Coastal Resilience Newsletter

Greetings from the Coastal Resilience Team!

This month's newsletter contains:

Lake Michigan Water Level Update
Blog: What you missed in 2020...
Resource of the Month: Resilient Future for Coastal Communities Report
Community Story: Michigan Development Policy

Water Level Update

The water levels on all the Great Lakes have finally dipped below their monthly records as of December 11, 2020. Lake Michigan is now 4 inches below the highest recorded monthly average in December previously set in 1986. Additionally, the basin is 4 inches below mean water levels from a year ago. From this point and through the winter, water levels are expected to continue their seasonal decline. It is predicted that Lake Michigan-Huron will fall about 2-3 inches by next month.

Here are five things to know about water levels on Lake Michigan for October 2020.

Go to full update

What you missed in 2020...

The past year has been an interesting one, to say the least. So, since you may have missed a few posts, we have pulled out and highlighted some good ones. We know you won’t want to miss them! To attract a bit more attention to these posts, we've changed the titles to some "click bait" phrases that everyone loves and every doctor hates. Checkout the blog for more.

You'll never look at Lake Michigan the same way after learning this.

Myth Busting Evaporation on the Great Lakes and Other Water Level Fluctuations

This one simple trick will solve just about all your bluff erosion problems.

Relocating Buildings Threatened by Great Lakes Erosion and Bluff Failure

Go to the blog

Resource of the Month

Resilient Future for Coastal Communities Report

This new report highlights 30 federal policy recommendations for making coastal communities more resilient. It is available for free online. It is designed to be a usable resource for Congress, federal agencies, and the public interested in learning more about federal policy needs around coastal resilience. The report is organized into six major sections—Community at the Forefront, Land Use and Development, Cultural Heritage, Climate Adaptation and Resilience Data, Disaster Preparedness, and Financing Adaptation and Resilience.

Coastal Resilience Stories from Around the Great Lakes

MI Communities Strategize Lakeshore Development Policies

Many of Michigan’s shorelines are experiencing severe erosion due to high water levels and more frequent and severe storms. In some towns, homeowners are scrambling to figure out a way to protect their homes from falling into the lake. This difficulty has led many beach communities to start creating zoning and development policies to prevent people from armoring the shores as well as building within a certain distance of the high watermark. In Grand Haven, MI “The new zoning bans shoreline protection other than fencing, though property owners can seek an exception if they can show the policy creates an ‘unnecessary hardship'”.

In Grand Haven, MI, where the shoreline remains largely free of human-made obstructions, local officials have adopted zoning changes that prevent homeowners from armoring their shoreline with seawalls or riprap. Photo credit: Jennifer Howland

If you have any questions about Lake Michigan coastal hazards or how to approach, plan, and prepare for them, please contact

Adam Bechle

bechle@aqua.wisc.edu

608-263-5133

For more information, visit the Southeast Wisconsin Coastal Resilience Project website

University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute | (608) 262-0905 | 1975 Willow Drive, 2nd Floor, Madison, WI 53706