IJC establishes International Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Study Board

The International Joint Commission (IJC) announced today that it has established an International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study Board and appointed 11 of its proposed 14 members.

On December 11, 2000, during an executive meeting in Washington, D.C., the IJC approved a directive that establishes the Study Board and instructs it to undertake the studies required to evaluate options for regulating levels and flows in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system.

The Study Board will have seven U.S. and seven Canadian members. Appointments made by the IJC to date include:

U.S. Co-director: Dr. Eugene Stakhiv, Chief of Policy and Special Studies at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Canadian Co-director: Mr. Doug Cuthbert, Water Issues Division Manager, Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario

Mr. John P. Cahill, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, New York

Mr. André Carpentier, Hydrology and Hydraulics Directorate, Quebec Ministry of the Environment, Ste.-Foy, Quebec

Ms. Lynn Cleary, Director of the Biosphere, Environment Canada, Montreal, Quebec

Mr. Ian Crawford, Manager, Water Power Projects, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, Ontario

Mr. Dalton Foster, Biochemist and Technical Advisor, International Water Levels Coalition, Massena, New York. Mr. Foster will also serve as the U.S. co-chair of the Public Interest Advisory Group that will advise the Study Board.

Mr. F. Henry Lickers, Director, Environmental Division, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, Cornwall, Ontario

Dr. Daniel P. Loucks, Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Dr. Frank Quinn, Senior Research Hydrologist, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Dr. Frank Sciremammano, Jr., Professor of mechanical engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York

To assist the Study Board with its work, the IJC appointed two study managers, Mr. Ed Eryuzlu, civil engineer, Ottawa, Ontario, and Dr. Anthony Eberhardt, civil engineer, Buffalo, New York.

Mr. Cahill will be assisted in his role as Study Board member by Ms. Sandra LeBarron, Region 6 Director New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Watertown, New York.

The IJC directed the Study Board to carry out its work independent of the work of the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control, which is responsible for overseeing the regulation of the outflows from Lake Ontario.

It has been nearly 50 years since a comprehensive assessment was performed of water levels and flows regulation in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system. In April 1999, the IJC informed the two governments that it was becoming increasingly urgent to review the regulation of Lake Ontario outflows in view of dissatisfaction, on the part of some interests, with the working of that system and in light of environmental concerns and climate change issues. However, the IJC recognizes that the study may not resolve all the issues or result in significant additional benefits for any interest group.

The International Joint Commission was created under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes over the use of waters along the Canada-United States boundary. Its responsibilities include approving certain projects that would change the natural levels and flows of boundary waters, such as the international hydropower project at Massena, New York and Cornwall, Ontario. If it approves a project, the IJC's Orders of Approval may require that the flows and water levels resulting from the project meet certain conditions to protect the interests in both countries.

For more information, including the full text of the IJC directive to the Study Board, visit the IJC's web site at www.ijc.org.