The International Joint Commission held a webinar on Friday to discuss what can be done to help decrease the risk of flooding this year.
IJC US Commissioner and Chair Jane Corwin stated to the audience of over 1,000, they have released record levels of water each month so far this year but there is still some uncertainty this year as to how bad the flooding potential could be because of the weather over the next two months.
Corwin stated Plan 2014 was created to minimize extremes on the waterway but with so much water in the system, they are unable to stop flooding.
Pierre Béland, the Canadian Commissioner and Chair said the Board recognizes numerous shoreline residents and businesses have suffered catastrophic losses, but last year’s flooding was caused by factors beyond human control.
She said the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, every 20 years, have water levels that reach highs and lows and we are currently in a high water cycle.
Corwin says there is also the possibility that with climate change this is the new normal as the trends are showing an earlier spring melt and a later build and earlier break-up of ice on the St. Lawrence River.
The webinar showed water is flowing into Lake Ontario at a record high level from Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie and there is no human control over this and it is like emptying five bathtubs full of water with a straw (the St. Lawrence River).
Corwin stated that for the first three months of this year, water outflows at the Moses-Saunders Dam in Cornwall were over 9,000 cubic meters per second, a record high, which was permitted because of the mild ice season this year.
(Photo: Tim Durkin/Quinte News)
She did say the IJC Board is concerned and they will continue to deviate from Plan 2014 to mitigate flooding this year.
Corwin said there is always the concern of balancing upstream needs and downstream needs when it comes to flooding and says flooding last year was seen throughout the entire system and no one region was sacrificed.
She noted a one centimetre decrease of Lake Ontario reflects an 11 cm increase in Lac Saint Louis in Quebec.
The full presentation will be available at ijc.org.
