Q 1.1: What is the IJC and why does it regulate water levels and flows?
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A: The International Joint Commission was established under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to help the United States and Canada prevent and resolve disputes over the use of the waters they share. Under the Treaty, the IJC approves certain projects that affect the natural levels and flows of boundary waters, such as the international seaway and power project at Massena, NY and Cornwall, ON.
Q 1.2: What are the Orders of Approval?
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A: When it approves a project, the IJC issues Orders of Approval, which may require that flows through the project meet certain conditions to protect interests in both countries. The Orders of Approval for the seaway and power project were issued in 1952 and amended in 1956.
Q1.3 Will the Orders of Approval be updated?
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A: In December 2000, the IJC appointed a Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence Study Board to (a) review the current regulation of levels and flows in the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River System, taking into account the impact of regulation on affected interests, (b) develop an improved understanding of the system by all concerned, and (c) provide all the relevant technical and other information needed for the review. After the review, which is expected to take five years, the Study Board may recommend that the IJC further amend its Orders of Approval.
Q 1.4: What is the ISLRBC?
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A: When it approved the seaway and power project, the IJC appointed the International St. Lawrence River Board of Control (ISLRBC) to oversee the regulation of water levels and flows and ensure that the Orders of Approval are followed. One assignment carried out by the ISLRBC was to develop a regulation plan to determine flows through the project that are consistent with the Orders of Approval.
Q 1.5: Who is on the ISLRBC?
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A: The ISLRBC has 10 members, five from each country. Current membership can be found on the Board’s website at www.islrbc.org. Members are appointed by the IJC and serve in their personal and professional capacities rather than as representatives of their countries or organizations.
Q 1.6: How are members of the ISLRBC appointed?
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A: Members of the ISLRBC are appointed by the International Joint Commission. Appointments are based on their technical background, technical support from their home institutions, and their knowledge of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River system.
Q 1.7: Why aren’t all the affected interests represented on the ISLRBC? Given the fact that its decisions affect many people, why do the navigation and hydropower interests have access to the ISLRBC?
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A: Board members are appointed to serve in their personal and professional capacities, not as representatives of particular interests or geographic regions. Collectively, the Board knows a great deal about the impacts of levels and flows on all affected interests. There are no members from the Seaway entities or commercial navigation interest on the Board. Two Board members come from the power entities because they bring operational knowledge of the project. The Board also invites technical experts to its meetings to answer operational questions. In addition, the Board relies on navigation and other experts in its sub-groups to provide input for its decision-making.
Q 1.8: What steps are being taken to ensure that the public has input into ISLRBC decisions?
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A: Steps taken to insure adequate communication include public meetings (at least one per year), periodic meetings with elected officials, special meetings with stakeholders, the Discussion Room found on the Board’s website (www.islrbc.org ), and semi-annual teleconferences linking multiple sites around the basin. The Board also receives and responds to numerous phone calls, letters and email messages.
Q 1.9: Why are ISLRBC meetings, agendas and minutes not accessible to the public?
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A: The ISLRBC reaches its decisions by consensus based on what is in the best interest of both countries and all interests rather than by negotiating from national positions or the positions of particular interests. Opening the meetings would inhibit the free discussion among ISLRBC members needed to reach consensus, force them into inflexible positions, and impair their ability to take timely action on sensitive international issues. The ISLRBC makes efforts to obtain information from those within the basin through meetings, conference calls, and use of its website (www.islrbc.org ). It also notifies the public of its flow strategy decisions, including the rationale for reaching these decisions.
Q1.10: Why doesn’t the ISLRBC take formal votes on its decisions?
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A: Formal votes are part of a representational process. The IJC believes that the smooth operation of the system would soon break down if ISLRBC members represented specific interests or geographic regions. The ISLRBC discusses concerns raised by its members until consensus is achieved or the IJC has to intervene, which has never occurred. The IJC believes that this is the best way to operate the system for the common good.
Q1.11: What is criterion (k) and what triggers criterion (k) operations during high or low water conditions?
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A: Criterion (k), included as part of the St. Lawrence project Orders of Approval, provides the Board with flexibility to release flows above or below those specified by the regulation plan to provide relief to specific interests in the event that extreme supplies, unanticipated at the time of project approval, are encountered. Historically, the Board has considered several factors when recommending that the IJC invoke Criterion (k). The Board does not wait until water levels have exceeded the upper or lower limits, but instead seeks to preclude this from happening, if possible. The primary factors it examines are:
Based upon these factors, the Board may recommend to the IJC that Criterion (k) be invoked. Once invoked by the IJC, operations under Criterion (k) commence. Under high supplies, Criterion (k) provides that all possible relief be given to riparians upstream and downstream of the project. Under low supplies, Criterion (k) provides that all possible relief be given to hydropower and navigation interests.
Q1.12: Why doesn’t the IJC include a criterion in its Orders of Approval to protect recreational boating and/or the environment?
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A: Studies are currently being conducted by the IJC’s Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence Study Board to review regulation of the system and determine whether and how recreational boating and environmental interests could be included in the Orders of Approval and the project plan of operation.
Q 1.13: What is the relationship between the ISLRBC and the Study Board?
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A: The IJC directed the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence Study Board to carry out its work independent of the work of the ISLRBC. Information and findings generated by the study process will be made available to the ISLRBC as they become available, Conseil international de controle du Fleuve Saint-Laurent —but the mandate of the ISLRBC will remain unchanged unless amended by the IJC.