Lake Superior drops four inches in October

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 1,700 cubic metres per second (m3/s) (60.0 thousand cubic feet per second (tcfs)) for the month of November.

This is the outflow recommended by the regulation plan for the month of October and is a decrease from the October outflow, which was 2,250 m3/s (72.4 tcfs).

The November outflow will be released by discharging about 1,580 m3/s (55.8 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 centimetres, 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 the lake Superior and Michigan-Huron basins were below their long-term averages.

Lake Superior is currently eight centimetres (three inches) above its chart datum level.

The level of Lake Superior is expected to fall in November.

Currently, the Lake Superior level is about 22 cm (nine inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-November level, but is six centimetres (two inches) above the level recorded a year ago.

This past month the level of Lake Superior fell by nine centimetres (four inches), while on average the level falls by three centimetres (one inch) in October.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron fell by 13 cm (five inches) this October, while on average the level falls by seven centimetres (three inches) in October.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is now about 38 cm (15 inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-November level, and is 19 cm (eight inches) higher than it was a year ago, and three centimetres (one inch) above chart datum.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is also expected to decline in November. 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 John W. Peabody, commander, Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, Corps of Engineers, is the United States board member.

Mr. David Fay is the board member for Canada.

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