Water levels on Lake Michigan are more than a foot lower than they were last year."When water levels were very high last year, near record levels, shorelines were flooded," senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service Sarah Marquardt said. "We saw erosion along the shoreline." In 2020, the lake reached record heights."The April monthly mean water level in 2021 was 14 inches below last year but we are still 22 inches above average on that lake," said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scientist Deanna Apps.She said the decrease is due to lack of rainfall."We have predominantly seen drier conditions in the region and that's helped us kind of lessen the rise," Apps said.Southeast Wisconsin has seen about 5 inches less rainfall than normal for the year to date.Although water levels on Lake Michigan are down, strong winds can still have a negative impact on the shoreline."When we get some stronger storms that move through the region that could induce wind driven waves that could still cause impacts," Apps said.Dr. Russell Cuhel is a senior scientist at UWM's School of Freshwater Sciences.He said water levels can also bring harmful bacteria into the lake."When the lake level is higher there is more beach exposed to that kind of transport," Cuhel said.The pollution of bacteria will likely remain an issue as the National Weather Service is forecasting average to above-average rainfall this summer."We are going to get more precipitation and that's one of the main reasons that water levels are expected to go up this summer," Marquardt said.