Summary Report on the Peer Review of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Committee’s Approach to the Expedited Review of Plan 2014

Date
Precis

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Committee (GLAM Committee) of the International Joint Commission (IJC) began Phase 1 of the expedited review of Plan 2014 in February 2020.  The objective of Phase 1 was to assess flow releases under the International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board (Board) deviation authority recognizing current conditions and high lake levels and high inflows during the review period.  This was primarily to support the Board in deciding how best to deviate from Plan 2014 to moderate high levels while under the authority to do so.

A component of Phase 1 was an independent peer review conducted at “arms-length of the International Joint Commission (IJC)” by the Independent Review Group (IRG), consisting of one US and one Canadian member.  The overarching role of the IRG was to review and comment on the appropriateness and sufficiency of key documents, such as the work plans, studies, models and monitoring efforts, used by the GLAM Committee to inform Board decision-making while under deviation authority due to extreme high-water conditions. 

Organization
Phase 1 Independent Review Group (IRG)