Lowest-ever August for Lake Superior

NEWS RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL LAKE SUPERIOR BOARD OF CONTROL

************************* New record low level for August

Then International Lake Superior Board of Control, under authority granted to it by the International Joint Commission, has set the Lake Superior outflow to 1,560 cubic metres per second (m3/s) (55.1 thousand cubic feet per second (tcfs)) for the month of September.

This is the outflow recommended by the regulation plan for the month of September and is the same as the August outflow.

The September outflow will be released by discharging about 1,446 m3/s (51.1 tcfs) through the three hydropower plants and passing most of the remaining flow through the control structure at the head of the St. Marys rapids.

The gate setting of the control structure will be maintained at the existing setting equivalent to one-half gate open (four gates open 20 cm, or about eight inches each). There will be no change to the setting of Gate #1 that supplies the Fishery Remedial Works.

This past month the water supplies to both the Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan-Huron basins were below their long-term averages for August.

The level of Lake Superior remains below its chart datum level.

It is estimated that a new record low monthly mean level will be set for August at 183.01 m (600.43 feet) (the previous record low August level was 183.02 m (600.46 feet) set in 1926).

Note that this is not an all-time record low (which is 182.72 m set in April 1926; approximately 28 cm (11 inches) almost a foot lower than the current level).

Also, the estimated beginning-of-September level of 183.00 m (600.39 feet) is also a new record (the previous record was 183.06 m (600.59 feet), also set in 1926).

The level of Lake Superior is expected to fall slightly in September, and Lakes Michigan-Huron is also expected to decline.

Currently, the Lake Superior level is about 55 cm (22 inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-September level, and is 24 cm (nine inches) below the level recorded a year ago.

This past month the level of Lake Superior fell 2 cm (one inch), while on average the level of this lake rises by one cm (1/2 inch) in August.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron declined four cm (one inch) this August, its usual decline in August.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is now about 55 cm (22 inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-August level and is eight cm (three inches) lower than it was 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.

Mr. David Fay is the Board Member for Canada. *************************