Seaway residents raise concerns about low water levels on Lake St. Lawrence

A boat on a lift amid low water levels along Ault Island in Lake St. Lawrence. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Water levels along some parts of the St. Lawrence River continue to be extremely low, concerning some residents who live along its shores.

The commission that oversees those water levels says multiple factors are in play to cause the issue and levels are still within their plan guidelines.

The low water level is most noticeable on Lake St. Lawrence, between Iroquois and Cornwall, with docks acting as the perfect guide to show how low the water is.

"We've been faced all year with boats being stuck on lifts," said Ault Island resident Cliff Stienburg. "I've had boats being stuck on lifts since early July and that's a first for us."

Low water levels along Ault Island in Lake St. Lawrence. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

Steinburg says he is concerned about boaters who might not know what lies beneath the water, after this area was flooded for the Seaway Project in 1958.

"It creates a huge problem for pleasure boaters, especially tourists that are boating here for the first time that might not understand the waters. Just hovering under the water are old foundations, tree stumps, bridges and roadway," he said.

"When I see them pulling tubes out here with kids on them, it is a huge danger if one of these kids happens to flip over."

Lake St. Lawrence is situated between two dams, one in Iroquois that controls water flow from Lake Ontario, and the other, the Moses-Saunders Power Dam, near Cornwall.

"What creates our problem here is the Moses-Saunders Dam has the capability of letting a lot more water through than what the Iroquois dam can," Steinburg said. "This is the reason why. It's actually like a suction cup; it pulls our water down. That's why you're seeing the extreme low water."

Steinburg sits on a public advisory group for the International Joint Commission (IJC) that controls the water levels in this area.

In an email to CTV News Ottawa, Bryce Carmichael says the IJC delegates operations at the Moses-Saunders Dam to the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board. Carmichael is the U.S. Section Secretary of that Board.

"The Board is required to oversee regulation of the dam in accordance with orders and directives from the IJC, which includes a detailed regulation plan for operations throughout the year," he noted.

The IJC says water levels at the end of August were near or at record lows on Lake St. Lawrence. Carmichael says that is partly due to low precipitation rates in the entire Seaway system, a lower than average Lake Ontario, and high outflow at the Moses-Saunders Dam.

"As Lake Ontario continues its seasonal decline," Carmichael wrote, "It is expected that levels in Lake St. Lawrence will remain low for the rest of the season. The only way for a major rebound of the water levels to be seen would require significantly more precipitation across the system (not just locally)."

The IJC's water management strategy, called Plan 2014, is governed by a binational body, which creates policies to help regulate water levels along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario.

"The plan's outflow formula has a component that accounts for the last year of water supplies in addition to current water levels on Lake Ontario. This one-year lookback component is currently adjusting the outflows up based on the fact that the water supplies in the previous year have been above the long-term average," Carmichael wrote.

South Stormont Mayor Bryan McGillis says he has also been getting calls about the low water levels on the lake, which are half a metre below average.

"That's impacting businesses, impacting tourism, and also potential impact of property values," McGillis said.

"The amount of people that are not coming to the community here to spend money, it's creating a problem and that's why we have to ensure that our water levels are sustainable," he said.

"The IJC can do a lot more to prevent this we feel, and we need to be there to ensure that we keep that pressure going and to assure water levels are back to where they should be," McGillis added.

He notes residents pay a lot of money and taxes to have waterfront property and that they can't launch their boats from their docks.

"A lot of people are saying 'is it viable to come out this part of the dam to buy a home with waterfront?' because they are unsure of what the water levels will be if they ever want to use water for recreational purposes," he said.

At the nearby Crysler Park Marina, the low water level is easily noticeable, with ramps to the docks sitting at a nearly 45-degree angle.

The boat launch ramp at Crysler Park Marina with a low sitting dock. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

"The water levels are quite low, and in order for us to get boats out of the water we have to basically ensure that we have enough depth at the ramp," said Tim Robins, St. Lawrence Parks Commission Manager of Recreation and Leisure Facilities.

"Last year we did some major dredging to meet the IJC's plan to allow us to continue to operate our business, and this fall we are doing some renovations to our ramp to allow us to get the boats with the deep keels and deep drafts out of the water," Robins said, noting that those are major construction projects to allow the marina to continue to operate based on the IJC's plan.

Robins says water levels are checked daily and the marina is in regular communication with the commission.

"We are working with them. We have been part of the meetings and the consultations," Robins said. "They are aware of our concerns, they are aware of our problems and our issues and that's communicated typically through IJC or the advisory group."

Robins said customers at the marina are discussing the low water levels, and are concerned whether they will be able to get their boats out of the water safely in October.

"The harbourmaster here at the marina is communicating with our boaters because there is always a fear that 'am I going to be able to get my boat out? How to I get my boat out? Do I use a lift? Do I bring a hydraulic trailer? Do you have to bring a crane in?' so those things are all kind of fluid based on water levels," he added.

Carmichael says the board currently only has authority for minor deviations from Plan 2014, and that includes a minor flow decrease in October to raise waters in Lake St. Lawrence for boaters to safely remove their boats.

"It must be remembered that the Moses-Saunders Dam was not designed and built primarily to provide a summer water level for recreation in its forebay (which was named Lake St. Lawrence), but rather the level of Lake St. Lawrence is influenced by both the needs of the operation of the dam and water supplies," Carmichael wrote.

Steinburg and McGillis say they will keep the pressure on the IJC to make sure they are listening to their concerns, and to possibly raise water levels higher in future seasons on Lake St. Lawrence.

"I'm hoping the IJC understands what they are putting us under here, the type of condition that they are supplying us is creating a huge danger for the boaters and for navigation as far as that goes," Steinburg said.

"It's a huge concern for pleasure boaters, but also for the ships that pilot through these areas," he added. "When you consider certain areas these ships don't even have enough space to meet, they actually have to stop because there is only certain spots that they are able to pass each other."

Water levels can be seen on the rocks as a laker passes by in the distance. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)

"We want to sit down and communicate with them," McGillis said. "We've had a couple sit downs and a couple of virtual meetings with the IJC, but we're still not happy with the outcome as you can see."

"I just hope that the IJC takes heed of what we are saying and hopefully they will be more responsive and also more wanting to communicate with us," he added.

Frank Seglenieks from the Canadian office of the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board said in an email to CTV News that water levels dropped over the long weekend.

"The region experienced sustained winds from the northeast which has the effect of lowering the water levels in Lake St. Lawrence. Unfortunately these winds coincided with the last part of the long weekend and dropped the water level by around 30 cm in parts of the lake, which was already below average for this time of year," he wrote.

"Although it might be too late for many, the winds have now shifted and the levels are similar to what they were before the weekend."

Water levels and water level forecasts are available on the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board website.