As reported in the Globe and Mail, it appears a new proposal for regulating water levels on Lake Ontario being proposed by the International Joint Commission (IJC) continues the historic neglect of the health of Lake Ontario's wetlands.
In the 1950s, when the current plan for managing outflows was drafted, the environment wasn't a top-of-mind issue, and the goal was to reduce water-level fluctuations for flood control, shipping, and hydropower development. But the approach has degraded more than half the lake's wetlands, an extensive area of riparian habitat about 133 square kilometres in size.
Lake Ontario water levels are easier to control than those of the other Great Lakes because a hydroelctric dam on the Saint Lawrence river controls outflows. This has led land owners and others to lobby for their own narrow economic interests at the expense of the long term ecological health of the Lake. Thankfully some have a broader view:
New York Governor David Paterson issued a letter highly critical of the IJC to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urging her to force the organization to adopt rules with more priority on the environment.
The IJC will hold a series of public hearings and information sesssions on the new proposals between now and July 11. You can see the schedule, read the proposal, and even submit comments on their website.
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I hope they have thought about the impact this would cause on Lake Erie... Lake Ontario is running about a half foot above its long term average anyway. Maybe they should reduce the flow so the water backs up into Huron and Michigan =)
Posted by: direfloyd | April 02, 2008 at 08:39 AM