Restore Our Water International

Restore Our Water International Great Lakes water level management needs improvement! Extreme levels should never be the norm! Clair-Detroit river system. and Canadian governments. There is hope.

The Great Lakes have been adversely affected by man-made changes to the system that have amplified the impacts of extreme water levels throughout the system. Record setting extremes, including both high and low water levels have become the norm, not the exception. Human modifications over the last 150 years include diversions into and out of the lakes, channel modifications between the lakes and o

utflow regulation from lakes Superior and Ontario. All of these human changes have conspired to amplify the environmental and economic damages caused from extreme water levels. For example, extreme high water on all of the upper Great Lakes since 2014 has been increased by the continuation of diversion inflows into Lake Superior from the Long Lac and Ogoki diversions. The Province of Ontario has been unwilling to shut off this damaging diversion and the International Joint Commission (IJC) has simply ignored promoting its cut-back. During the 2000-2014 extreme low water period, outflows from Lake Huron were adversely affected by unnatural conveyance increases in the St. The resulting reduced water levels have dried up wetlands upstream. The consequence is a rapidly deteriorating ecosystem, with fish and waterfowl dying, massive algal blooms, stranded cottages boathouses and docks, and dry marinas. Over the last 20 years, water levels in the middle Great Lakes have met the IJC's definition of Crisis Conditions. Previously, an IJC Study Board recommended that governments implement a series of measures to minimize extreme water levels throughout the system. Unfortunately these recommendations have been ignored by the IJC and the U.S. The IJC is unable or unwilling to solve the problems. Therefore the public needs to lobby the Canadian and U.S. governments to direct the IJC to act. Join the small and growing band of volunteers who have been working on a solution for 10 years.

A bit of a reminder to all ...
07/09/2026

A bit of a reminder to all ...

Are Michigan and Huron separate lakes – or have we been counting the Great Lakes wrong?

Pretty dramatic photos!
07/09/2026

Pretty dramatic photos!

After years of worsening erosion, the last remnant of a century-old building at Beechwood State Park in Sodus has fallen into Lake Ontario.

Lake Ontario levels are still quite high compared to average ....
07/09/2026

Lake Ontario levels are still quite high compared to average ....

Lake Ontario peaked at 35 centimetres above average; officials say three centimetres have already been shed and a steady summer decline is expected

Not easy to offset gravity! .....
07/09/2026

Not easy to offset gravity! .....

Slowing the erosion of Lake Michigan's bluffs along Milwaukee's South Shore is not a new problem, but it is an expensive one.

Funding cuts???? We all need these resources!
07/09/2026

Funding cuts???? We all need these resources!

Trump’s proposed $1.3 billion cut would zero out programs that support weather observations, water quality, maritime safety and recreation on the Great Lakes.

Interesting new tech ....
07/09/2026

Interesting new tech ....

Two bright orange autonomous sail drones are floating in Lake Erie right now, part of a new U.S. Coast Guard program.

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