Lake outflows to be temporarily reduced; shoreline property owners asked to document 2019 experience

The International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board (ILOSLRB) will temporarily reduce Lake Ontario outflows and increase water levels on Lake St. Lawrence by approximately 25.6 inches to allow marinas and shoreline property owners with docks a one-time opportunity to access their boats to haul-out for the season.

There are approximately 700 marina and boat club slips around Lake St. Lawrence and hundreds of private docks that are impacted. Without raising water levels here, many boats would be left on the bed of Lake St. Lawrence and vulnerable to significant damage from winter conditions.

A 35,300 cubic feet per second outflow reduction is scheduled for all day on October 12 and 13 for a 48-hour period. This is equivalent to 0.4 in of water that would otherwise be released from Lake Ontario during this time, and this additional amount will be removed over the fall months as conditions allow to ensure the net impact on Lake Ontario water levels will be zero.

The board also feels that is critically important that memories of these high water impacts are documented and summarized so that as time goes, they will not be forgotten. To support such a summary, the IJC’s Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee, a subcommittee supporting the ILOSLRB, is seeking first-hand observations and experiences from all who would volunteer to tell their story related to high water impacts in 2019.

A questionnaire has been developed that allows impacted shoreline property owners to report directly on their experiences in 2019. The questionnaire includes opportunities to describe the types and extent of their high water impacts, as well as upload photos to illustrate those impacts. Responses will be summarized by the GLAM Committee as part of its reporting to the ILOSLRB and the IJC and will also be used to improve models that are used to assess potential impacts under a range of water level conditions. Further information, including a link to the questionnaire itself, is available on the GLAM Committee website https://ijc.org/en/glam/watershed/questionnaire/high-water-levels-2019. Property owners are encouraged to complete the questionnaire as soon as the extent of their high water impacts are available.

Provided information