Experts said on Thursday that water levels in Great Lakes will keep on rising and falling and people must learn to adapt to changes rather than relying on measures like taming nature with expensive engineering projects.

A wide-ranging study to acclimatize to up-and-down water levels was announced by Donald Scavia, Director of the University of Michigan's Graham Sustainability Institute. The announcement was made at a time when about 50 Great Lakes policymakers, scientists and advocates were debating whether making further efforts to control the inland sea are likely to make any difference.

"Lake levels are varying and they're going to continue to vary. The question we should be focusing on is, how do you live with the variability instead of where do you put the next dam", said Scavia.

Lakes Huron and Michigan hit their lowest point on record in January 2013. But after that, heavy snow and abundant rainfall led to cause such a quick comeback for Lakes Superior, Erie and Ontario that they are all set to return to normal this year.

Even levels of Even Huron and Michigan are to rise substantially after suffering the most. It was a 15-month wet period and winter's bitter cold that resulted in the recovery. It actually helped the lakes return to normal after freezing most of the lakes' surface area and blocked evaporation.

But it is still to be seen if the improvement will continue or it is climate change that has caused a momentary blip, said analysts at the conference.

The levels of Lakes Ontario and Superior are regulated to a limited extent by cams, electric power plants and other infrastructure. Some advocates now want to install structures in the St. Clair River at the south end of Lake

Huron intended for slowing down the outflow of water toward Lake Erie. This will build up Huron and Michigan, which are linked to each other.