International Watersheds Initiative Projects
The International Joint Commission’s boards in watersheds along the US-Canada border carry out International Watersheds Initiative (IWI) projects to promote communication, conduct scientific studies and contribute to the resolution of watershed issues. Projects are developed by a board and reviewed by Commission staff. All projects are consistent with the board’s mandate and meet the objectives of the IWI. Learn more about the International Watersheds Initiative.
Displaying 1 - 47 of 47.
Year
2022
Project Description
Several different entities and governments, including the IJC, are responsible for the management of, and setting regulations, permits and other requirements for the waterbodies within the St. Croix River watershed. This means that for many water users, managing water conditions to meet various...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2022
Project Description
This project will continue the development of a long-term stable isotope monitoring network for the St. Mary and Milk River basins that supports source water separation and identification. A coupled isotope-hydrologic model of the basins will be applied to simulate isotopic separations and source...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2022
Project Description
Fish counting at Milltown Dam has been in place since 1981 and is a method of establishing an approximate count of the anadromous fish entering the St. Croix River at the lowermost dam located in St. Stephen, NB. With the increasing numbers of fish in the last several years and potential for large...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2022
Project Description
Since 1981, fish counting at the most downstream dam on the St. Croix River has provided a reliable annual estimate of the number of anadromous fish returning to the watershed. NB Power’s Milltown Dam at St. Stephen NB has been an ideal site to measure progress of international efforts to restore...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2022
Project Description
This project is a 3-year study to better understand stressors affecting water quality in the St. Croix River watershed including nutrient concentrations and their distribution. It will also inform enhanced water quality monitoring in the basin. Overall, the project will help to: (1) rank stress in...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2021
Project Description
Fish counting at Milltown Dam has been in place since 1981 and is a method of establishing an approximate count of the anadromous fish entering the St. Croix River at the lowermost dam located in St. Stephen, NB and operated by NB Power Milltown Hydro Power Generating Station (Milltown Dam). This...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2021
Project Description
This project analyzed existing historic isotopic data obtained for the region and previously catalogued by the proponent and contrast these data with data collected in 2020, representing the first time in over 100 years that water isotopic signatures on the Milk River were derived solely from its...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2020
Project Description
This project has 3 aspects: 2020 Fish Counts at Millltown; Map and Document Library; Youth Engagement Program.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2020
Project Description
The project would be a 4-year study to better understand stressors affecting water quality within the St. Croix River, and to undertake enhanced water quality monitoring in the river with a particular focus on understanding nutrient concentrations and distribution in the watershed.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
There is currently no streamlined on-line system for the pubic or internal users to view all data collected within the St. Croix River Watershed. The USGS and Environment Canada both collect data within the watershed, however, their separate viewing systems are not identical or linked in any way...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
The primary goal of this project is to develop a historical database representing annual or sub-annual evapotranspiration (ET) totals in the Milk and St. Mary River basins from 1982-2018 using remote sensing. This database will lay the foundation for the establishment of a remote sensing tool to...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
This project is a continuation of ongoing GLAM efforts to collect data to support model validation and will result in detailed vegetation community data referenced to elevation and seasonal water levels in 16 Lake Ontario coastal wetlands. The current year of this project is focused on resurveying...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board have produced a documentary and short videos that cover topics on specific details of regulation practices and constraints on the Lake Ontario St. Lawrence River System during high water conditions. The documentary and short videos are...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
Winter operations of the Moses-Saunders Dam (St. Lawrence River) in accordance with direction from the IJC’s International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board (ILOSLRB) have historically resulted in a large drawdown in water levels on Lake St. Lawrence (the forebay for the hydropower structures)...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
In collaboration with state, provincial, tribal, NGO, and federal partners, the International St. Croix Watershed Board (ISCRWB) will initiate the first bi-national comprehensive effort to evaluate fish passage improvement opportunities and constraints at Woodland and Grand Falls dams on the St...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2019
Project Description
Anadromous fish have been counted at the research trap at the Milltown dam fishway since 1981. This project forms the basis for measuring the progress of current international efforts to restore sea-run alewife, blueback herring, and American shad to the St. Croix River watershed. It also plays an...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2018
Project Description
Historically low 2018 water levels in Lake St. Lawrence have prompted concerns that fish populations and habitat may be locally impacted. Long-term residents of the Long Sault area have indicated that low water levels have exposed an unprecedented area of river bottom that has been affecting both...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2018
Project Description
Anadromous fish have been counted at the research trap at the Milltown dam fishway since 1981. This project forms the basis for measuring the progress of current international efforts to restore sea-run alewife, blueback herring, and American shad to the St. Croix River watershed. It also plays an...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2018
Project Description
This is a continuation of ongoing GLAM efforts to collect data to support model validation. This project will result in detailed vegetation community data referenced to elevation and seasonal water levels in 16 Lake Ontario coastal wetlands (i.e., the same 16 wetlands that were surveyed in 2017)...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
High water levels throughout the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system in 2017 impacted several shoreline communities, stakeholders and businesses. This project consists of analyzing aerial imagery data collected in 2016 by NOAA, 2012 and 2017 by the Army Corps of Engineers, 2017 by Transport...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
During the high water event of 2017, the Board responded to the communications challenge on many fronts.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
Anadromous fish have been counted at the research trap at the Milltown dam fishway since 1981. This project forms the basis for measuring the progress of current international efforts to restore sea-run alewife, blueback herring, and American shad to the St. Croix River watershed. It also plays an...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
The East Grand Lake Basin in eastern Maine and southwestern New Brunswick drains an area of 132 mi2. The impoundment provides storage for hydropower operations and the maintenance of minimum streamflows on Forest City Stream for environmental compliance. Estimates of unregulated hydrology for the...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
The Canadian Precipitation Analysis (CaPA) is an operational near real-time gridded precipitation product from Environment Canada available since April 2011 for North America. CaPA has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the Great Lakes area, due to its unique capability of capturing some of the...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
Estimates of consumptive use and evaporative losses are an important component of the computation of the natural flow of the Milk River and apportionment of Milk River water between the U.S. and Canada.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
This project is a continuation of ongoing GLAM efforts to collect data to support model validation and will result in detailed vegetation community data referenced to elevation and seasonal water levels in 16 Lake Ontario coastal wetlands. The collected data will augment existing datasets from...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
During both the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study (LOSLRS) and the International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS), coastal wetland performance indicators were developed and used to help assess how changes in water level management strategies may impact wetland vegetation response.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
Lake Superior regulation affects levels and flows in the lower St. Marys River. Unnatural changes in outflow can occur at the beginning of each month and the Board of Control has been working on methods to quantify impacts associated with regulation to better accommodate environmental objectives.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
In 2017, high Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River water levels caused problems for municipal water and wastewater operators as well as some industrial facilities throughout the system. Challenges included poor drainage through municipal wastewater infrastructure in low lying areas close to the...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
High water levels throughout the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system in 2017 impacted several shoreline communities, stakeholders and businesses including recreational boating marinas and yacht clubs. Media reports highlighted several marinas and yacht clubs that were flooded and had their...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2017
Project Description
The board intends to incorporate recently developed alewife population models into a user friendly, plain language tool depicting the theoretical outcomes of: i) changes in fish passage and ii) commercial harvest to alewife runs in the St. Croix River. The end-product will be a graphic web-based...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2016
Project Description
Common reed (Phragmites australis) is an exotic invasive plant that has colonized extensive portions of Great Lakes coastal wetlands and shorelines and is less prominent in Lake Ontario – with some speculation this may be related to water-level regulation. This study will provide insights into the...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2016
Project Description
Anadromous fish have been counted at the research trap at the Milltown dam fishway since 1981. This project forms the basis for measuring the progress of current international efforts to restore sea-run alewife, blueback herring, and American shad to the St. Croix River watershed. It also plays an...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2016
Project Description
The unique physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the St. Marys River, which is the outlet of Lake Superior connected to Lake Michigan-Huron downstream, provide for a rich and diverse environment that is a vitally important aquatic resource in the upper Great Lakes system. This project...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2016
Project Description
In line with the final goal established in 2015 of generating a 30-year, 15-km, daily hindcast of precipitation, evaporation and runoff for all Canada/U.S. transboundary watersheds, this project focuses on the production of a 5-year hindcast of the Canadian Precipitation Analysis system (CaPA), the...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2016
Project Description
Estimates of consumptive use and evaporative losses are an important component of the computation of the natural flow of the Milk River and apportionment of Milk River water between the U.S. and Canada.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
The Sipayik Environmental Department (SED) of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point, Maine, in parallel with the yearly fish counts, conducted this multi-year study to determine the effectiveness of fish passages in the watershed in 2016 and 2017. Efficient fish passage is imperative for...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
The purpose of this project is to develop a new historical record of monthly runoff, over-lake evaporation, over-lake precipitation, and connecting channel flows for each of the Great Lakes using a novel statistical model that (through an explicit acknowledgment of bias and uncertainty) reconciles...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
The wetlands meadow marsh performance indicator has been a critical component of the evaluation of water level regulation plan options for the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system and it is important to validate and improve the modelling approach. This project aims to produce a modelling tool that...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
Anadromous fish have been counted at the research trap at the Milltown dam fishway since 1981. This project forms the basis for measuring the progress of current international efforts to restore sea-run alewife, blueback herring, and American shad to the St. Croix River watershed. It also plays an...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
The Canadian Precipitation Analysis (CaPA) is an operational near real-time gridded precipitation product from Environment Canada available since April 2011 for North America. CaPA has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the Great Lakes area, due to its unique capability of capturing some of the...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
Estimates of consumptive use and evaporative losses are an important component of the computation of the natural flow of the Milk River and apportionment of Milk River water between the U.S. and Canada.
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
This project will result in detailed vegetation community aerial coverage and taxonomic data referenced to elevation and seasonal water levels in 8 Lake Ontario coastal wetlands. These data can be used for adaptive management monitoring and integrate into wetland vegetation community modelling in...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
This project aims to acquire high-resolution aerial imagery in maximum-vegetation condition for sixteen Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River coastal wetlands, use GIS to map the vegetation types within these wetlands, and then assess similarities and differences in wetland extent from equivalent...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
This project will result in detailed vegetation community information referenced to elevation in 16 Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River coastal wetlands on the US side. The proposed work complements planned work in Ontario wetlands and will allow the development of a lakewide, binational assessment...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
The overall objective of this project is to develop a new, authoritative, coordinated numerical model that efficiently and accurately simulates water levels and connecting channel flows in the Great Lakes system given user-specified net basin supply scenarios. The new regulation and routing model...
Bundle name
IWI Project
Year
2015
Project Description
The environmental performance indicators (PI) for the Lower St. Lawrence River (IERM2D) are a critical component of the evaluation of water level regulation plans for the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system and are important to maintain in an adaptive management perspective. These PIs have been...
Bundle name
IWI Project