Climate Change and Your Lake

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The change appears to be slow. In fact, it may not even appear to be noticeable. What are even the signs? Wisconsin and the Midwest are home to a wide variety of lakes, all of which may be impacted in different ways. In addition, management of lake issues has been an evolving practice since its inception, so adding contingency to a wrinkle for an imperfect science only makes things more complicated for stakeholders with controlled budgets. Wisconsinlakes.net has not yet seen a good guide or resource page that provides any real guidance surrounding the issue of climate change, most likely because to the naked eye it may appear to be normal issues continuing to manifest themselves, albeit in an accelerated or different manner. We hope the information within this posting proves beneficial to some. None of this is backed by research or academic sourcing. It is observational and is not universally applicable.

To continue this in this post discussion, it must be understood that climate change is a real thing, not a made up concept from 1987. Most have accepted this by now. In fact climate change is being referred to as “climate shift” by many in the sense that climate is not simply changing but, but causing a physical shift of range of changes. Regardless of how you wish to catalog these changes internally, they are in fact a real thing and will likely require solutions based on adaptability and proactive maintenance rather than a fixed endgame solution.

While coarse policy begins to take shape both nationally and globally, communities are faced with real world issues that impact people at the local scale, both economically and from a health and safety perspective. There are endless miles of utility infrastructure beneath the grounds surface, all of which are at some degree of risk. There are no fast and ready rules to apply because each of these communities geographical space is unique. Some face coastal concerns, some flooding, and yet some seismic. The geographical space and unique weather patterns all require custom approaches. Even more so with lakes. Lake types can differ greatly simply by being a few miles apart and will therefore act differently due to precipitation, landscape positions, watershed size, urban influence, temperature flux, and other factors both known and unknown.

The term resiliency is often used to describe the process of making something able to withstand or adapt to change. There is also a general school of thought that believes that natural systems are generally more resilient than manufactured systems. Often potentially overlooked in this equation is general systems maintenance. Do systems lack resilience or do they generally lack maintenance? These can be difficult questions to answer. Even more importantly is the need to consider the tracking of assets for those same maintenance reasons.

So how does all of this factor into a discussion about our lakes, climate change, and the quest for resiliency? Below is a list of potential considerations for your lake that can be potentially influenced by climate change:

Shorelines: Several of the topics below have a degree of interplay, that is they do not operate independent of each other but each may influence each other. Shorelines can be impacted by water level and system volume, among other things. Vegetative systems that make up shorelines adapt to water levels but take decades to adjust since ecological systems react over time. Waves and ice add a dynamic, but these are still natural occurrences, whereas wakes are not.

As climate reduces months of ice cover in Wisconsin, that is traded for more precipitation as rainfall. Additional months of rainfall throughout the Midwest can result in higher groundwater levels or longer periods of drawdown at dams and outlet structures. Elongated periods of high water put natural systems at risk as they can be exposed to extended periods of inundation, wave impact and even record high wake impacts. Several river systems in WI and throughout the midwest have shown signs of higher than average baseflow. Higher baseflow results in necessary shoreline adjustment, albeit incremental over time.

Water elevation will be discussed further below, but sustained high water exposes shoreline not traditionally adapted to water inundation. Saturated soils may leach fines (smaller soil particles) and girdle vegetation roots, increasing the mortality of plants and increasing erosion or lateral loss of land.

Reinforced shorelines are not absolute solutions. Man-made systems can be compromised by repeated overtopping, toe scour, or improper design. Research also suggests that hard armor shoreline reflects wave activity along adjacent unprotected shorelines and can have ecological impacts. These effects can have cumulative effects in urbanizing lake environment. Shoreline solutions will need to flexible rather than simplistic. Good solutions typically suggest bio-engineered shores capable of withstanding wave and wake punishment, but also regrowth of vegetation when possible.

Sediment: 10/7/2023

Water Level: TBA

System Volume: TBA

Infrastructure: TBA

Lake Ecosystem: TBA

Nutrients: TBA

Loving our Lakes to Death

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I’ve spent a lot of time this last year visiting lakes with similar issues. The issue is not unique to lakes but remains an ongoing concern with any waterbody with humanly influenced frontage. The desire to get closer to the water and the serenity of its influence is having a directly negative influence. This influence has led to a number of compounding side effects resulting in habitat loss, sedimentation, unnatural nutrient introduction, flooding, and although not nearly as well documented, property damage.

Shoreline encroachment is a process in which man moves closer to the water. The reason for doing so may very ever so slightly; in some instances water is the obstacle where in other cases it is the objective.

Let’s Talk About Consultants

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When you have been around long enough it certainly feels like you have seen most everything, although I am still routinely surprised at the continually miscast pool of consultants that will take a job with little to no prior or appropriate experience on the subject matter; that is working on lakes, shorelines, dredging, nutrients, and even attempting monitoring.

Our Second Love, Our Lakes

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On this Labor Day I hope most are getting the opportunity to get out onto their lakes to enjoy a wonderful day in the upper midwest. As the boating season begins to wind down and the leaves begin their annual color change we can reflect back and the summer that to many may seem like it never was. The Great Outdoors to many others has proven to be an excellent distraction to a world in apparent disarray. For some of us who have spent more time than usual out on the water it may have provided greater insight into the value of our surface waters; this includes public waters of the state, rivers for example for kayaking/canoeing, etc.

What have we seen? Have we accumulated any new knowledge that has helped us become better stewards of the waters? Have we observed something new that has led us back to our home office to investigate the question on the internet? Have we shared information or questions with others? If our waters our something we truly cherish it takes more than a passive interest to preserve it.

The diversity of lake users is greater today than it has ever been. This includes users of varying backgrounds with variable agendas. These agendas may not always be be in unison with the best interests to the waters we inhabit, but we can all hope to play in this sandbox in harmony. If our waters spoil well then the party is over. Our water resources do not have a hospital they can got to when they feel sick or are becoming undone. We are sickness but also the cure.

This is a good time to sit back, enjoy the weather and reflect back on the things we can do better on with our lakes. What have turned a blind eye to for too long. Fall brings time to contemplate these things and plan for the winter and upcoming year. Start taking stock in the little things and track lake progress.

Up Next, we’ll take a look at the process of video recording your shoreline.

Quick Primer on Grants

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As noted a few posts ago, grant season is among us. It is very common that lake districts, improvement associations, and individual property owners seek out funding assistance for a wide variety of projects that can help improve conditions within lakes, wetlands, and streams for water quality, navigation, flood control, and aesthetic appeal among other things. The one thing that grants however do not consistently funding is dredging projects.

Why is that someone might ask? The simple answer, although it never appears to be a simple answer from the regulatory end, is that dredging is often categorized as a maintenance item. While it can certainly be debated on both sides the fact stands in most cases dredging does not have a taxpayer based funding mechanism.

In a sense it is understandable that a process that is so heavily driven by healthy watershed practices be addressed at that level; and furthermore the necessity to appropriately and proactively consider the implications of sediment delivery mechanisms before addressing in lake issues. Grants can be obtained for this. It becomes a simple discussion of addressing a symptom and not the cause. Dredging is a snapshot in time, in which that snapshot begins to deteriorate the moment the contractor leaves the site. The rate of deterioration is further dictated by the practices in place on the ground to combat runoff and sedimentation. Most agencies would rather see money put towards these practices to address the issue at the point of attack rather than once the material is in the water.

So facilitating the cost of dredging is a tricky situation. Good consultation can often help in mitigating or controlling costs, but it often estimated that the cost to remove sediment from the water is nearly 6X the cost it is to attack it on land. Pair this with the fact that so many view dredging as some “big fix” when it is really only a temporary reprieve. There is money available for better shoreline practices, buffer establishment, runoff control practices, and land preservation/protection. The State of WI sees this as the better immediate value and they are not alone in this perspective.