International Upper Great Lakes Study
In 2007, the International Joint Commission (IJC) launched a five-year International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS). The IUGLS was established to identify and evaluate potential improvements to outflow regulation of Lake Superior to better address changing interests and climate, and resulting impacts on water flows, water levels, and associated resources in the Great Lakes region.
The IJC is an international organization created by the Boundary Waters Treaty, signed by Canada and the United States in 1909. The IJC seeks to prevent and resolve disputes regarding many of the lakes and rivers along the shared border of the two countries. This role includes approving the construction and management of works that affect levels and flows in boundary waters. The IJC also has a special role in helping the two countries restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes.
The IJC appointed a 10 member binational Study Board of experts and public members, who commissioned research projects that engaged more than 100 scientists and engineers from the United States and Canada. Two task teams were formed, Lake Huron Outflow/St Clair River Task Team and the Lake Superior Regulation Task Team, and conducted studies related to water levels, physical processes, and outflow regulation of each part of the system.
The IJC is an international organization created by the Boundary Waters Treaty, signed by Canada and the United States in 1909. The IJC seeks to prevent and resolve disputes regarding many of the lakes and rivers along the shared border of the two countries. This role includes approving the construction and management of works that affect levels and flows in boundary waters. The IJC also has a special role in helping the two countries restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters of the Great Lakes.
The IJC appointed a 10 member binational Study Board of experts and public members, who commissioned research projects that engaged more than 100 scientists and engineers from the United States and Canada. Two task teams were formed, Lake Huron Outflow/St Clair River Task Team and the Lake Superior Regulation Task Team, and conducted studies related to water levels, physical processes, and outflow regulation of each part of the system.
The first phase of the IUGLS addressed changes in the St. Clair River. The report, Impacts on Upper Great Lakes Water Levels: St. Clair River, submitted to the IJC in December 2009, examined the physical processes and possible ongoing changes in the St. Clair River and the effects of such changes on the levels of Lake Michigan-Huron. The St. Clair River Report addresses the extent to which conveyance, the measure of the carrying capacity of a river channel, has changed since the last dredging of the St. Clair River, was completed in 1962.
The second phase of the Study focused on the formulation and evaluation of options for a new regulation plan for Lake Superior outflows. The report, Lake Superior Regulation: Addressing Uncertainty in Upper Great Lakes Water Levels, released in March 2012, focuses on how regulation may be improved to help meet the evolving needs of the interests groups in the upper Great Lakes. It also addresses restoration and multi-lake regulation as alternative approaches for dealing with extreme water levels beyond those addressed by Lake Superior regulation alone, and considers the important role that adaptive management can play to help the interests better anticipate and respond to extreme water levels in the future. |
Impacts on Upper Great Lakes Water Levels: St Clair River
Full Report Summary Report Report findings:
The Study Board Recommendations:
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Lake Superior Regulation:
Addressing Uncertainty in Upper Great Lakes Water Levels Full Report Summary Report Report Findings:
The Study Board Recommendations:
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International Joint Commission’s Advice to Governments on the Recommendations of the International Upper Great Lakes Study
Based on the results of these reports as part of the five-year, peer-reviewed Study and informed by diverse public input, including nearly 3,500 comments, the IJC provided its advice to the Governments of Canada and the United States on its International Upper Great Lakes Study.
Final Recommendations of the International Joint Commission:
Click here to review the IJC Advice to Governments on the Recommendations of the International Upper Great Lakes Study
Based on the results of these reports as part of the five-year, peer-reviewed Study and informed by diverse public input, including nearly 3,500 comments, the IJC provided its advice to the Governments of Canada and the United States on its International Upper Great Lakes Study.
Final Recommendations of the International Joint Commission:
- Endorses Lake Superior Regulation Plan 2012. The Commission finds significant public support for implementing the new plan that delivers robust performance under a wide range of possible hydrological conditions and has begun preparation of a Supplemental Order of Approval to implement the improved plan this year.
- Opposes further study of Multi-Lake Regulation. Consistent with previous Commission studies, the Commission finds further exploration of multi-lake regulation that includes new large-scale dams and channel enlargements is not warranted.
- Recommends further investigation to restore Lake Michigan-Huron water levels. The deepening and widening of the navigational channel in the St. Clair River in the early 1960s resulted in an estimated lowering of Lake Michigan-Huron water levels by 5 inches and subsequent erosion resulted in further lowering of 2.8 to 5.5 inches. On an exploratory level, the Study Board found that limited water level restoration was technically feasible and public support for more detailed analysis of such restoration was widespread. Therefore, the Commission recommends that the governments undertake further investigation of options to increase water levels in Lake Michigan-Huron by about 5 to 10 inches and that this investigation be funded, undertaken and concluded as quickly as practicable. The Commission recognizes if such a measure is in place it could take up to a decade for its full effect on Lake Michigan-Huron water levels to occur. The Commission specifically recommends that this investigation should include:
- exploration of options that would provide relief during low water periods, but not exacerbate future high water levels; and,
- a comprehensive binational benefit-cost analysis and a detailed environmental impact study of potential structural options.
- Endorses implementation of a comprehensive Adaptive Management approach supported by Science and Monitoring. The Commission finds that management of the impacts of Great Lakes water level fluctuations could be improved through Adaptive Management – a flexible approach already embraced by governments that provides decision-makers with monitoring and modelling information that support review and adjustment of programs and policies. The Commission intends to provide recommendations based upon the final report of our International Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Task Team. The Commission also endorses a suite of recommendations to support Adaptive Management that include periodic bathymetric surveys and maintenance of streamflow gauges in connecting channels as well as evaporation monitoring instrumentation installed by the Study.
Click here to review the IJC Advice to Governments on the Recommendations of the International Upper Great Lakes Study
Additional Information
International Joint Commission (http://ijc.org/)
International Upper Great Lakes Study (http://iugls.org/)
(Information compiled from the International Joint Commission, International Upper Great Lakes Study Board, and The International Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Task Team)
International Joint Commission (http://ijc.org/)
International Upper Great Lakes Study (http://iugls.org/)
(Information compiled from the International Joint Commission, International Upper Great Lakes Study Board, and The International Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Task Team)