How long would it take to fill Lake Michigan with water?
For example if Lake Michigan was emptied, it would take 99 years for its tributaries to completely refill the lake.
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No. People are not capable of changing things on that scale. We could easily pollute the water and make it undrinkable, but we can't drain the lakes, because there is just too much water there, and it's constantly refilled from too many sources, including rain and snow melt.
10% of the entire planet's fresh water are contained in one inland sea. The amount of snow that gets melted and runs into the Great Lakes each year is so vast, that there is zero chance of running low. Droughts don't exist up there. Here in Perth Western Australia we have a dam, little rain and treated water.
Over the past two years, the water level declines have been a little more than average and the water level increases have been less than average. This is especially true on Lakes Michigan and Huron.
In winter, the precipitation amounts decline in the colder air. A loss of water level basically comes down to more water flowing out and evaporating than falling as precipitation.
Climate change is fueling more extreme Lake Michigan Water levels, along with stronger winds and heavier storms. These conditions exacerbate erosion, beach loss, and damage along the shore.
The lake's formation began 1.2 billion years ago when two tectonic plates moving in opposite directions left a giant scar—an event now known as the Midcontinent Rift. Less than 15,000 years ago, melting glaciers filled the giant basin, and Lake Michigan came to be. The lake's maximum depth is 925 feet.
Drinking Water - State of the Great Lakes. The 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement states that “the Waters of the Great Lakes should be a source of safe, high quality drinking water”. Approximately 8.5 million Canadians and 19.5 million Americans get their drinking water from the surface waters of the Great Lakes.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, for example, describes them as “vast inland freshwater seas.” A seminal 2017 paper in Limnology and Oceanography, authored by some of the most influential researchers studying the lakes, also refers to them as 'inland seas.
Though not as warm as the oceans, temperatures of Lake Michigan do rise to the high 60s in July and August to make swimming enjoyable, and definitely refreshing! Rarely do temperatures make it to the 70s, unless air temperatures stay up in the 90's for many continuous days.
One key detail about Torch lake is that it is the deepest inland lake in Michigan. The average depth of Torch Lake is 111 feet. The deepest point of Torch Lake is said to be 285 feet, but this is debated. Some sources state the true depth is 310 feet, while others estimate the deepest point at 350 feet.
About 5,500 years ago, the level of the water surface in Lake Michigan was about 23 feet higher than today. At that time, the southern shore of Lake Michigan was in the early stages of forming the last of Indiana's shorelines—the Toleston Beach.