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ENVIRONMENT: Manipulating Ontario's water levels

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Lake Ontario water levels are not naturally determined. They are carefully planned out, artificially controlled, and are linked to the levels of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Ottawa River. If the levels are off, wetlands could suffer, lakeside property owners could have erosion problems, or Montreal could flood.

The plan that governs all that is getting an update.

Plan 2007, as it was explained during an informational session on Thursday night at Greece Town Hall, is a middle-of-the road approach to regulating Lake Ontario water levels. It doesn't allow the kind of variation in water levels that would really benefit coastal wetlands - a feature of another proposal which is a favorite with environmentalists and the governments of New York State and Ontario province. Plan 2007 also doesn't allow the high levels of yet another proposal, which was favored by boaters, hydroelectric plants, and other commercial interests.

Instead, Plan 2007 has enough variation to give some benefit to wetlands. And water levels will be high enough to benefit businesses and boaters, but low enough in the spring and fall to prevent lakeside property damage. Nobody really wins big, but nobody really loses, either.

It's a complex plan. To find out more about it, go here. A public hearing will be held in Greece on June 11.

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