The following background information was prepared and reviewed by staff of the International Joint Commission (IJC) and its International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board (ILOSLRB).
Causes of the 2017 high water event
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What were the causes of the 2017 high water event?
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Did precipitation set records?
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Did Plan 2014 cause the high water levels?
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Did Plan 2014 hold water back on Lake Ontario?
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Could dams on the Ottawa River have been operated to reduce flows to the St. Lawrence River?
Operations in 2017
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Why wasn’t more water released from Lake Ontario in the spring of 2017?
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Why wasn’t more water released in 2016 when downstream flooding was not an issue
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Would the Board have had more flexibility to release water if Plan 1958DD had been in place in 2017?
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Why were flows reduced for navigation?
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Why did the Board not set flows at a rate that would have resulted in temporary navigation stoppages, such as those that occurred in 1993?
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Why were flows reduced in October for boat haul out?
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What actions can be taken to lower water levels and prevent a flood in 2018?
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Why not draw Lake Ontario down each fall so that there is sufficient storage to prevent flooding in the spring?
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How did outflows under Plan 2014 during fall 2017 differ from those that would have occurred under Plan 1958DD?