News Release
May 6, 2010

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

The Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Working Group held its third meeting in Albany, New York on May 5, 2010.

At this meeting, working group members received and in-depth presentation from the International Upper Great Lakes Study Board on its ongoing work and possible applications of its approach to the Lake Ontario St-Lawrence River system. In addition, a group of technical experts established by the Working Group at its last meeting briefed members on a variety of scientific and technical issues related to system management. The working group will meet again in Toronto, Ontario at the end of the summer.

The Working Group is an ad hoc group made up of senior representatives of the federal governments of Canada and the United States, the governments of Quebec, Ontario and New York, and the International Joint Commission (IJC). Its purpose is to provide advice in response to Commission proposals on the future regulation of water levels and flows in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system.

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 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.

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