Orders of Approval

In 1913, applications by power companies in Canada and the United States to divert water from the St. Marys River for power purposes and to construct a gated control structure at the head of the St. Marys Rapids (known as the Compensating Works) were submitted to the International Joint Commission. For more information related to these applications, please click the links below:

 

The Commission granted approval for these projects in its 1914 Order of Approval, and established the basic objectives for and limits to the regulation of Lake Superior's outflow. Since 1978, the Commission has issued several additions to the original Order of Approval. Links to these documents are provided below: