The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board is responding to calls for more information on water levels by issuing a background paper on high water in 2019.
The Board says question-and-answer style document outlines why there was so much flooding last spring and explains more about outflows, how the board’s actions affected water levels and what actions are being taken to reduce flooding moving forward.
Officials say the total amount of water released from lake outflows between January 2017 and this past December was the highest on record over any 36 month period, but inflows were also at record highs.
Those outflows reduce the severity of high water impacts on both Lake Ontario and the lower St. Lawrence River and the board says in 2017 and 2019 that reduced the peak and duration of flooding, while preventing flooding altogether in 2018.
