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26 ~'*'.. '~f!' .1', HYDROLOGIC AND HUMAN ASPECTS OF THE 1976-77 DROUGHT The monthly average flows in the Fox River (fig. 10) dropped below the long term average for the month in June 1976 and remained below for 17 months through October 1977. Except for April and October 1977 during this same period, flow was in the deficient range. That is, it was among the lowest 25 percent of record which is defined by the lower quartile line in figure 10. New minimum monthly averages for January and February in 80 years of record were reached in 1977, and these were 69 and 81 percent of the previous minimums which occurred in 1965 and 1961, respectively. Runoff of the Sturgeon River at Sidnaw, Mich., 90 mi northwest of Escanaba, was at new low amounts during the 1976 water year for periods ranging from 1 to 90 days. Prob- abilities ranged from 0.015 to 0.007 which are equivalent to recurrence intervals of 70 to 140 years. The water levels of three lakes in Wiscon- sin during 1976 and 1977 were near average or above. In fact, the maximum levels for March, April, and May occurred in 1976 at Cedar Lake south of Green Bay at the end of above normal rainfall and runoff. Most of the minimum monthly levels in records almost 40 years long occurred either in 1948-50 or in 1958-59. The range in stage of these lakes is between 3 and 6 ft. Ground-water Conditions The surficial deposits of the Lake Superior drainage in Minnesota consist largely of thin drift over crystalline bedrock. Many wells are only 10 to 200 ft deep and extend to a narrow zone where water collects on top of the bedrock. Therefore, the water supply from these wells is marginal at best and is vulner- able to drought. The State of Minnesota pro- vided grants to 300 residents to deepen the shallow wells that went dry in four counties bordering Lake Superior. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about 1,400, mostly shallow, wells went dry. Many wells were deepened when a Federal loan could be obtained and a driller could schedule the work. Only the northern half of Iron County, Wis" about 100 mi east of Duluth, Minn., is in the Great Lakes Region, but countywide 121 pri- vate wells and 3 community wells either went dry or the yield was sharply reduced by December 1976. Permits for high capacity wells were granted to 512 of 515 applicants in Wisconsin. Ground-water levels in Wisconsin were near normal after the winter of 1975-76 but they declined steadily through the summer and fall of 1976. They were near record low levels for the month by November 1976, and new mini- mum levels for the month were reached during 4 to 7 months of the 8 months between December 1976 and July 1977 because of the severe winter and because snowmelt during the spring of 1977 contributed but little recharge. Water Quality In southern Menominee County, Mich., about 40 mi southwest of Escanaba, bad-smelling sul- furous water and increased salinity were the results of low water levels in the deeper wells. The severe winter of 1976-77 reduced the flows in streams, and the ground-water dis- charge to the streams was not diluted as much by the low surface-water runoff. Therefore, dissolved-solids concentrations increased ab- normally. Concentrations in the Cuyahoga River at Independence in northwestern Ohio almost reached 2,000 mg/L-50 percent great- er than ever measured before. The residents of Hillman, in the northeast part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, had to boil their water because State officials thought there was a chance that ground water could enter their water system when the pres- sure was low. Activities Resulting from the Drought Small communities in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan had to resort to trucking water, and so did the city of Bessemer, population 2,800. The Michigan National Guard and a unit of the State Police trucked water to some rural families. Water for drinking and cooking was obtained from schools or nearby commun- ities where there was a firmer supply, and water for sanitary purposes was taken from lakes and streams. Dry or low-yield wells in Wisconsin made it necessary to start trucking water in emer- gency situations on December 31, 1976. Farmers in Menominee County southwest of Escanaba, Mich., raised funds to pay for