Deborah Prescott | Daily Press Beachgoers arrive on the beach in Escanaba recently and find little room to enjoy the sun.

ESCANABA — Lake Michigan’s record high water levels are having an impact on local beaches and parks. Vegetation protecting beach areas are eroding. This is easy to see after two storms that brought heavy rain passed through the Upper Peninsula last week.

“The park doesn’t look good right now, but the water will go down,” said Escanaba Recreation Director Kim Peterson. “There is a lot of debris.”

Peterson drove through Ludington Park Wednesday morning to assess damage after the remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal traveled through Escanaba Tuesday night. Little Bay de Noc brought debris into Ludington Park and remained at the edge of Loren W. Jenkins Memorial Drive in some locations. Peterson said the water left the area quickly after making its way up to the tennis courts.

The Escanaba Municipal Beach is another story.

“There is no beach at all. The water basically runs right up to the berm,” Peterson said. “The berm is there to stop the water and has done its job. If it wasn’t there water would have approached the road to Aronson Island.”

Peterson has talked to numerous people and experts about ways to reinforce the beach and welcomes ideas from members of the community.

“If we add sand, it’ll go right out into the bay. We’ve looked at everything possible,” she said.

Besides high water levels, COVID-19 responses have posed problems in opening up the Webster Wading Pool. It will not open in 2020 due to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders and CDC regulations on social distancing and allowing only 50% capacity at the pool. Peterson said it would be difficult to comply.

Escanaba plans to open the beach the middle of June, with lifeguards on the beach between the hours of noon and 7 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

“We’re doing the best we can with what we can,” said Peterson. “We take huge pride in what we do.”

This summer the Gladstone beach will be open without lifeguards or a concession stand.

“There will be no lifeguards on our beach this summer. Swimmers will swim at their own risk,” said Gladstone Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Sanderson. “The concession stand and beach-house bathroom and showers will all be closed.”

Sanderson plans to install the ropes and a water slide. An outside shower by the beach house will be available and the Van Cleve Park bathroom will be open.

“We will continue to clean the beach of debris from Little Bay de Noc,” Sanderson said.

Water levels in Lake Michigan-Huron continue to rise and erode the shores of the southern Upper Peninsula. In 2020 Lake Michigan water levels have stayed above previous record highs, and are not predicted to lower until late fall.

According to the Department of the Army Detroit District, Corps of Engineers, as of June 5, water levels of Lake Michigan-Huron were recorded at 582.19 feet, 4 inches higher than May, 7 inches higher than a year ago, and 5 inches higher than the highest monthly average of record for June.