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Raising Lake Huron water level problematic, says study

A new study suggests raising the water level in Lake Huron could cause as many problems as it solves. 

 Eugene Stakhiv is U.S. Co-chair of the International Great Lakes Study. 

He says people could build dams or other structures in the St. Clair River to slow the flow of water out of Lake Huron.  

That would raise the level of Lake Huron and benefit marinas and wetlands around the lake.   

But water levels would also rise near Chicago, which already has high lake levels.

"It’s gonna create big problems, economic damages, storm damages to the major metropolitan areas," a classic case of the economy versus the environment.

Stakhiv suspects people on both sides of the question will use the report to bolster their positions.

He says the study is only preliminary in nature and makes no recommendations.

 

 

Tracy Samilton covers energy and transportation, including the auto industry and the business response to climate change for Michigan Public. She began her career at Michigan Public as an intern, where she was promptly “bitten by the radio bug,” and never recovered.