Resources for Great Lakes Coastal Property Owners: Where do I start?

Resources for Great Lakes Coastal Property Owners: Where do I start?

By Lydia Salus & Adam Bechle, Coastal Resilience Project Team, Wisconsin Sea Grant   Where do I start? Coastal hazards like erosion and flooding along Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coasts can be a threat to properties, particularly when water levels are high. Below is a list of available tools and resources to help individuals understand coastal…
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Evaporation & Water Levels

July 25, 2019 By Lydia Salus, Coastal Resilience Project Assistant, Wisconsin Sea Grant   The summer heat and sun will cause some of the high water to evaporate from Lake Michigan, right? Actually, evaporation on the Great Lakes is driven by water temperature, not air temperature. Evaporation takes place when the water is warmer than…
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Public Engagement & the Wisconsin Shoreline of Lake Michigan

July 16, 2019 By Bert Stitt, Emissary, Bert Stitt & Associates           Engaging the public on the issues facing Lake Michigan’s coastal bluffs can be as important as understanding why and how coastal processes such as erosion and flooding impact Lake Michigan’s shorelines. Public engagement increases a community’s capacity to address…
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Lake Michigan Water Levels at Close to Record High in July 2019

July 8, 2019 By Adam Bechle, Coastal Resilience Outreach Specialist, Wisconsin Sea Grant  The water levels on all of the Great Lakes are very high, with every lake at or above its record high monthly mean for July. Looking back at the month of June 2019, Lakes Superior, Erie, and Ontario all broke their record…
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One Water: Stormwater – Groundwater Connections and Bluff Stability

June 19, 2019 By Lydia Salus, Coastal Resilience Project Assistant, Wisconsin Sea Grant         Managing stormwater and groundwater on coastal bluff properties is an important factor in maintaining a stable bluff. Spring weather brings increased runoff to Lake Michigan from melting snow and ice while spring and summer storms can drop large…
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Great Lakes Water Levels Approaching Record Monthly Highs

May 16, 2019 By Adam Bechle, Coastal Resilience Outreach Specialist, Wisconsin Sea Grant  On May 6th, 2019, the United States Army Corps of Engineers released its May 2019 six-month Great Lakes water levels forecast, available at this link, indicating that some of the Great Lakes are projected to eclipse record highs for the summer months.…
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Lake Michigan Water Levels Remain Above Average in Spring of 2019

April 30, 2019 By Lydia Salus, Coastal Resilience Project Assistant, Wisconsin Sea Grant The water level of Lake Michigan as of April 26th, 2019 is at an elevation of 580.87 feet above sea level (from the International Great Lakes Datum). This puts Lake Michigan at 26 inches above the long-term average water level for the month of April,…
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Frost Heave: What happens when water in your bluff freezes?

March 13, 2019 By Lydia Salus, Coastal Resilience Project Assistant, Wisconsin Sea Grant In the last two months, Southeast Wisconsinites have endured temperatures below zero and extolled over temperatures nearing 50°F. With sustained periods of temperatures both above and below freezing, our team decided to learn more about the impacts of freezing and thawing on…
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Ice Ice Baby (What’s it going do to my bluff?)

Great Lakes ice formation in Musekgon, MI // Credit: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory February 8, 2019 By Lydia Salus, Coastal Resilience Project Assistant, Wisconsin Sea Grant The accelerated development of nearshore ice on Lake Michigan during the polar vortex made our team wonder, does nearshore ice contribute to or protect Southeastern Wisconsin’s coastal bluffs…
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