November/December 1995
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November/December 1995 |
by Frank Bevacqua
At the request of the International Joint Commission, the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control has been testing alternatives to the present regulation plan known as Plan 1958-D. The board has been carefully monitoring Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and running simultaneous computer models to determine whether the alternative plans would improve conditions on the lake and river.
Regulation Plan 1958-D has been in effect since 1963. It was designed to meet the criteria in the Commission's orders of approval for the hydropower project near Cornwall, Ontario and Massena, New York. For example, the plan keeps the level of Lake Ontario within the target range of 74.15 meters (243.29 feet) and 75.37 meters (247.29 feet) above sea level (in reference to International Great Lakes Datum 1985), except when water supplies are greater or less than the period of record the plan was designed to accommodate. The plan also specifies a number of flow limitations to provide minimum flows for hydropower production and adequate depths in the St. Lawrence River.
The alternative plans currently being tested are 35-P and the Interest Satisfaction Model. Plan 35-P is based on work of the Levels Reference Study Board that submitted its final report to the Commission in 1993. It is similar in structure to Plan 1958-D and takes into account much of the experience gathered since Plan 1958-D went into effect.
The Interest Satisfaction Model is a new approach based on multi-objective and multi-criteria techniques. It attempts to achieve the maximum satisfaction to all interests considered, including shoreline property, recreational boating, commercial navigation and environmental interests.
The board's three-year tests of the two alternative plans will be complete in early 1997. At that time the results will be submitted to the Commission for its consideration.
The board discussed the alternative plans at public information sessions this summer and fall in Alexandria Bay and Rochester, New York; Kingston and Cornwall, Ontario; and Montreal, Quebec. At these sessions, the board also discussed a draft scope of work it developed, at the request of the Commission, to address several issues related to the regulation of Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River levels and flows that were identified by the Levels Reference Study Board. These issues relate to the criteria in the Commission's orders of approval for the hydropower project.
After considering comments received from the public, the board will submit a revised scope of work to the Commission for its consideration and approval.
For more information contact Dr. Murray Clamen at (613)992-0204 or Frank Bevacqua at (202)736-9024 in the Commission's Ottawa and Washington offices respectively. Watch future issues of Focus for updates.
Sommaire
À la demande de la Commission mixte internationale, le Conseil international de contrôle du fleuve Saint-Laurent a testé différentes solutions de rechange à l'actuel plan de régulation connu sous le sigle 1958-D. Le Conseil a scrupuleusement relevé les paramètres du lac Ontario et simultanément procédé à des simulations par modélisation informatique afin de déterminer si les plans de rechange étudiés permettraient d'améliorer les conditions dans le lac Ontario et le fleuve Saint-Laurent.
Il prépare également un énoncé des travaux qu'il soumettra à l'attention de la Commission afin de régler différents problèmes qui ont trait à la régulation des débits et des niveaux d'eau dans le lac Ontario et le Saint-Laurent, problèmes qui ont été identifiés par le Conseil d'étude concernant les fluctuations.
Revised: March 14, 1997
Maintained by Kevin McGunagle,
mcgunaglek@ijc.wincom.net