Tell the IJC: Restore Our Water Levels!

The International Joint Commission will be holding a series of Public Hearings in July: Addressing Uncertainty in Upper Great Lakes Water Levels. These hearings will provide information on their studies since 2007 investigating options for better management of changing water levels and flows in the upper Great Lakes system (Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan/Georgian Bay and Erie).

Sierra Club is encouraging everyone to participate at the meetings. Please come and wear your "Restore Our Water Levels" t-shirt (pictured here). You can buy one for $10 at the IJC meetings or at select marinas and stores around Georgian Bay. Contact us at ontariochapter@sierraclub.ca  to find a location near you.

These hearings are your last opportunity to comment on this report -including restoration options - before submission to the Canadian and US governments. If you cannot attend, access the report and submit comments to the IJC via their website.

The 13 years of unprecedented sustained low water levels for Lakes Michigan/Huron/Georgian Bay have had significant impacts -- stranded wetlands have now converted to meadows with trees. Wetlands are needed by Great Lakes fish for spawning and or nursery habitat. Seasonal and permanent residents who depend on this water for their livelihoods have experienced near-shore algal blooms, fish kills, shorelines taken over by the invasive 10-foot-tall reed Phragmites australis and access to islands difficult or impossible. Fluctuating water levels are important for wetland health and diversity. Unless water levels are restored the low water poses a continued great threat to local ecosystems. Proper water management is key to maintaining their vitality. 

We agree that multi lake regulation would be environmentally very damaging and costly. The IJC
Study Board besides publicly exaggerating downstream impacts of restoration did not provide any
viable option for restoration. One of our engineers has designed a prototype of a solution: submerged
sills installed on piers above a river bed stabilized with large rocks. These sills will allow fish to move
beneath them and spawn among the rocks. They could be rotated 90 degrees as needed, or even
temporarily removed, to allow more water to flow through in case of high water. To restore the 25cm
(10”) lost to M/H/GB, they can hold back enough water to effect the restoration in 10 years with no
permanent downstream impact and only 5-7 cm (2-3”) very temporary impact on Lakes St. Clair and
Erie. There is, as the Study Board has documented, only a 5% chance of new record high water levels
and a 80% chance of future record low water levels.

For more information:

Click here to read a presentation given by our Great Lakes Chair, Mary Muter

Click here to read the W.F. Baird & Associates Report entitled Regime Change (Man Made Intervention) and ongoing erosion in the St Clair River and Impacts on Lake Michigan-Huron Lake Levels.

Click here to see the daily water levels of the Great Lakes as posted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Click here to read Hydraulic Engineer Bill Bialkowski's report entitled Analysis of International Upper Great Lakes Study Revised Flow Data

Click here to read Hydro Engineer Bill Bialkowski's Review of “Options for Restoring Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels”, IUGLS, May 26, 2011
 

Take part in the discussion on our Great Lakes by attending one of the hearing dates listed below:

MONDAY, JULY 9 (2meetings)

Sarnia, ON
7:00 pm EDT 
Lambton College, Room A223 1457 London Rd.

Thunder Bay, ON
7:00 pm EDT 
Lakehead University, ATAC Room
955 Oliver Road

TUESDAY, JULY 10 (2meetings)

Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
7:00 pm EDT 
The Grosse Pointe War Memorial, Reception Room
32 Lakeshore Drive

Duluth, MN
6:00 pm CDT
Univ. of Minnesota Duluth
1049 University Drive

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 (2meetings)

Port Clinton, OH
7:00 pm EDT
Sutton Center
1848 E. Perry St

Fish Creek, WI
6:00 pm CDT 
Door Community Auditorium
3926 Wisconsin Hwy 42  

THURSDAY, JULY 12 (2meetings)

Holland, MI
7:00 pm EDT 
Doubletree Hotel
650 East 24th Street

Milwaukee, WI
6:00 pm CDT 
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s

Great Lakes Water Institute

600 E. Greenfield Ave.

SATURDAY, JULY 14

Sault Ste. Marie, ON
1:00 pm EDT 
Algoma University 
Great West Life Theatre, 1520 Queen Street East

SUNDAY, JULY 15

Little Current, ON 
1:00 pm EDT 
Northeast Manitoulin and the Islands Recreation Center
9001 Hwy-6 S

MONDAY, JULY 16 (2meetings)

Parry Sound, ON 
2:00 pm EDT
Bobby Orr Community Centre
7-17 Marry Street

First Nations Water Ceremony will take place the hour before:

Midland, ON 

7:00 pm EDT 
North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Centre
527 Len Self Boulevard

First Nations Water Ceremony will take place the hour before: 

TUESDAY, JULY 17

Collingwood, ON 
1:00 pm EDT 
Cranberry Resort
19 Keith Ave, RR#4

First Nations Water Ceremony will take place the hour before