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New York affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation
PRESS RELEASE
March 28, 2008
CITIZENS CAMPAIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT * ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK * GREAT LAKES UNITED * SAVE THE RIVER *
INTERNATIONAL WATER-LEVEL MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ST. LAWRENCE RIVER AND LAKE ONTARIO FAILS TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT
Joint Statement on Release of International Joint Commission's Draft Water Level's Plan for St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario
In a press conference held this morning, the International Joint Commission announced a draft water level regulation plan - Plan 2007 - which does nothing to end 50 years of documented environmental degradation along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.
After more than five years of study funded by $20-million taxpayer dollars, the IJC has the opportunity to select a scientifically-based and publicly supported management plan - Plan B+ - which would have delivered significant environmental improvements to the region. Instead, the IJC has turned its back on the Lake and River environment by proposing a plan that continues, and perhaps even worsens, the environmental destruction of the Lake and River.
Since the completion of the Moses-Saunders hydropower dam 50 years ago, the Lake and River ecosystems have suffered consistent losses to their globally significant biodiversity due to unnatural and damaging water levels regulation. The current regulation scheme has artificially constrained water levels, resulting in considerable damage to more than 50 percent of the region's coastal wetlands and significant impacts to many fish species and nesting water birds.
Plan 2007 represents 'business as usual' for the Lake and River environment, and is therefore an unacceptable direction for the region.
Specifically, Plan 2007:
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Fails to provide critical access to fish spawning grounds during the breeding season;
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Fails to provide access for overwintering mammals that are essential for wetland health; and
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Fails to provide the natural variability necessary for improved wetland biodiversity.
Despite overwhleming public and scientific support, the IJC has rejected the environmentally responsible choice for the Lake and River - Plan B+. The above groups, representing hundreds of thousands of citizens with an interest in the health of the Lake and River, reject the IJC's draft plan and demand that the IJC make the right decision for the ecological health of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River by implementing Plan B+.