Associated Press

Great Lakes water levels are at their lowest point in 35 years, and there's no relief in sight.

Low water means deep trouble for Michigan's $10-billion tourism, commercial fishing, shipping and recreational boating industries.

Scientists had hoped lake levels would rise significantly this spring.

That isn't likely to happen, however, because snowfall in some areas is only half the winter average. In addition, warmer temperatures have prevented a protective icecap from forming over parts of the lakes that remain covered most winters.

``It's going to be quite similar to last summer,'' Roger Gauthier, a hydrologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit, told The Detroit News in a Thursday report. ``If they didn't like it then, they won't like this summer.''

Rainfall in 2001 was just above average, and average precipitation is expected this spring. Snowfall has been below average, and ice layers have not formed as normal, allowing millions of gallons of water to evaporate and preventing the lakes from being replenished.

According to the Detroit News, the five-lake system is at its lowest point in 35 years. The current water level is just a foot above the record low set in 1964.

Water levels in lakes Michigan and Huron have dropped more than 40 inches since 1997 and are now 14 inches below average. Lake Superior is four inches below the norm; lakes Erie and St. Clair, five inches.

Lake Ontario's water level is mechanically regulated at Massena, N.Y., and has dropped about 10 inches since 1997.

Low lake levels are a critical issue in Michigan, which has more than 3,000 miles of coastline and 825,000 registered boats, more than any other state.

More than 30,000 jobs depend on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence water transportation system.

John Muliett of Fair View has seen revenues at his Lake St. Clair marina fall 70 percent since 1997.

``We're losing business, and they're not coming back,'' Muliett told the Detroit News. ``This whole town depends on water. Businesses have closed. Restaurants have closed. It's tough.''

The Army Corps report that half of Michigan municipal boat launches have closed because they sit entirely in shallow water.

Low water levels have also made cross-lake shipping more difficult. Great Lakes vessels must reduce loads by 90 to 115 metric tons for every inch lost of Lake Michigan, Helen A. Brohl, executive director of the U.S. Great Lakes Shipping Asociation, told the Detroit News earlier this week.

And because less cargo means less profit, companies can lose $22,000 to $28,000 per barge -- costs that are passed on to consumers.

Some state and federal political leaders want the government to help those being hurt by seemingly uncontrollable forces of nature.

The Michigan Legislature in 2000 passed a bill allowing marinas to obtain up to $75,000 in low-interest state loans to dredge around their docks. So far, eight marinas have received loans totaling $369,000.

Michigan politicians also want to head off efforts to divert Great Lakes water outside the region.

``Back in the 1980s, the Congress passed a water resources act that authorized the Great Lakes states to come together to protect from diversion,'' said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

``The federal government gave the authority to the states so that if any one state objects to a diversion initiative, then it can't be done. We ought to reinforce and strengthen that.''

Predicting a change in the water level cycle is difficult, Gauthier said earlier this month.

``It could go either way,'' Gauthier said. But even if temperatures dropped radically for the rest of the winter and spring was very wet, lake levels wouldn't return to average depths by summer, he said.