{"id":463,"date":"2020-07-22T18:58:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T22:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/2020\/07\/22\/lake-michigan-water-levels-continue-to-rise-we-must-prepare\/"},"modified":"2024-11-16T14:04:50","modified_gmt":"2024-11-16T19:04:50","slug":"lake-michigan-water-levels-continue-to-rise-we-must-prepare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/lake-michigan-water-levels-continue-to-rise-we-must-prepare\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Michigan Water Levels Continue to Rise: We Must Prepare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 new June forecast paints\u00a0a chilling picture<\/a>\u00a0of super-high water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, peaking in July and August even higher than the May forecast. Higher water levels than any time since the disastrous \u201cGreat Flood of 1986.\u201d And look out \u2013 especially if the high water is whipped up by gusty winds and waves. This is both a climate change story and an economic one as the flooding attacks our homes, businesses and the places where we live, work and play.\u00a0We need to mitigate climate change,\u00a0which\u00a0Midwest scientists conclude<\/a>\u00a0is exacerbating extreme weather events including more intense rainstorms.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Source: https:\/\/www.lre.usace.army.mil\/Missions\/Great-Lakes-Information\/Great-Lakes-Water-Levels\/Water-Level-Forecast\/Monthly-Bulletin-of-Great-Lakes-Water-Levels\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should we do now?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Better protect people, public health and communities!<\/strong>\u00a0Flooding is coming, and that reality is understandably lost in the overwhelming COVID-19 public health crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map the site-specific flooding risks and threats.<\/strong>\u00a0 We need to focus on risks such as industrial and storage facilities with hazardous and toxic materials along the shoreline as water levels rise.\u00a0Check out ELPC\u2019s map<\/a>\u00a0assessing these risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Develop solutions for the shoreline\u2019s built environment\u00a0<\/strong>by modernizing land use and zoning laws as well as environmental engineering approaches to adapt to the new mostly higher water level realities. Let\u2019s assess ways of using natural systems (e.g., wetlands restoration) and policy changes to help adapt.This rethinking will require land-use planning, zoning, science, environmental engineering, hydrology and creativity. ELPC is working with partners and public officials who bring other solution tools to the table. We\u2019re going to need to put all the tools to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howard A. Learner<\/strong>\u00a0is an experienced public interest litigation attorney serving as the President and Executive Director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center<\/a> \u2013 the Midwest\u2019s premier environmental legal advocacy and eco-business innovation organization, and among the nation\u2019s leaders.\u00a0 Mr. Learner is responsible for the overall strategic leadership, policy direction and financial platform of ELPC\u2019s successful work promoting clean energy development solutions to climate change problems, advancing transportation innovations and improvements, including development of regional high-speed rail solutions, and preserving the Midwest\u2019s valued natural resources and heritage. He serves on the board of the Council of the Great Lakes Region.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republished with permission of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Original publication June 9, 2020: http:\/\/elpc.org\/blog\/lake-michigan-water-levels-continue-rise-must-prepare\/<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 new June forecast paints\u00a0a chilling picture\u00a0of super-high water levels in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, peaking in July and August even higher than the …<\/p>\nRead more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-op-ed","category-water-levels-climate-change"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20200623-lea-shoreliine-image-scaled-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1362,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463\/revisions\/1362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/councilgreatlakesregion.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}