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Going through the ups and downs of Lake Huron living

The Latest from Alcona County, “First of the 83,” is that there’s less of it now than there was just a few years back!

Lake Huron is to blame.

In 2013, the bones of the Northern Light surfaced from the shallow waters of Harrisville Harbor of Refuge for the first time since 1881, when the ship sank there. That summer, the level of Lake Huron reached its lowest recorded level.

In 2020, the breakwater that creates Harrisville Harbor proved unable to keep the waves out during big storms, anymore — the water was too high. Last summer, the lake level reached its historic high.

Get used to it.

The natural cycle of rise and fall of Great Lakes levels is determined by the dynamic between evaporation and precipitation. A series of cold winters accelerates the process of water turning from liquid to gas, and ascending to form clouds, gradually lowering the lake level. An extended period of warmer, wetter years produces a larger volume of rainfall and runoff, sending the lake level back up.

We love low water!

The main benefit of low water is that beaches bounce back. Beaches breathe life into the economy. Coastal state parks and those little vacation spots with names like Blue Haven Beach Resort and Water’s Edge Motel gain greater appeal for visitors. Lakeside landowners breathe a big sigh of relief. Ducks and other migratory birds do better when the lake recedes, revealing their favorite points along the shore, which serve as crucial rest stops for long-distance feathered flyers. Duck hunters flock to the flocks. Shipwrecks surface!

The only downside is the accumulation of algae in malodorous heaps, and the appearance of nasty patches of what can only be described as quicksand, which smells even worse than the algae. A dangerous pool of it formed next to Harrisville Harbor in 2013, up to my waist, as I found out the scary, stinky way. And the area south of Sturgeon Point became treacherous for beach-walkers, who would suddenly find themselves up to the knees in reeking mud.

You have to look hard to find a silver lining around high H2O. Some species thrive when the lake is brimful, such as northern pike and muskrats. Fishermen who prefer pike profit from a boom in their prey’s population, and muskrat hunters have a better chance of bagging a trophy bull muskrat.

But, mainly, it means misery. Erosion takes a terrible toll on the coastal infrastructure and on the unstable soil alike.

In Alcona County, the breach of the Harrisville Harbor breakwater is only one example of the expensive damage inflicted by a lake that is greater than normal.

Harrisville State Park has paid perhaps the highest price for the high water. Lake Huron has claimed several formerly coveted beachside campsites. It has erased the white sand beach of the campground, leaving a thin strip in the Day Use area. The campground playground, with its unusually lofty swingset, which drew adults to remember childhood, is long gone.

Those losses were unavoidable. But the decision made during the low-water days to demolish two restroom buildings inland and combine them into a new building right on the shore resulted in man-made disaster. If/when the lake rises again — next time even higher — that building, already lapped by tempest waves, will wash away entirely!

A winter storm when Lake Huron is at its fullest captures the meaning of the word “sublime.” It is beautiful and terrifying at the same time! Crashing, frothing white waves churning sandy cakes of ice mesmerize and enchant the viewer with a kinetic spectacle.

But, when that surf is punishing a cottage perched on a rapidly eroding bluff, the scene is horrifying. The most haunting spots to watch the action are where homeowners have given up, boarded up, and taken down their For Sale signs with sighs of resignation. Seeing the soil slide away under the foundations of doomed abodes feels the same as driving through a blighted urban zone, the kind exemplified by Detroit’s South Side. Ruin-porn. Erosion-porn.

What do we have to expect in the future?

The same cycle of ups and downs, playing at fast forward, with higher highs and lower lows. Climate-change has that effect. It brings rainstorms of unprecedented intensity and frequency, alternating with longer spells of severe drought. Hots getter hotter, colds get colder. We’ve already seen the first dizzying swing, from a record low level in 2013 to a record high in 2020.

And, because the overall trend is toward a warmer world, with the Great Lakes warming at a much faster rate than the rest of the world’s large lakes (Lake Superior leads the pack, three times the average rate!), the future holds a sad scenario.

The fact is, the lake is likely to continue rising.

And rising …

Eric Paul Roorda is a professor, historian, lecturer, author, and illustrator. He has called Alcona County home for 50 years.

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