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:
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
Additional precipitation and high flows are anticipated to continue to contribute to extremely high lake levels. Lakes Erie, Superior, Michigan-Huron, and Ontario are predicted to rise above the previous month’s levels by 4, 4, 6 and 9 inches respectively. All lakes are predicted to have higher levels than last year by 10-13 inches, with Ontario forecasted to be 27 inches above last year’s level. Over the next month for both Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are projected to rise by 2 inches, and Lakes Erie and Ontario are projected to decrease by 3 and 6 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 June. Lake St. Clair’s outflow through the Detroi
GBA has been in discussion with the International Joint Commission (IJC) on the form and content for this meeting, which has now been confirmed following the appointment of the six new commissioners (see: https://georgianbay.ca/news/international-joint-commission-ijc-has-6-new-commissioners ). If you would like to attend this meeting please register here. – please note that there are only a limited number of spaces available.
Above average precipitation continue to contribute to substantially high lake levels. Lakes Superior, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario are projected to be 1 - 3 inches above their record high monthly average levels for June, but Lake Michigan-Huron is projected to be 2 inches below its record high. Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are 5 and 7 inches, respectively, above their levels of a month ago, while Lakes St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario are 2, 3, and 13 inches, respectively, higher than they were a month ago. Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, and Erie are 9 to 13 inches above their levels of a year ago, while Lake Ontario is 24 inches higher than it was at this time last year. Over the next 30 days, Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are expected to continue their seasonal rise, cli
Heavy precipitation and high flows have continued to contribute to rising lake levels. As compared to the beginning of the month, Lakes St. Clair, Superior, Erie, and Michigan-Huron have risen 3, 5, 6, and 9 inches, respectively. Lake Ontario has risen 18 inches since the beginning of May. All of the Great Lakes water levels are higher than one year ago at this time, ranging from 9 to 13 inches greater for Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, and Erie. Lake Ontario is highest above its level of last year at 24 inches above what it was one year ago today. Over the month of June, Lakes Superior and Michigan-Huron are expected to continue to rise, reaching 3 and 2 inches above their current levels, respectively. Lake St. Clair is predicted to be at the same level in once month, wh
Higher than normal precipitation is expected to continue this week. Total precipitation is expected to be between 0.5-3 inches for the Great Lakes Basin and may result in more flooding. - This heavy precipitation and high flows have continued to contribute to rising lake levels. Since the previous month, Lakes St. Clair, Superior, Michigan-Huron, and Erie have risen 5, 6, 7, and 8 inches respectively. Lake Ontario has risen 21 inches since April. All lakes are currently experiencing higher water levels than this time last year, with a range of 7 to 12 additional inches for Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, and Erie. Lake Ontario is currently 20 inches higher than the previous year’s level. For the month of June, Lake Superior is predicted to rise 3 inches and Lake Michigan-Hur
At long last both the Canadian and US governments have elected new commissioners. GBA congratulates: Pierre Béland, Canadian chair; Jane Corwin, US Chair; Canadian commissioners Henry Lickers and Merrell-Ann Phare; and US commissioners Robert Sisson and Lance Yohe. - Read more about the Canadian appointees here: - and the US appointees here: -
So far this month, the Great Lakes basin has received about 20% more than normal precipitation. As a result of continued wet conditions, stream-flows remain above normal for this time of year. In addition, strong easterly winds combined with current high water levels resulted in flooding along the shores of Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, and the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers. The forecast calls for wet conditions to continue. They certainly are today! The persistent wet conditions and high stream-flows this spring have resulted in a rapid rise in lake levels. As of May 14, the daily levels of Lake Superior, St. Clair, and Erie were all above their record high monthly mean levels for May. Over the last month, Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, and Erie have risen 7 to 10 i
Cold fronts and low pressure systems moved across the Great Lakes basin last week, which brought a drop in temperatures and rain. Low temperatures in the northern portions of the basin were near the freezing mark and prompted Freeze Warnings and Frost Advisories in some regions. The recent wet conditions have caused water levels to climb and currently, water levels across the basin are 8 to 12 inches above last year’s water levels at this time. In the past month, all of the Great Lakes have experienced rises in water level with Lakes Superior, Michigan-Huron, St. Clair, Erie and Ontario rising by 5, 8, 12, 11, and 20 inches, respectively. The water levels of Lakes St. Clair and Erie are currently 4 inches above their record high monthly mean level for May, while Lake Superior is 1 inc
