The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board says last month was one of the three wettest Aprils on record, and Lake Ontario is now at its highest level since 1993. So is the St. Lawrence River, and the board says that makes it impossible to release enough water from Lake Ontario to avoid flooding its southern shores.
The board says the lake rose more than 17 inches last month, and has passed the trigger level, called “Criterion H14,” at which authorities release more water from the Massena dam on the St. Lawrence. But a statement from the board on Tuesday says they have to balance providing relief to the Lake Ontario shoreline against making things worse for residents along the St. Lawrence which has had the same rains.
Daily updates are posted on the board’s Facebook page.
The board says the best it can do is maintain both Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence where they are now. They’re telling people to prepare for things to get worse.