Lake Superior expected to drop in January

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 1,730 cubic metres per second (m3/s) (61.1 thousand cubic feet per second (tcfs)) for the month January.

This is the outflow recommended by the regulation plan for the month of January and is an increase from the December outflow, which was 1,650 m3/s (58.3 tcfs).

The January outflow will be released by discharging about 1,624 m3/s (57.4 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 supply to the Lake Superior basin was above its long-term average for December, while the supply to the Lakes Michigan-Huron basin was near average. Lake Superior is currently 10 cm (4 inches) below its chart datum level.

The level of Lake Superior is expected to fall slightly in January.

Currently, the Lake Superior level is about 28 cm (11 inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-January level, and 14 cm (6 inches) above the level recorded a year ago.

This past month the level of Lake Superior fell 6 cm (2 inches), while on average the level falls by 7 cm (3 inches) in December.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron declined by 5 cm (2 inches) this December, while on average these lakes decline by 4 cm (2 inches) in December.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is now about 67 cm (26 inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-January level, and is 33 cm (13 inches) lower than it was a year ago, and 34 cm (13 inches) below chart datum.

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.

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