News Release
December 4, 2009

Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Working Group holds initial meeting

The Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Working Group held its initial meeting in Ottawa, Ontario on December 4, 2009. The purpose of the Working Group is to provide advice to the IJC on the future regulation of water levels and flows in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system.

In this meeting, the Working Group reviewed the regulation of the system, discussed potential goals for regulation, and agreed to meet again in early February 2010.

The IJC approved the construction and operations of the Moses-Saunders Dam, located at Massena, New York and Cornwall, Ontario under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Regulation of the flow of water through the dam affects levels and flows on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River downstream to Trois Rivières, Quebec. The basin is home to 12 million people and a diverse range of interests that are affected by water levels and flows, including ecosystem health, commercial shipping, power generation, shoreline landowners, recreational users of the waters, and municipal, industrial and domestic water users.

The current approach to regulating levels and flows is more than 50 years old. In 2000, the IJC established a study board to consider whether regulation should be modified to address a range of new issues, including changing stakeholder needs, environmental concerns, recreational boating, climate change and improvements in technology. Since receiving the study findings, the IJC has been working to find an approach to regulating levels and flows that takes all interests - environmental, social and economic - into account. The IJC will consider the Working Group's advice, and will seek public comment and the concurrence of the two federal governments on any proposal to change the current approach to regulation.

The Working Group is an ad hoc group made up of members from the federal governments of Canada, the United States, the governments of Quebec, Ontario and New York, and the International Joint Commission.

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