Using/Diverting Great Lakes Water

[Carl C]

There has been a lot of controversy about this, especially lately since the lake levels are down. A couple things have been bugging me lately. 6 million cubic feet of water plunges over Niagara Falls every minute on it's way to the ocean. Why couldn't water be tapped at this point? Also, Lakes Michigan and Huron (which are actually one lake) are down 2 feet. Why couldn't a lock be installed somewhere in the lower Great Lakes system, maybe at the lower Detroit River, to control this level? Perhaps a dam could be built ahead of the falls to keep the water level up in the lower lakes. These seem like logical solutions to stabilize lake levels and provide a source of fresh water to be diverted where needed. Any thoughts? :confused:

[boxy]

One thought.......
all the water is not yours to divert .... :D

[Tony]

Carl, water rights is an age-old question...one that will definitely be "rising" to the forefront in the coming years. Michigan belongs to a consortium, which includes all state or provincial governments bordering the Great Lakes. They supposedly control the current and future health and welfare of this great natural resource.

[BUIZILLA]

welp, you can ask the State of Georgia about water *rights*..:bonk:

now, whats with all this global warming controversy, and polar caps melting, and the lakes are getting lower?? shouldn't things be rising??

[MOP]

The primary source of water in the lakes comes from Canada, I think a fair bit of that comes from the northern glacia's. I wonder how much of that water has had to be put to use in Canada for hydo ETC. That is my tricle down theory on the subject!

[LKSD]

Good point Carl.. I many times think that certain things like that, that seem to make sense to do are put off or not done in the favor of either profit or control possibly both.. I dont get it either.. I guess waste not want not isnt what it used to be?? .. Jamie

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[Carl C]

One thought.......
all the water is not yours to divert .... :D Absolutely Canada would be an equal partner in any plan to stabalize/use Great Lakes water since Canada owns half of it (Georgian Bay which is sometimes called the 6th Great Lake makes up for the USA getting all of Lake Michigan). But I don't think Canada has any areas that are starving for potable water like our western states are.


welp, you can ask the State of Georgia about water *rights*..:bonk:

now, whats with all this global warming controversy, and polar caps melting, and the lakes are getting lower?? shouldn't things be rising?? That's one thing that keeps me thinking about this. This water is flowing into the ocean and one thing some people are concerned about is rising ocean levels. The Great Lakes basin contributes 6 million cubic feet of water every minute to the ocean. Does the St. Lawrence Seaway have locks? It seems that a workable plan might be to install another lock there to stabilize Lake Ontario. A lock upstream of Niagara Falls to control the level of Lake Erie and a lock at the lower Detroit River to control the levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron. We already have the Soo locks to control Lake Superior. Then water could be diverted at the falls and pipe-lined west. The only drawback might be that the falls would be a little less spectacular. Why not use this fresh water supply and also reduce the rate at which the oceans are rising, if they are indeed rising? I don't want this to turn into a global warning debate which is too controversial.

[boxy]

Locks on the St. Lawrence, what a great idea, the only problem would be that none of the future generations of St. Lawrence boat drivers would anywhere near as compentent as Shea or myself since we grew up learning to boat on a 3058 km long white water river that drops 10,400 cubic metres of water per second into the ocean....... :D :D :D

Carl, here are a couple of links, the St. Lawrence Seaway is the controlled portion of the St. Lawrence River...

St. Lawrence River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Lawrence_River)

St. Lawrence Seaway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lawrence_Seaway)

The locks are not just used for water levels, they are mainly used to broach un-navigable sections of rapids....

[gcarter]

When I lived in Michigan in '86 and '87, the water levels were at almost record heights. Chicago shore was washing away. People were accusing the Corps of holding back water in the whole system.
I suppose one of the considerations of such a system would be to handle the potential water flow in such an enevitable event.
I can just see it....."Blow up the damn dams!!!!!! We're drowning!"

[dfunde01]

Absolutely Canada would be an equal partner in any plan to stabalize/use Great Lakes water since Canada owns half of it (Georgian Bay which is sometimes called the 6th Great Lake makes up for the USA getting all of Lake Michigan). But I don't think Canada has any areas that are starving for potable water like our western states are.

That's one thing that keeps me thinking about this. This water is flowing into the ocean and one thing some people are concerned about is rising ocean levels. The Great Lakes basin contributes 6 million cubic feet of water every minute to the ocean. Does the St. Lawrence Seaway have locks? It seems that a workable plan might be to install another lock there to stabilize Lake Ontario. A lock upstream of Niagara Falls to control the level of Lake Erie and a lock at the lower Detroit River to control the levels of Lakes Michigan and Huron. We already have the Soo locks to control Lake Superior. Then water could be diverted at the falls and pipe-lined west. The only drawback might be that the falls would be a little less spectacular. Why not use this fresh water supply and also reduce the rate at which the oceans are rising, if they are indeed rising? I don't want this to turn into a global warning debate which is too controversial.

Our western states are natural deserts in many areas. Uncontrolled population growth and commercial farming is taxing their water supply which they now bring in from the middle of the country. Uncontrolled growth is the root cause of the water problems in the Atlanta area today.

[Tony]

Our western states are natural deserts in many areas. Uncontrolled population growth and commercial farming is taxing their water supply which they now bring in from the middle of the country. Uncontrolled growth is the root cause of the water problems in the Atlanta area today.


Good point, and very accurate.
While visiting Tampa last year I read an article about Florida's overcrowding and consequences, probably prompted by a spate of wildfires. The main idea was that, from an ecological standpoint, the Florida peninsula is able to sustain 6 million people.
Current population: 19 million!

:beer:

[DonziJon]

The term "Global Warming" is actually falling from favor. Since it is probably a little too specific and suggests that things are ....well... just warming...which doesn't cover any other alternative. The NEW term coming into vogue covers ALL possabilities....and more.

The favored term today is called "Global Climate Change". SO: If it actually turns out that the supporters of Global Warming are wrong, and it's actually staying the same, or getting colder, they can have it whichever way works at the time..... What's wrong with that? :nilly:

Look for this New and Interesting term in the news. John :smash:

[gcarter]

Good point, and very accurate.
While visiting Tampa last year I read an article about Florida's overcrowding and consequences, probably prompted by a spate of wildfires.
The main idea was that, from an ecological standpoint, the Florida peninsula is able to sustain 6 million people.
Current population: 19 million!
:beer:
Fortunately, we have the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico as sources that can be used for desalination. There are a number of comunities that are headed that direction including Tampa. The technology for that kind of scale is still working out the wrinkles, but it's do-able. A little expensive, but probably no more than moving water hundreds of miles.
We're not running out of sea water.