LEVELnews

Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Water Levels
Volume 20, Number 2

16 February 2012

IJC Releases Information About a New Approach to Managing Levels

On January 27, 2012, the International Joint Commission (IJC) released information about a new approach to managing water levels and flows in Lake Ontario and in the St. Lawrence River system.

Building upon 50 years of experience, a five-year binational study and extensive public comment, the IJC is developing this new approach with the assistance of a working group of representatives from the federal governments of Canada and the United States, the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and the State of New York. Details of the approach are available on the Lake Ontario–St. Lawrence River (LOSLR) website.

The IJC is welcoming public input on this new approach. The IJC will host online forums, and it will hold public information sessions around the basin in late spring 2012. Written comments on the new approach may be submitted via the LOSLR website or may be sent by regular mail or email to the IJC at the following address:

International Joint Commission
Canadian Section
234 Laurier Avenue West
22nd Floor
Ottawa ON  K1P 6K6
commission@ottawa.ijc.org

Comments received by June 15, 2012, will be considered in developing a proposal that would include a revised order of approval, a regulation plan, an adaptive management plan and a governance structure. The IJC will then hold formal public hearings on the proposal before arriving at a decision.

Great Lakes Water Level Information

	January 2012 Monthly Mean Level		Beginning-of-February 2012 Level
Lake	Compared to Monthly Average (1918–2010)	Compared to One Year Ago	Compared to Beginning-of-Month Average (1918–2010)	Compared to One Year Ago
Superior	32 cm below	1 cm above	32 cm below	1 cm above
Michigan-Huron	32 cm below	18 cm above	31 cm below	18 cm above
St. Clair	18 cm above	54 cm above	27 cm above	68 cm above
Erie	39 cm above	55 cm above	42 cm above	64 cm above
Ontario	24 cm above	31 cm above	37 cm above	50 cm above

St. Lawrence Board Public Teleconference

The International St. Lawrence River Board of Control will hold a public teleconference on Tuesday, March 20, 2012, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. EDT, to discuss the regulation of outflows and water levels in the Lake Ontario–St. Lawrence River system. Participation in the meeting can be in person or by phone.

To participate that day by phone, please call 1- 877- 413- 4814 by 6:50 p.m., and enter either of the following two access codes:

2053751 for English
4170156 for French

Please mention “St. Lawrence River Control Board” to the operator if asked.

Those interested may attend in person at either of the two following meeting sites:

Beaconsfield Yacht Club
26 Lakeshore Road
Beaconsfield, Quebec

or:

Xerox Auditorium
Gleason Building
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, New York

To download the meeting materials, please go to the Board’s Activities Web page. Any updates will be posted by March 16.

Alternately, you can view the meeting materials by Webinar while listening in by phone using the teleconference access information provided earlier. To participate in the Webinar, please look for the Webex link and instructions on the Board’s Activities Web page.

Please note that there will be a brief discussion period from 6:45-7:00 p.m. at the two meeting sites to determine local concerns. The Board presentation will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be accessible to those present at the two meeting sites, as well as to those listening in by phone. Following the presentation, comments and questions will be taken from callers and attendees at both sites.

Inquiries about the teleconference may be directed to the Board’s Canadian Secretary:

Gail R. Faveri
Secretary, Canadian Section
International St. Lawrence River Board of Control
Boundary Waters Unit
Environment Canada
867 Lakeshore Road
PO Box 5050
Burlington ON  L7R 4A6
905-336-6007
gail.faveri@ec.gc.ca

January Precipitation over the Great Lakes*
Great Lakes Basin	117%	Lake Erie (including Lake St. Clair)	130%
Lake Superior	47%
Lakes Michigan-Huron	145%	Lake Ontario	131%

January Outflows from the Great Lakes*
Lake Superior	82%	Lake Erie	121%
Lakes Michigan-Huron	96%	Lake Ontario	103%

*As a percentage of the long-term January average.
Note: These figures are preliminary.

For more information:

Chuck Southam (Editor)
Boundary Water Issues Unit
MSC – Operations Ontario
Environment Canada
P.O. Box 5050
Burlington ON  L7R 4A6
Tel.: 905-336-4955
Fax: 905-336-8901
Email: water.levels@ec.gc.ca

David Fay
Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Regulation Office
MSC – Operations Ontario
Environment Canada
111 Water Street East
Cornwall ON  K6H 6S2
Tel.: 613-938-5725