Lakes in northern Wisconsin are literally losing ground, shoving some shorelines back so far docks are stuck sitting on solid ground.

"At least five steps were underwater," Chip Wood says at the bottom of his wooden staircase.

They're the same steps that used to run right into the lake water. Now, it's a long, long walk to the water's edge from his long abandoned dock.

"It would've been two feet of water here," Wood says standing on that dock in a field of grass and saplings. In fact, his interview is the most action the Washburn County dock has gotten in a long time.

"I didn't come here with the idea of buying grass. I wanted waterfront,” Wood says. “Can we say we live on the water? I don't think I can honestly say that."

Other docks have been moved to keep up with the water; boats carried to its edge. Wood says it might be time to rename his lake.

"Deep Lake is its official name,” he says. “I want to name it, more romantically, Lake Disappearance."

It’s a name that might be fitting for many a lake in the Northwoods.

"It's a real hike to the water," Wood says making the long trip back to his dusty dock.

The DNR says over the last five or six years, the water has dropped eight or nine vertical feet in Deep Lake, losing another foot or so in the last month. It's now about 125 feet to the water’s edge.

“It's kind of hard to see it like this,” says Jim Bishop with the DNR. “We're getting quite a number of calls because of the continued drought. People want to know what they can and can't do with their shorelines"

Bishop says some people want to plant gardens and even rototill the expanded property: Both are not allowed.

"We're trying to promote a natural, healthy shoreline," says Dan Harrington, the DNR's water management specialist.

He says the lakes most affected are seeping lakes -- ones with no streams or springs. They're generally smaller lakes, but Harrington says they also make up about 85 percent of all lakes in northern Wisconsin.

"The last drought in 1988, the water was quite low then, but it did come up again,” Harrington says. “It is cyclical, but, it's anybody's guess when."

And he says the only thing to do until that happens: "Sit tight and pray for rain."

"It's so pleasant to have water lapping at the bottom of the steps. The sight, the feel, the noise,” Wood says showing us where the turtles used to play.

But, now left with a silent shore, he says each disappointing summer makes it harder to hold on to hope.

"Lakes go up and down in cycles, we know that,” Wood says. “But, they can be long and life is not that long for some of us."

Harrington says shore landowners are allowed to remove an area 30 feet wide on their expanding shore. But, he says you should leave the rest alone. On a good note: When the water rises, the vegetation will make a great habitat for fish.