NY Times Writes About Great Lakes Water Levels

Philip R. Clarke

 The St. Marys River system closed at 1 am this morning because of fog and remained closed for most of the morning.  As a result, we had a steady parade of boats all afternoon.

American Century

Eemsborg

This shows the variety of boats and it looks like the evening is going to continue to be busy.

The NY Times ran an article today detailing the difficulties for shipping in the Great Lakes because of the low water levels, Great Lakes Shipping Suffers.  The article talks about the Dorothy Anne and Pathfinder but tells how low water levels affect all shipping.

The following quote summarizes the article.  "

"The combination of low water and infrequent dredging is annoying to recreational boaters, but the biggest impact is economic: shippers, carriers and the industries that rely on the bulk materials like limestone, iron ore, coal and salt are hugely dependent on lake travel.

Lakers can move products at prices that beat rail or road by as much as $20 per ton of cargo, using much less fuel. Given those advantages and an improving economy, about 30 ships are being built this year to run cargo on the Great Lakes, according to Craig H. Middlebrook, the deputy administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation." 

What do you think the answer to the low water level problem in the Great Lakes?  As I sit here tonight watching the calm river flow by and listening to the quiet peace of a summer evening, there don't appear to be any problems.  But many of the problems are just under the surface of the water.  The low levels create havoc for shipping but what about the invasive species that have invaded our water ways?