Exploring Great Lakes Water Level Variability

By Erica Colaianne

In this episode of Michigan Minds, Drew Gronewold, School for Environment and Sustainability associate professor, talks about his research to understand the water balance of the Great Lakes and the implications of water level variability. 

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Prior to coming to the University of Michigan, Gronewold was a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and he says that experience helped shape his perspective for his work at U-M.

“Part of that job was to be a public servant, and I still take that role very seriously here at the University of Michigan. One of the things that excites me most about my research is when I’m answering a real-world question that, in many cases, I’ve heard somebody from the public articulate,” he says, adding that those questions, general interest, and a goal of helping the public good is what guides his research.

Gronewold explains that the Great Lakes region serves as a large economic hub for North America and says that if the Great Lakes region was its own country, it would be the third largest economy in the world largely due to the shipping industry in the region. 

It’s also important to highlight, he adds, that a significant amount of the Earth’s fresh surface water is in the Great Lakes. 

“When we look at the amount of water that is fresh surface water on the surface of the Earth that’s unfrozen, the Great Lakes contain about 20% of all that water. That’s a fairly significant proportion,” Gronewold says. 

According to his research, 80% of all of that water is in 10 lakes — including the Great Lakes. 

“Understanding how water enters and leaves really big lakes is absolutely critical to the overall global freshwater picture.”

He explains that water level fluctuations have an impact not just near the shore but also on habitats near the shore, coastal environments, and the migration of wetlands over time. 

“It’s really important for us to understand these fluctuations from a continental water balance perspective. What I mean by that is the Great Lakes right now are in a period of water abundance, right? There’s been flooding for the past several years. That’s not true for the entire country and it’s not true for the entire world. And from that perspective, it’s important to understand not just the gradients or the discrepancies in water abundance, but why there are gradients and water abundance around the country and around North America,” Gronewold says.

He emphasizes how important it is to continuously learn about these topics and to have reliable information. 

“The ability to freely collect, store, and distribute environmental data is one of the most important things we have going for us in this country. And we have to hold on to that if we’re going to be able to continue to make good decisions about the climate and the environment moving forward.”

Gronewold will be speaking about the Great Lakes water levels at the virtual Wolverine Caucus on Friday, April 30 at 10am along with Jon Allan, academic and research program officer at the School for Environment and Sustainability. Register today to attend.

Listen to the full episode of Michigan Minds to learn more