Has the IJC studied the possibility of controlling lake levels?
Concerned about the effects of fluctuations in water levels, governments have always had an interest in exploring whether the Great Lakes could be maintained at more constant levels. In 1964 when water levels were very low, the IJC was asked by Canada and the United States to investigate the feasibility of controlling levels in the Great Lakes. By 1973 when the report was completed, lake levels had risen to record highs. The IJC reported that the high cost of engineering further regulation of lakes Michigan and Huron could not be justified by the benefits. The IJC reached the same conclusion during another study in 1983 on regulating levels in Lake Erie. In a 1993 study the IJC again concluded that the costs of major engineering works to regulate levels and flows o the Great Lakes would outweigh the benefits. Instead they recommended that land-use and shoreline management programs be implemented in order to reduce the damage from flooding and erosion. Now that water levels have once mo
