior’s through the St. Mary’s River, Lake Michigan-Huron’s through the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair through the Detroit River, Lake Erie
[caption id="attachment_8553" align="alignleft" width="188"] Enjoying ice cream on Craganmor docks[/caption] https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/great-lakes-water-problems-1.
The Great Lakes basin precipitation was 17% below average in July, the first month since March that the Great Lakes experienced below average precipitation. The water levels of the Great Lakes continue to be considerably above average. Lakes Superior, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are above their record high August monthly mean levels by 1 to 6 inches, while Lake Michigan-Huron is 2 inches shy of its record high August monthly mean. The Great Lakes are either nearing their seasonal peaks or have already started their seasonal decline. Lakes Michigan-Huron, Erie, and Ontario are 1, 3, and 7 inches respectively, below their levels of a month ago. Lake Superior’s level is an inch above what it was a month ago, whereas Lake St. Clair is near its level of a month ago. Looking a month into th
Last week and this coming week all of the basin has received and will receive substantial rainfall, particularly in Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron. Water levels remain high across the Great Lakes. Since last month: Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are unchanged; Lake St. Clair is up 1 inch; and Lakes Erie and Ontario are down 2 and 6 inches respectively. Lakes Superior, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are above their record high July monthly means by 2, 4, 4, and 3 inches, respectively, whereas Lake Michigan-Huron is 1 inch below. Lake Superior’s level is projected to be near its current level in one month. In contrast, Lakes Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario are projected to be 1, 4, 6 and 10 inches, respectively, less than their current levels. Outflows from Lake Super
This past week high temperatures were experienced across the Great Lakes basin. Early in the week many regions experienced thunderstorms. In particular, Lake Superior and Michigan-Huron basins received approximately a third to half an inch of rain. In the coming weekend, temperatures are expected to rise across the Great Lakes basin. Water levels remain high across the Great Lakes. The forecasted water level for July 19th indicates an increase from last month. Lake Superior has increased by 1 inch, and Lakes Michigan-Huron and St. Clair by 2 inches. Lake Ontario has decreased by 4 inches and Lake Erie is unchanged. Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are all 5 inches above their record high July level and Superior is 2 inches above. Over the next month, Lakes Michigan-Huron, St. C
A team of scientists from the University of Chicago is undertaking a long term study aiming to better understand what microbes are present in the Great Lakes and what role they play in the environment. Read more about their work here.
Water levels remain high across all the Great Lakes, meeting or exceeding the record high July level. Over the last month, Lake Superior and Lake Ontario have decreased by 1 & 4 inches respectively, Lakes Michigan-Huron and St. Clair have increased by 3 and 4 inches, respectively and Lake Erie is unchanged. Over the next month, Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are projected to remain fairly steady, while Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario are expected to decline 3, 5, and 10 inches, respectively. Outflows from Lake Superior through the St. Mary’s River, and Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River, are projected to be above average in July. Lake St. Clair’s outflow through the Detroit River is also forecasted to be above average.
Over the last week, much of the Great Lakes Basin has experienced warmer than average temperatures with the western and southern portions of the basin being the warmest with respect to their normal values. Most of the basin had near normal rainfall with the exception of the Lake Michigan-Huron watershed which saw a significant storm system track west to east along a line from Milwaukee to Toronto. Temperatures for the rest of this week and into the following week are expected to be near locally normal values for most of the watershed. Continued wet weather on the west side of the Great Lakes watershed, notably the Wisconsin and the western half of the Lake Superior, is expected in the next 7 days. Water levels remain high across the Great Lakes. Over the last month Lakes Superior, Michi
Water levels remain high across the Great Lakes as June draws to a close. The lake levels are expected to exceed average water levels from this time last year by 10 to 15 inches with the exception of Lake Ontario which is forecasted at 28 inches. The level of all lakes is above the June record high. The levels of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron are projected to increase by 1 inch over the next month. Lake St. Clair is projecting no net change in lake level by July 28th. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are projected to see a net decrease of 4 and 7 inches respectively by this time next month. Outflows from Lake Superior through the St. Mary’s River, and Lake Michigan-Huron’s outflow into the St. Clair River, are projected to be above average in June. Lake St. Clair’s outflow throu
