IT’S NOT JUST BLOCKADED RAILWAYS THAT ARE PREVENTING GOODS FROM GETTING TO MARKET. THE OPENING OF THE ST. LAWRENCE SEAWAY, A CRUCIAL SHIPPING ROUTE, HAS BEEN DELAYED BY HIGH WATER LEVELS.
High water levels pose risk of flooding
OTTAWA • With protests stalling Canada’s railways, shipping companies on the St. Lawrence Seaway say they’re ready to help move vital goods. But high water levels, controlled by a major dam, are keeping them at the dock.
The St. Lawrence Seaway corporation has decided to delay the opening of the system until April 1, even though the river is largely ice free and could open as early as March 20.
Bruce Burrows, president of the Marine Chamber of Commerce, said demand is 40 per cent higher than normal and they would like to be out on the water.
“We have over 100 ship transits ready to go, record volumes ready to move,” he said.
The seaway works with a joint Canada-u.s. agency, called the International Joint Commission, (IJC) on the river’s opening dates. The commission’s board controls the Moses-saunders Dam near Cornwall, Ont., that effectively acts as a drain on Lake Ontario.
When the dam is closed, levels in the lake rise and when it opens lake levels drop.
The commission wants to keep the dam open to drain Lake Ontario, which has been at record high levels over the last few years. On Friday, the lake was at 75.08 metres, 45 centimetres above average and 20 centimetres below the all-time high. The commission has kept the dam open for all of February draining nine centimetres off Lake Ontario.
All that water flooding out of Lake Ontario creates a problem for ships however. Burrows said they simply can’t navigate the rapids all that water creates.
“We can’t operate our ships in very fast moving currents. It is just too dangerous,” he said. “We have to stop navigating and that’s when we start hitting the economy.”
The commission also has to keep an eye on downstream communities, because letting too much water out of the lake can actually lead to floods. Taking just one centimetre off Lake Ontario raises the level in Montreal’s harbour 12 centimetres.
Sarah Lobrichon, a spokesperson for the IJC, said they do their best to balance all the interests, but right now, they have to focus on flood prevention.
“There is a risk of flooding this year and we are doing everything we can to minimize this risk,” she said. “Our attention is focused on how high the lake is.”
The consistently high levels since 2017 have led to flooding of communities in New York State. Last fall New York State’s Attorney General launched a lawsuit against the International Joint Commission, charging it had failed to protect communities.
“The International Joint Commission failed their primary mission of properly managing Lake Ontario’s water levels,” said Attorney General Letitia James, in a statement when the suit was announced. “We will not stand by while the IJC continues to expose New Yorkers to dangerous flooding.”
Burrows said opening up the dam doesn’t have a big impact on the lake and it’s becoming a crutch when governments should be looking for broader solutions. He said by contrast as much as a $100 million a week in economic activity is being lost because the ships can’t move.
Burrows said it’s time for governments on both sides of the border to look at climate resilience plans, strengthening seawalls and taking other measures to ensure communities are safe. He said simply opening the dam ignores the heavy rainfalls and other issues driven by a changing climate.
“You can occasionally open the plug into the bathtub, but if you have two big taps that are running into the bathtub it’s not going to be a net gain.”
Burrows said even without rail disruptions a lot of vitally important supplies move on the seaway and many companies depend on being able to get supplies by ship.
“It’s amazing to think that when a plane takes off at Pearson Airport in Toronto, a lot of that fuel has been delivered by ship,” he said.
Lobrichon said the IJC agrees that the dam has a limited impact on Lake Ontario and they are looking for broader solutions. A committee they have struck to look at the problem is set to make recommendations next week.
“It’s extremely complex. We need to take into consideration upstream and downstream interests.”