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Letter from the IJC to the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Community

Dear Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Community:

In 1952, the International Joint Commission (the Commission) issued an Order of Approval for the St. Lawrence River Hydropower Project (the Project), and it issued a Supplementary Order in 1956. In 1963, the Commission approved a plan (Plan 1958-D) to regulate water levels and flows from Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence River. The Commission is now considering a new proposed Order of Approval and a new regulation plan to take into account changing interests (water supply, navigation, hydropower, shoreline property, the environment, and recreational boating), the more extreme wet and dry conditions seen since the 1950s plus those likely to occur in the future, and advances in the science and technology for water management. The Commission expects that this proposed new order will provide a solid framework for further beneficial changes in regulation in the future.

Before making its final decision on this proposed new order and regulation plan, the Commission will carefully consider public comments generated during a 90-day public comment period and seek the concurrence of the two federal governments.

The Commission's goal is to sign a new order by the end of 2008 and implement a new regulation plan shortly thereafter. One element will be the appointment of a new Board, called the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board, to oversee implementation of the new order, to manage the regulation plan, and to coordinate an adaptive management program-a formal process for continually improving management policy and practices by learning from their outcomes.

The Commission's proposed new order and regulation plan (Plan 2007) are founded on the five-year binational Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Study (May 2006). That study identified three candidate regulation plans (A+, B+, and D+). The Commission subsequently asked experts associated with the study to explore whether any of the three candidate plans could provide additional environmental benefits while maintaining as much as possible the level of protection and benefits enjoyed by other interests as provided for by the current order. This new work resulted in two additional plans: a D+ variant, called Plan 2007, and a B+ variant.

We believe that Plan 2007 and the related proposed new order is the best option that can be developed at this time, given the requirements of the Boundary Waters Treaty and the goals set by the two federal governments when the Project was developed in the 1950s (see Order of Approval). The proposed new order explicitly recognizes the additional interests of recreational boating and the environment, brings into one place related authorities such as those for placing and removing ice booms, and provides for adaptive management. Relative to the current plan, Plan 2007 is an improvement with respect to environmental and overall economic benefits, and takes a more balanced approach to all interests. The Commission is also proposing changes in how the proposed new order and plan would be implemented, including how the Board will be structured, when the Board may direct outflows that differ from those determined by Plan 2007, and how the Board and Commission would consider new information through an adaptive management program.

The Commission has a strong interest in providing additional environmental benefits at the level provided in B+ based plans; however, the Commission finds it impossible to do so at this time without unduly reducing the benefits and protections currently accorded to other interests. Post-Study work suggests that it may be possible to further develop Plan B+ such that greater environmental benefits may be achieved while addressing the B+ related negative impacts to other interests through mitigation measures, the development and implementation of which are primarily the responsibility of the governments of the United States, Canada, New York, Ontario, and Quebec.

The Commission sees the eventual adoption of a regulation plan with greater environmental benefits, coupled with implemented mitigation, as highly desirable. Flexibility is built into the proposed new order to allow for a future shift from Plan 2007 to a plan with additional environmental benefits, such as a B+ based plan, when implemented mitigation may provide for such a transition. In the future, the Commission could adopt a new regulation plan without revising the order. Change could occur whenever sufficient mitigation measures are in place and monitoring confirms they are working satisfactorily.

The Commission is presenting Plan 2007 and the related proposed new Order for public review now, rather than staying with the current plan and Order and waiting for suitable mitigation measures to be implemented that would address the adverse impacts of a plan that provides greater environmental benefits. This is because the Commission believes that Plan 2007 would be an improvement over the current plan, and because it is unclear when suitable mitigation measures could be developed and implemented. The proposed new order specifies that the Commission will review in two years the extent to which mitigation measures have been put in place and the Commission will implement a variant of Plan B+ if it determines that the plan and mitigation together satisfy the requirements of the Order. The Order also provides for further reviews later.

The Commission is proposing an adaptive management program to be the key vehicle for confirming that expected benefits are realized, for assessing changing risks to various interests through monitoring, for reporting on the effects of implemented mitigation measures, and for making needed improvements. The governments of Canada and the United States have indicated their strong support for adaptive management and will actively participate in the further development of an adaptive management plan for implementation.

The attached report provides more detailed information on the Commission's proposals. The Commission will host a series of information sessions in April and May 2008 to help members of the public better understand the proposed approach and its effects. The Commission also invites public comment on the proposed new order, on proposed Plan 2007, and on related documents. Comments can be provided in writing by July 11, 2008, or in person at one of 10 public hearings to be held around the basin during June 2008 (see attached list for specific times and locations). For more information about the public comment process, please contact the Commission's public information officers at (202) 736-9024 or (613) 947-1420, or visit the Commission's website at www.ijc.org.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

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