NEWS RELEASE

April 2, 2013

Board Considers possible continuing dry conditions

The International St. Lawrence River Board of Control (Board) recently reviewed conditions in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system and has agreed to continue to follow the Regulation Plan, except when conditions downstream allow an under-discharge to store water on Lake Ontario, or when conditions require an under-discharge to avoid high water downstream at the confluence with the Ottawa River. Lake Ontario is currently at its plan-specified level, but is below its long term average, as are the other Great Lakes upstream. Under-discharge will start when levels at Lac St. Louis attain 21.8 m (71.5 ft), 30 cm (1 ft) lower than the flood alert level. The Board will begin to store up to 5 cm (2 in) of water on Lake Ontario at that time. The Board will store in excess of 5 cm (2 in) only if levels at Lac St. Louis are at risk of exceeding the flood alert level of 22.1 m (72.5 ft). This strategy will allow the Board to address uncertainty in the inflows over the freshet and near future as well as provide the environmental and recreational benefits of higher water levels both upstream on Lake Ontario and downstream on the lower St. Lawrence River during the spring spawning and boating seasons. Inflows over the freshet and near future will be assessed at the Boards late-April meeting, when it will decide whether to continue to store water on Lake Ontario for gradual release over a possibly dry summer and fall or to release the accumulated deviation earlier in response to possibly wetter conditions. The level on Lake Ontario as of March 27 was 74.59 m (244.72 ft), 44 cm (17 in) above the lower limit that applies from April 1 to November 30 (from December 1 to March 31 the lower limit does not apply), but 13 cm (5.1 in) below the average level for this time of year. The level on Lake St. Lawrence as of March 27 was 73.46 m (241.01 ft), which is above the average level due to current lower than average outflows. The level at the Port of Montreal on March 27 was 5.86 m (19.23 ft), 114 cm (45 in) below average. The Board, in conjunction with its staff, continues to monitor the situation carefully and is prepared to take further action as required. The Board will continue to review conditions and revise the outflow strategy, if necessary. Outflow changes are posted to the Boards Facebook site at www.facebook.com/ISLRBC (English) and its website at http://ijc.org/boards/islrbc/data under Lake Ontario outflow changes. Water levels on both Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River vary considerably from year to year depending on the weather conditions. The Board urges everyone to be prepared to live within the full range of levels that have occurred. Although the Board strives to maintain the range of monthly mean levels of Lake Ontario below the upper limit of 75.37 m (247.3 ft) and above the lower limit (from April through November) of 74.15 m (243.3 ft) specified in the Orders of Approval, since regulation began in 1960, actual monthly levels have ranged from a high of 75.74 m (248.5 ft.) to a low of 73.82 m (242.2 ft) due to climate conditions outside the design range. Levels on the river tend to vary more widely. Furthermore, excessive wind set up and wave action may significantly increase or decrease local levels on both the lake and river. Strong winds can change water levels temporarily by over half a metre (2 feet) in some locations.

Contacts:
Gail R. Faveri: (905) 336-6007; gail.faveri@ec.gc.ca John Kangas: (312) 353-4333; John.W.Kangas@usace.army.mil The International St. Lawrence River Board of Control was established by the International Joint Commission in its 1952 order of approval. The Boards main duty is to ensure that outflows from Lake Ontario meet the requirements of the IJC order; it also develops regulation plans and conducts special studies requested by the IJC. For more information, visit http://ijc.org/boards/islrbc/ . To receive a weekly e-mail about water levels and flows in the Lake OntarioSt. Lawrence River system, please send a blank e-mail message to stlaw-L-subscribe@cciw.ca, with the word subscribe in the title and body of your message.