lake ontario

“I mean, they're adorable, but unfortunately… these two tiny birds [could] cause the livelihoods and the property values of a lot of people."

"It's like a program or code based on historical water supply records that can simulate what could happen from different decisions."

When the ice melts each spring, the ship visits each of the five lakes to measure basic water quality and sample the “lower food web” -- the tiny animals, plants, and algae that support fish and other aquatic life.

"I mean it's huge for us. We have been trying to recover from the damage from 2017 and 2019 so to know that this will help alleviate the chances of flooding for 2021 means a great deal."

"We realized that it would be beneficial for the Board to be smaller so they can make decisions in a quicker fashion."

"In January when the shipping season is over, do exactly what you did last winter - physically let out as much water as you can because you don’t know what’s going to happen next spring."

By lowering the outflows from Lake Ontario, the Board hopes to make navigation in the St. Lawrence River safer and raise the water levels in Lake St. Louis.

Water levels throughout the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River System are expected to peak below the record-high levels seen in 2019.

The International Joint Commission says it's doing everything it can to mitigate rising lake levels but it still might not be enough.

"We were able to contribute to lake levels being fairly stable through the month of March compared with historic records."