2017 & 2019 High Water Events
All high-water related materials related to the 2017 & 2019 events, including questions and answers, related reports and videos are now in one place. This was a recommendation in the Province of Ontario’s Special Advisor’s report on flooding.
Since the 2017 high water event and more recently in 2019, the International Joint Commission and its International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board (ILOSLRB) have heard, and seen first-hand the devastating impacts that extreme water level conditions have had. Those affected include citizens and communities, shoreline properties and local economies around Lake Ontario, the surroundings sectors, and on the upper and lower St. Lawrence River. The Board has taken extraordinary measures to try to alleviate impacts from these exceptional conditions, while considering the consequences for all activity sectors along the Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River system.
While the conditions of both 2017 and 2019 were exceptional in many ways, similar high water events have occurred throughout the history of Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River regulation and have the potential to occur again in the future. As such, the purpose of this page is to provide a collection of accurate information related to the causes of the high water levels, as well as actions taken by the Board in attempts to address these conditions through regulation of outflows. The intent is to inform shoreline residents, businesses and communities of the capacity and limitations of outflow regulation to affect conditions so that we can work collectively to identify and assess potential solutions to better prepare for the possibility of extreme conditions and high water events in the future.
2019 High Water - Questions and Answers
This page can be viewed at the link above and includes a downloadable, printer-friendly PDF. The topics include:
- Causes of the 2019 High Water Event
- Outflows in 2018-19
- Effects of Regulation
- Potential Future Measures in 2020 and Beyond
2017 High Water - Questions and Answers
This page can be viewed at the link above and includes a downloadable, printer-friendly PDF. The topics include:
Related Reports
Videos
This is a video of the presentation given during the 2019 IJC webinar on high water levels on Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River, presented by IJC Co-Chair Jane Corwin and Tony David of the ILOSLRB.
This video was created by the ILOSLRB in 2018 to illustrate the causes of the 2017 Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River flood.