Public Hearing: Great Lakes Water Levels Study

The International Joint Commission will be presenting findings and taking public comments on its study addressing Great Lakes water levels at a hearing in Duluth at the Labovitz School of Business and Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. The IJC report examines whether the regulation of outflows from Lake Superior through the compensating works and power dams on the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie might be improved to take into consideration the evolving needs of users on Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie. The study, titled Lake Superior Regulation: Addressing Uncertainty in Upper Great Lakes Water Levels, also examines potential future effects of climate change, a management strategy to better anticipate and respond to future extreme water levels, the feasibility and implications of restoring water levels in lakes Michigan-Huron and multilake regulation and its impacts throughout the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system.  The report and related supporting documents are available at the Upper Great Lakes Public Hearings website. Video conference technology will be used to link the Duluth hearing with one at Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Comments will be accepted at the hearings and by mail, email and on-line at www.ijc.org/iuglsreport until August 31, 2012.