SOUTH HAVEN, MI — Lake Michigan is rising and causing damage as it goes, capturing the attention of all levels of government.
“We’re looking at a whole bunch of erosion,” South Haven Mayor Scott Smith said while standing on the public South Beach with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, pointing down the shore at rocks property owners have placed to try to stop the erosion from making their land shrink and disappear into the water.
“Better than half the beach is missing,” he said. “It’ll be back, we just have to protect it.”
Related: Beaches shrink in Southwest Michigan amid rising water levels
Stabenow sat in a meting on Thursday, Feb. 20, with more than 20 officials including people from the city of South Haven, Van Buren County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, and others.
Near-record high water levels and storms with large waves have eroded the Lake Michigan shoreline, causing concern for residents and government officials.
If you are reading this in your Facebook app, use this link to view the entire gallery of photos.
“The biggest problem is that we should’ve been acting earlier on the question of how the atmosphere is changing and holding more precipitation, and all the flooding issues and everything that’s happening as a result of the climate crisis,” Stabenow said. "Unfortunately, rather than debating whether it’s real, we’re in a spot where we can see it every single day and the scientists are telling us it’s happening much quicker than they even thought it was going to happen.
“We have to respond. I believe in science,” Stabenow said.
Many of the resources that may be available, through agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, could take months or years to acquire, Stabenow said, and she encouraged local leaders to write letters to request help.
“I want to make sure everyone knows every possible resource that’s available, because when you’re looking at $20 million, first of all, that’s a really big number," Stabenow said, referring to an updated estimate of potential impacts that the city of South Haven displayed on a slideshow during the meeting.
Stabenow also visited Bay City this week, and said she is taking the tours to make sure people in Washington is paying attention to what’s happening in Michigan.
“This region is getting hammered,” Stabenow said before departing from South Haven City Hall to tour the beach in below-freezing temperatures. “People are worried and people are scared because of what’s happened.”
They are watching closely as the water creeps closer.
South Haven Emergency Services Director Ron Wise pointed out an area on Evergreen Bluff Drive, just south of city limits in South Haven Township, where officials are monitoring as bluffs recede.
South Haven Emergency Services Director Ron Wise points out a land marker used to measure erosion on Evergreen Bluff in South Haven Township, Michigan on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. (Kendall Warner | Mlive.com) Kendall Warner | MLive.com
He pointed out a wooden stake that he is keeping an eye on to estimate how much material is falling into Lake Michigan, and how quickly, and said the stake is about to go over the edge. He pointed to cracks forming in the grassy land above the bluff -- an indication that more land will fall there.
“Fresh dirt is the last thing people want to smell up here,” he said.
A water pipe feeding a fire hydrant is buried on top of the ridge, and officials are worried it could be impacted if the erosion continues, Wise said.
Back at the beach, resident Julie Carten-Crandell was walking her dog near the pier like she often does.
“The loss of the beach and the nature preserves is a pretty high concern for me,” she said.
Her wife, Becky Carten-Crandell, said tourism is a big part of the lake shore.
“A lot of us only have three or four months to make it as a business and to not have people coming because of the erosion, and the beaches not being available as they have in the past, is definitely going to impact tourism and the local economy," Becky Carten-Crandell said.
She said she owns a cleaning company that cleans a lot of rental homes and also works for a transit authority that provides rides, including for tourists.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, also toured South Haven on Thursday to see impacts of rising water levels.
Upton said he helped introduce the bipartisan Safer Harbors for Our Recreational Economy (SHORE) Act this week, which he said would benefit a number of recreational harbors in the Sixth Congressional District. If passed, the legislation would require the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and Office of Management and Budget to account for recreation-based considerations in cost-benefit analysis procedures for harbor maintenance projects.
“This is important legislation that would have a direct positive impact for our recreational harbors in places like Saugatuck, South Haven, and New Buffalo, and I’m proud to support yet another bill that will continue to help preserve and protect our beautiful Great Lakes,” Upton said in a prepared statement.
Related: Lake Michigan swallows structures, puts property owners on edge
The Lake Michigan conditions are impacting beaches, marinas, city infrastructure, and private property owners. Mayor Smith wrote a letter to a state official to draw attention to the issue, calling it a “historic and devastating impact” on the community.
Nearby, houses have been demolished or moved as homeowners watch the edge of the lake shore cliff creep closer to their homes. Farther north, in Muskegon County, one home has fallen off the bluff above Lake Michigan.
More:
Review ordered of Indiana’s Lake Michigan shoreline erosion damage
Birdseye view of Lake Michigan shore shows impact of erosion
Boating season at South Haven marinas in jeopardy amid high-water concerns