Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee Summary of 2017 Great Lakes Basin Conditions and Water Level Impacts to Support Ongoing Regulation Plan Evaluation November 13, 2018 A report to the Great Lakes Boards and the International Joint Commission Covering the period Jan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2017 i Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee Report for 2017 Cover photo: Top left: Erosion of dunes along Lake Superior on Duluth’s Park Point (photo credit: Bob King / [email protected]; Top right: High water conditions near Fair Haven, New York (photo credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, June 2017); Bottom left: Coastal flooding and beach washout near Ontonagon, MI (Lake Superior) after 24-October-2017 storm (photo credit T. Lancioni,2017); Bottom right: Lake Saint-Pierre (Pierreville) in Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality (photo credit: Transport Canada National Aerial Surveillance Program, May 2017) GLAM Committee Membership Blue text identifies other International Joint Commission Board and Committee affiliations. United States Canada Arun Heer, Co-Chair Wendy Leger, Co-Chair U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes and Ohio Environment and Climate Change Canada River Division Secretary, International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board, International Lake Superior Board of Control Don Zelazny Jonathan Staples New York State Department of Environmental Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Conservation International Niagara Working Committee Member David Hamilton Patricia Clavet The Nature Conservancy, Michigan Quebec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board Member Fred Luckey Susan Doka US Environmental Protection Agency Fisheries and Oceans Canada Drew Gronewold Frank Seglenieks Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, National Environment and Climate Change Canada Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration International Niagara Working Committee Co-Chair Bill Werick Jean Morin Environment and Climate Change Canada Keith Koralewski Rob Caldwell U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District Environment and Climate Change Canada International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board Secretary, International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence Alternate Regulation Representative River Board, International Lake Superior Board of Control John Allis Jacob Bruxer U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District Environment and Climate Change Canada International Lake Superior Board of Control International Lake Superior Board of Control and Alternate Regulation Representative International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board, Regulation Representative ii Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee Report for 2017 Bryce Carmichael, Co-Secretary Mike Shantz, Co-Secretary U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes and Ohio Environment and Climate Change Canada River Division Secretary, International Niagara Board of Control NOTE: The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee was established by the International Joint Commission and is comprised of an equal number of members from the United States and Canada. Members of the Committee serve at the pleasure of the IJC and are expected to be full participants in all activities of the Committee. As with all IJC Boards and Committees, the GLAM Committee members serve in their personal and professional capacity, not as a representative of their agencies or employers. The GLAM Committee expresses it sincere appreciation to the following associates for their contributions to this report: From Canada: Daniel Ferreira, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, ON Yin Fan, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Cornwall, ON Jamie Dickhout, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Cornwall, ON Marianne Bachand, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Quebec, QC Sylvain Martin, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Quebec, QC Mathieu Roy, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Quebec, QC Students: Jade Zavarella, Environment and Climate Change Canada (University of Waterloo) Findlay Yates-Lavery, International Joint Commission (University of Ottawa) From the United States: Esther Johnson, US Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit Melissa Kropfreiter, US Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit Lauren Schifferle, US Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo Garrett Schmidt, US Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo Greg Kiaer, US Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo iii Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee Report for 2017 Executive Summary This is a special report of the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee covering the hydroclimate, flows and water level conditions, as well as their impacts on multiple interests, experienced in 2017 throughout the Great Lakes-St Lawrence River system. The focus is on the extraordinary conditions caused by record rainfall, runoff and the resulting high water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in 2017. The information gathered for the 2017 event will be used to support the primary objective of the GLAM Committee: to evaluate the regulation of outflows from Lake Superior and Lake Ontario, and the effects of this regulation on interests throughout the system. This on-going evaluation will help the IJC to better regulate water releases from Lake Ontario and Lake Superior and the information compiled for this report will be used over time to adaptively manage and improve the rules governing those releases. The information gathered came from a variety of sources in both countries; however, much of the quantitative economic and environmental data on impacts from high water levels in 2017 required to support the validation of models used to evaluate the performance of the regulation plans is not available. The GLAM Committee will continue to refine the impact models as more data become available and the ongoing evaluation of the regulation plans will focus on the priority areas identified in this report. Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River – the story in 2017 During 2017, the Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River experienced one of the most extreme hydrologic events recorded in the basin in over 100 years. The simultaneous occurrence of record-breaking rainfall over both the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River basins, combined with high inflows from Lake Erie and record flows out of the Ottawa River, culminated in new record high water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River and extensive impacts across various interests and regions. Lake Ontario’s daily level peaked at 75.88 m (248.95 ft) in late May, the highest recorded on the lake since records began in 1918. Water levels downstream on the St. Lawrence River also approached (and in some cases exceeded) record highs. At Lake Saint-Louis near Montreal, levels were close to record highs throughout much of the spring and new record highs were set for the months of June, July and August. Impacts from high water conditions Coastal properties across Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in New York, Ontario and Quebec experienced significant impacts from flooding, erosion and damage to shore protection structures. Impacts were widespread across the basin, with some areas experiencing greater impacts than others. Reports of flooded homes, roads, driveways, trails, lawns, emergency response and extensive sandbagging efforts to protect houses and properties made the news for months. Reports of shoreline erosion and loss of beaches, vegetation and land, decks and docks were common on the south and north shores of Lake Ontario. There were reports of shore iv Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management (GLAM) Committee Report for 2017 protection structures failing or being damaged by wave action with the high water conditions, leaving properties even more vulnerable. States of emergency were issued across all US counties bordering Lake Ontario and the upper St. Lawrence River and for a number of Canadian municipalities, particularly on the lower St. Lawrence River during the peak flooding in May 2017. Municipal and industrial water and wastewater uses experienced some direct impacts such as increased storm water infiltration in wastewater collection systems and treatment plants leading to sewer overflows, though these may have been due to the excessive rainfall rather than the high lake and river levels in some cases. Nonetheless, by all accounts, the millions of users of larger municipal water and wastewater systems were able to rely on necessary services in 2017. Commercial navigation experienced impacts due to very high velocities on the St. Lawrence River. To ensure safe navigation and prevent losses that would have arisen with a closure of the Seaway, this sector applied a number of mitigation measures to adapt to the extreme conditions. Despite the associated costs and delays due to the necessary mitigation measures, it was still a very productive year for the commercial navigation sector due to robust economic demand. The hydropower sector reported some adverse impacts related to the high water despite overall increases in energy production realized in 2017 through the Moses-Saunders and Beauharnois dams. These impacts included losses to future production opportunity due to increased spillage of water, increased operating costs to mobilize crews more frequently for additional gate operations and to