Although water levels in Lake Michigan ended 2009 about 10 inches higher than the same time in 2008, the Army Corps of Engineers office in Detroit predicts the big lake likely will begin the recreational boating season in June with water levels only slightly higher or near the same level as in June 2009.

The water level in June will likely be six or more inches below the long-term average level. However, with an especially high amount of precipitation over the next few months, water levels could reach the long-term average level, according to an annual “Great Lakes Update” released this week by Army hydrologists.

Precipitation over the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron basin was “below average” during December 2009, but was “slightly above average” for the entire year. That led Lake Michigan water levels to remain above the levels of 2008 by as much as a foot for most of 2009.

Lake Michigan remained below its historical average level during all of 2009, however, and was five inches below the average level last month. In 2009, Lake Michigan continued its second-longest stretch of remaining below the long-term average level. Lake Michigan’s monthly-mean level has not been at or above average since December 1998. Only the period from 1930 to 1942 saw a longer stretch of below-average water levels, the report says.

Lake Michigan water levels rose more quickly than usual in 2009. The seasonal rise averages 11 inches. Last year, the lake level rose 19 inches in the spring and summer. Much of that quick rise can be attributed to a more substantial snow pack last winter than usual, followed by a quick melt which recharged the basin.

Lake Michigan began 2009 about a foot below its January long-term-average. The lake peaked at its normal time, in July, about five inches below the July long-term-average. The lake ended 2009 at about five inches below the December long-term-average.

As for the rest of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior rose 13 inches in 2009, but remained below its historical average level last year, as did the Lake Michigan-Lake Huron basin. Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario were above or near their historical averages during 2009, and rose from their 2008 levels just as Lake Michigan, Lake Huron and Lake Superior did.