I am just south of you, down on the Ohio River. I have an automatic cover and always lower my water level to down below the inlet of my Aqua Genie. I do the complete closinig, as we get some pretty darn cold weather, along with snow and ice. Of course, lowering the water level means the auto cover can no longer "float" on the water surface when closing, it drags a bit, leaving about a 5"-6" gap at the end while in the closed position. I tried covering it with water bags, but they just fell into the pool and ended up ripping when I pulled them out. I also tried plugging the gap with pool noodles, but couldnt keep them in the gap the whole winter. As a result, I had tons of old leaves and debris in the shallow end of the pool in the spring. This year when I closed, I coverd the gap with a tarp that would reach across the width of the pool. I folded the tarp in half (back onto itself), and rolled water filled (3/4 full) bleach bottles down into the fold to keep it from blowing up during the winter. I anchored the top of the tarp (both ends) onto the concrete deck with more partially filled bleach bottles. I think this will solve my issue with leaves and debris in the spring. Hope I have explained myself well enough and hope it helps you out this winter if you decide to "winterize" your pool. If you come up with a better option for getting the auto cover to close completely, I would be anxious to hear what it is. I even spoke to my PB about it, as they have an auto cover as well, but they have the same issues.
