A comparison of flood inundations in Michigan: Perspectives of historical and current hydrological events affecting two inland lake systems: Crystal Lake watershed and Tittabawassee River watershed.
From Renae Siler October 6th, 2020
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From Renae Siler October 1st, 2020 |
From Renae Siler October 1st, 2020 |
Michigan’s myriad inland lakes and rivers are blessed/cursed by
natural/anthropogenic changes with beneficial/adverse impacts on water
levels, watershed planning, and human dimensions of management.
Prescient words of a famous agrarian, an eminent ecologist and a
renowned geologist: “Do unto those downstream as you would have those
upstream do unto you.” -- Wendell Berry. “Mechanized man, having rebuilt
the landscape, is now rebuilding the waters. The sober citizen … freely
submits his lakes to drainage, fillings, dredgings, pollutions,
stabilizations, mosquito control, algae control, swimmer’s itch control,
and the planting of any fish able to swim. So also with rivers." – Aldo
Leopold. “… (B)y throwing dams across the outlets, the outflow of the
lakes may be controlled for a number of purposes, … power, irrigation,
logging operations, city water supply, etc. … (L)akes have served a
useful purpose in the storing of water for various projects which, …
necessitates the building of a dam, thereby interfering with the natural
level of the lake …. This may involve a raising or lowering of the
level, … (and) serious inconvenience and often damage to property along
the shores.” -- Irving Day Scott. Two case histories of similar
magnitude: (1) a chain of shallow artificial lakes (4,277 A) created by a
series of dams within the very large Tittabawassee River watershed
(2,471 mi2) (Midland, Gladwin, Saginaw Cos.); (2) Crystal Lake, a very
large natural lake (9,896 A) within a very small watershed (44 mi2)
(Benzie Co). One involved catastrophic failures of two dams (19 May
2020) and regional flooding (90 Bgal); the other involved a dam
breaching (23 Aug 1873) while building a canal and unintentionally
creating a beach (56 Bgal). The author is an eye-witness to the
Tittabawassee flood; a participant in the Sturgeon Creek WMP; and a
chronicler of the Crystal Lake Watershed.
Presented by Stacy Daniels, Benzie County River Improvement Co. during the 2020 Michigan Inland Lakes Convention
Presented by Stacy Daniels, Benzie County River Improvement Co. during the 2020 Michigan Inland Lakes Convention
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