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Water Levels
Water levels rise and fall in seasonal cycles. Spring time yields high water because melting snow moves through the watershed and eventually ends up in the St. Lawrence. Fall time typically has low water because there is no excess water moving through the watershed.
Water levels also fluctuate on a long-term basis in response to persistent wet or dry conditions that may last for a number of years. Since the 1950s, the St. Lawrence River has had a 20-year cycle where roughly every 20 years, the water levels are higher throughout the year.
Since this body of water is significant to both New York and Ontario for drinking water, scenic beauty, recreation, and the economy, forming organizations like the International Join Commission make it possible to collaborate on the usage of this important resource.
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The International Joint Commission
Since this body of water is significant to both New York and Ontario for drinking water, scenic beauty, recreation, and the economy, forming organizations like the International Join Commission make it possible to collaborate on the usage of this important resource.
The high water level events of 2017 and 2019 were caused by years of record precipitation in addition to the precipice of the 20-year high-water cycle. Save The River has been advocating for the International Joint Commission (IJC) to continue increased outflows at the Moses-Saunders Dam as long as conditions allow. This advocacy is done in an attempt to bring relief to riparians and shoreline business owners who have endured the high water
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Additionally, we support the accelerated review of Plan 2014 by the Great Lakes Adaptive Management committee (GLAM) with hopes of fine-tuning the long term management plan that protects the River’s ecosystem and continues to enrich the lives of human residents.
The International Joint Commission (IJC) has provided this website to help answer FAQs about the 2017 & 2019 High Water Events.
Additional Water Level Resources
- Comparison of Regulation Plans Under Extremely Wet Conditions – ILOSRLB
- NOAA Current River Conditions Buoy – Alexandria Bay – Current weather conditions, water temperatures, and more
- Monthly Water Level Bulletin – Government of Canada
- History of Water Gauges – NOAA
- Monitoring the State of the St. Lawrence River – Government of Canada
- For more information on our advocacy work, click here.