IWR Participates in Briefings of the International Joint Commission on the International Upper Great Lakes Study

ALEXANDRIA, VA – April 23, 2008. Drs. Eugene Stakhiv and Anthony Eberhardt, along with their Canadian Counterparts, briefed the International Joint Commission on the activities of the Commission’s International Upper Great Lakes Study on April 16 in Washington, DC.

The 5-year, $15 million Study was initiated by the IJC in March 2007 to investigate the natural and man-made factors that may be responsible for the declining Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron levels over the last decade and to develop alternates to the Lake Superior outflow management plan. Due to the urgency of the situation expressed by stakeholder groups, the timeframe for completion of the first phase of the Study – investigation of water conveyance changes in the St. Clair River - was reduced by one year to June 2009.

During the past six months, substantial work has been underway to identify bathymetric changes and the nature of the river sediment and to create hydraulic river models and investigate net basin supply changes and variability. The IJC praised the Study Team’s progress, especially considering the shortened timeframe of the first phase.  The Team will report again to the Commission in October in Ottawa, Ontario and expect at that time to have preliminary results of their investigations.

Dr. Stakhiv is the U.S. Director of the Study and is a senior advisor on international water issues at IWR. Dr. Eberhardt is the U.S. Study Manager and Manager of the IWR International Water Resources Program. Drs. Stakhiv and Eberhardt were U.S. Director and Manager of the IJC’s International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study , a 5-year, $20 million Study that was completed in May 2006. IWR was again selected to lead the U.S. contributions to the new Study, emphasizing the success of the Shared Vision Planning approach in the previous effort. Contact us for additional information.

More about the IJC and the International Upper Great Lakes Study

The International Joint Commission was created under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes over the uses of water along the U.S.-Canadian boundary. The International Upper Great Lakes Study is their most recent comprehensive study of Great Lakes water levels, utilizing the assistance of nearly one hundred investigators from government agencies, academia and private consultants. The Study will investigate the factors presently impacting Great Lakes water levels and will formulate alternative Lake Superior outflow plans considering historic water supplies, as well as those that may result due to possible long-term climate change. Visit the IJC website and Study website for more information.

Learn more about:

• International Upper Great Lakes Study
• International Joint Commission
• International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study (LOSL)
• IWR’s Shared Vision Planning case study of the LOSL
• IWR’s partnership with the International Joint Commission