(New Buffalo, MI) - The city of New Buffalo is preparing for the record high Lake Michigan to go even higher. The city is applying for a grant to help pay for a $2 million wall. A few months ago, a short temporary block wall was put up along the Galien River from the Whittaker St. bridge to the municipal beach parking lot to hold back the river when it rises during storms packing strong northerly winds.

City Manager Dave Richards said this wall would be a permanent fixture about a foot higher than what’s already there. If the grant application is approved, Richards said the city would pay about half the cost and construction likely would not start until 2022. 

The U.S. Army Corps. Of Engineers is forecasting the Great Lakes could rise another foot above current levels in the coming months.