Efforts to avoid flooding go too far, IJC now working to raise water levels
Property owners along the shores of the St. Lawrence River and some parts of Lake Ontario are complaining about water levels. That’s not really news, they’ve been unhappy many times in recent years, particularly 2017 and 2019 when high water flooded docks and led to waves damaging shores and homes and boat houses.
But the 2021 complaints are different, now water levels are too low and many can’t put their docks or boats into the water.
High or low, the complaints go to the International Joint…
A new trial date has been set for the case of a former manager accused of defrauding a Belleville, Ont., credit union of more than a million dollars.
The case will be back in court on March 5 for another pre-trial hearing, more than five years after the credit union noticed the money was missing and 11 years after the theft started.
If Cheryll Drumm has a new lawyer, her case will proceed to trial on Oct. 12, 2021, with two weeks set aside to hear the case.
The case has been going on so long that the credit union…
IJC warns climate change is leading to algal blooms in largest, coldest and cleanest lake
Climate change has resulted in dangerous algal blooms along the shore of Lake Superior due to warming temperatures and more severe rain storms, says a report by the International Joint Commission (IJC).
The binational organization that oversees water quality in the Great Lakes and other shared waterways says even the largest, coldest of the lakes is showing signs of suffering as temperatures warm and extreme precipitation becomes more common.
“Since Lake Superior is warming more rapidly than any of the other lakes, conditions may become more favorable for blooms in the future unless additional actions are taken,” says the IJC’s…
I’ve taken apps off my phone to make it easier to focus on what I want to do
My name is Art and I’m a mediaholic. My entire life I’ve been a news junkie. At breakfast, on my tablet I read the New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Medium, the National Observer and take a dip into Twitter than can lead to publications and websites around the world.
By age 12 I had my own subscription to Life magazine and Maclean’s and made sure I was at the TV every evening for Walter Cronkite on CBS.
I…
Ontario manager’s case now in pre-trial motions a decade after theft started
A former manager accused of defrauding a Belleville, Ont., credit union of more than a million dollars will be back in court on March 5 for another pre-trial hearing, more than five years after it noticed the money was missing and 11 years after the theft started.
The case has been going on so long that the credit union involved has been through two mergers and name changes. At the time of the fraud it was Bayshore Credit Union. It became part of Quinte First Credit Union on…
Ford’s strategy will leave homeowners under water, United Shoreline Ontario warns
With all the Great Lakes at or near record levels and spring runoff well underway, home and business owners of lakefront properties are praying for a dry spring with no windy days that will push the high water ashore.
Residents in Essex County near Windsor have already experienced flooding and the municipality has declared a flood emergency. Lake Ontario remains above is level at this time last year and conservation authorities in Brighton and Cobourg have issued flood warnings. …
Spring flooding will be higher than necessary, Gigas says
Residents and businesses along Lake Ontario will experience more flooding than necessary this spring because the International Joint Commission (IJC) did not release enough water from the lake last fall, says a report by an engineer who lives near the lake in Rochester, N.Y.
Sandbagging faces ban under anti-virus restrictions
Officials are warning residents along the Great Lakes who may soon face flooding that it is more important to protect themselves from COVID-19 than it is to protect their homes and property from water damage.
All of the Great Lakes are experiencing high levels and more water is pouring into them as snow melts across the watershed. …
High water levels on all the Great Lakes mean there is a strong likelihood of flooding again this spring, the International Joint Commission and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers said separately on March 6.
During a two-hour webinar to discuss the high level of Lake Ontario and what is being done to lower it, Jane Corwin, U.S. Commissioner and co-chair of the International Joint Commission, the U.S.-Canada agency that oversees water issues, said flood levels will depend on what the weather is like during March and April. …
The amount of water flowing out of Lake Ontario will be increased substantially in the coming days in an effort to reduce spring flooding.
The International Lake Ontario — Saint Lawrence River Board, which is part of the International Joint Commission, said on Dec. 30 that with the end of the navigation season on Dec. 31 it will increase outflows through the Moses-Saunders Dam in Cornwall.
Recent warmer weather also means ice is not forming on the St. Lawrence River so extra water can be released. …
Art Chamberlain
Freelance journalist.
