HISTORICAL VARIATION OF WATER LEVELS IN LAKES ERIE AND MICHIGAN-HURON

The earliest reliable water level measurements for Lakes Erie and Michigan-Huron are recorded from 1819. These early measurements are reviewed along with the “modern” data set beginning in 1860. Historical and archaeological evidence at European settlements on the Great Lakes from the early 17th century is used to shed light on the water level history of these lakes prior to 1819. Stratigraphic evidence from Lake Michigan-Huron over the past 1,800 years is interpreted to deduce water levels over this time period. When the effects on the lake levels of is ostatic rebound and man-made channel changes are examined, it is concluded that, over at least the last 1,800 years, climate-related variations in maximum mean annual water levels have probably not exceeded those measured on Lakes Erie and Michigan-Huron since A.D. 1819. © 1990, International Association for Great Lakes Research. All rights reserved.