A new plan to increase outflows from Lake Ontario for the next two months is a step shoreline residents and some municipalities have been asking for, because of high waters and flooding.
The Lake Ontario-St Lawrence River Board had been resisting those calls because Lake Ontario was at its long-term average level, but elsewhere in the Great Lakes some of the lakes are two or more feet above their long-term averages.
The International Joint Commission has given its members authority to deviate from Plan 2014, the water management plan that dictates how much water is released from the lake into the St. Lawrence River, for the months of January and February.
“Analysis indicated that there’s a moderate risk of exceeding water levels on Lake Ontario in the spring that could cause damages associated with high water levels,” said Bryce Carmichael, secretary to the Board, in a release. “As [the Board] considered that risk and what could potentially be done to lower that risk their hands were somewhat tied.”
Carmichael is referencing Plan 2014, the water management plan that dictates how much water is released from the Lake into the St. Lawrence River. With Lake Ontario’s current levels, the Board cannot increase those outflows, but the International Joint Commission has given the members the authority to deviate from those mandates for the months of January and February. It’s a step shoreline residents and lawmakers have been asking board members to take for months given high water levels upstream. The Board resisted those calls, including most recently in October because Lake Ontario was at its long-term average and levels were continuing to drop.
Bernie Gigas, an engineer and Lake Ontario shoreline resident, is quoted agreeing that this is a positive development but he said it’s not the answer to avoiding flooding. Gigas said ultimately the water management plan needs to be addressed, not just sidestepped.
“Depending on what we get for weather next spring we will flood. This will not change that,” Gigas said. “We will get a couple of inches from it, but we will not get two feet out of it; it’s just impossible, but it’s a sign in the right direction that maybe Plan 2014 and the way it’s implemented under these very high water inflow conditions can’t quite do it on its own.”
