COLUMBUS, Ohio — A historic drought is causing extremely low water levels on Buckeye Lake. The lake is already shallow, with most areas only four to six feet deep.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the deepest parts of the lake reach about 14 feet. With the lack of rain the state has seen the past few months, the Buckeye Lake State Park manager said the lake is down about 15 inches from where it should be.
The extremely low water levels are something Brian Winders with the Buckeye Lake Marina said is unusual.
“So right now, we're at 1.8 (feet deep) just being near the shoreline. That's where it's tends to get really shallow,” Winders said. “This is, like I said, a phenomenon that we've never seen happen here. So typically boaters will be boating all the way through September and October as well."
The main body of water is boatable but Winders said it’s the outside edges and many of the canals where boaters dock their boats that are impassable.
“You can get the lift all the way down but the challenge is having enough water to get the boat to float obviously,” Winders said.
The shallow water is causing a host of problems. Winders said hidden hazards like rocks have been damaging boats' props and lower units. It’s also forcing people like Matt Zimmerman, a resident of Buckeye Lake, to end their boating season early. He took his boat out of the water two weeks ago.
“It's discouraging,” said Matt Zimmerman who’s lived on the lake 19 years and owns Zimmerman Boat Works. “You go to all the work to get your boat ready, we had just done a major redo on our boat this year and then to have the season cut short by nearly, you know, by nearly two months is, is difficult.”
Dry conditions started in Ohio back in mid-June and have intensified all summer. Zimmerman said the whole economy is feeling the heat. He said there’s been a lot less activity on the lake the past few weeks.
“The farmers are really the ones suffering the most, but also the businesses around the lake, the lakefront restaurants and bars, they're suffering,” Zimmerman said. “The marinas are going to be suffering. They're not selling as much gas or service. So it is a problem.”
His best advice to boaters is to get your boat out now. If boaters wait much longer, they risk being stuck in place for the winter.
Winders said there are ways to winterize boats in place, but it’s not ideal. He said it’s best to store your boat inside to avoid damage.
“You could leave your boat on the lift, but the problem exists with critters. Obviously raccoons, squirrels do a tremendous amount of damage. When we have it in the storage facility, they can't get to the boat,” Winders said. “This would be a first for us if we would have to winterize some boats in place. But, like I said, we're going to assist the customer as best we can.”
If boaters decide to wait it out, he said avoid the edges of the lake if you can and keep your speed low.
In the meantime, boaters like Zimmerman will have to enjoy the sunshine from land but he's already eagerly anticipating next spring when he can get back on the water.
“When you live out here long enough you learn to adopt a pretty laid back sense of things. You take things as they come,” Zimmerman said. “But we all expect and pray for rain and anticipate it'll be here.”
If you need to get your boat out of the water or get your boat winterized in place you can contact Buckeye Lake Marina or any of the local marinas in the area.