Lake Superior dropped two inches last month

NEWS RELEASE

INTERNATIONAL LAKE SUPERIOR BOARD OF CONTROL

************************* Update on Lake Superior outflow

(September 2) - The International Lake Superior Board of Control, under authority granted to it by the International Joint Commission, has set the Lake Superior outflow to 2,250 cubic metres per second (m3/s) (79.5 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 a decrease from the August outflow, which was 2,460 m3/s (86.9 tcfs).

The September outflow will be released by discharging about 2,122 m3/s (74.9 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 was decreased to the equivalent of one gate half open on September 2.

As a result, the flow and water levels have decreased in the St. Marys Rapids.

Anglers need to be aware of the changing flows and water levels in the rapids and the return to lower flows and levels in the rapids during September.

There was no change to the setting of Gate #1 that supplies the Fishery Remedial Works.

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

Lake Superior is currently 19 centimetres (seven inches) above its chart datum level.

The level of Lake Superior is expected to remain stable in September.

Currently, the Lake Superior level is about 16 centimetres (six inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-September level, but is 39 centimetres (15 inches) above the level recorded a year ago.

This past month the level of Lake Superior fell five centimetres (two inches), while on average the level rises by one centimetre (half an inch) in August.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron fell by eight centimetres (three inches) this August, while on average the level falls by four centimetres (two inches) in August.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is now about 36 centimetres (14 inches) below its long-term average beginning-of-September level, and is 19 centimetres (seven inches) higher than it was a year ago, and 18 centimetres (seven inches) above chart datum.

The level of Lakes Michigan-Huron is expected to decline in September.

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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