Great Lakes Environmental Directory Great Lakes Great Lakes environment Great Lakes grants exotic species water pollution water export drilling environment Great Lakes pollution Superior Michigan Huron Erie Ontario ecology Great Lakes issues wetlands Great Lakes wetlands Great Lakes Great Lakes environment Great Lakes watershed water quality exotic species Great Lakes grants water pollution water export oil gas drilling environment environmental Great Lakes pollution Lake Superior Lake Michigan Lake Huron Lake Erie Lake Ontario Great Lakes ecology Great Lakes issues Great Lakes wetlands Great Lakes Resources Great Lakes activist Great Lakes environmental organizations Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat air pollution alien species threatened rare endangered species ecological Great Lakes information

Great Lakes Article:

Lake Superior drops four inches
By David Helwig
SooToday.com
Published December 31, 2005

NEWS RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL LAKE SUPERIOR BOARD OF CONTROL

*******************
Update on Lake Superior outflow

The International Lake Superior Board of Control, under authority granted to it by the International Joint Commission, has set the Lake Superior outflow to 1,960 cubic metres per second (m3/s)(69.2 thousand cubic feet per second (tcfs)) for the month of January.

This is the outflow recommended by the regulation plan for the month of January and is a decrease from the December outflow of 2,110 m3/s (74.5 tcfs).

The January outflow will be released by discharging about 1,850 m3/s (65.3 tcfs) through the three hydropower plants and passing most of the remaining flow through the control structure at the head of the St. Mary's rapids.

The gate setting of the control structure will be maintained at the existing setting equivalent to one-half gate open (four gates open 25 cm, or about 10 inches each).

There will be no change to the setting of Gate #1 that supplies the Fishery Remedial Works.

This gate setting is expected to be maintained until at least April.

This past month the water supplies to the Lake Superior basin and the Lakes Michigan-Huron basin were below their respective long-term averages for December.

Currently, the Lake Superior level is about 13 cm (5 inches) below its long-term average beginning of January level, and is 11 cm (4 inches) below the level recorded a year ago.

This past month the level of Lake Superior declined by about 9 cm (4 inches), while usually it declines by 8 cm (3 inches) during December.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron declined by about 6 cm (2 inches), which is more than the 4 cm (2 inches) decline in levels that is typical in December on these lakes.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is now about 48 cm (19 inches) below its long-term average beginning of January level, and is 20 cm (8 inches) lower than a year ago.

The Board continues to monitor conditions both on Lake Superior and downstream and will advise the International Joint Commission accordingly on those conditions.

Brigadier General Bruce A. Berwick, Commander, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is the United States Board Member.

This information is posted for nonprofit educational purposes, in accordance with U.S. Code Title 17, Chapter 1,Sec. 107 copyright laws.
For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for
purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Great Lakes environmental information

Return to Great Lakes Directory Home/ Site Map