FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

ANNEX 2
In the case of charter and tour boat operators, a survey of charter boat captains was conducted in January
and February of 2003 on the U.S. side, while Canada conducted a tour boat and excursion craft operator
survey. The questionnaires surveyed business characteristics, economics, trips taken and educational
information needs, and included specific questions about launching sites, problems with low or high water
conditions and the costs associated with adaptations made in response to changing water levels.
Depth measurements taken at marinas, private docks, and boat launch ramps were standardized to the
gauges within their respective reaches. For the Lake Ontario Reach, which includes the Lake itself and the
portion of the St. Lawrence River up to and including Cape Vincent, the standardizing gauge was the one
closest to the measurement location. The remainder of the upper St. Lawrence River was divided into three
reaches associated with the water level gauge measurements at Alexandria Bay, Ogdensburg and Long
Sault. The three reaches on the lower St. Lawrence River were referenced to the following water level
gauges: Pointe Claire for Lac St. Louis, Sorel for Lac St. Pierre, and Varennes for Montreal-Contrecoeur.
Originally there were only two
reaches for the upper St. Lawrence
River. However, it was realized that
the slope of the upper St. Lawrence
River and the impact of releases
from Moses-Saunders Dam on
water levels just above the dam
were too great to base levels on just
two river gauges. As a result, the
old Ogdensburg reach that had
stretched from Chippewa Bay to the
dam was split into two reaches: a
New Ogdensburg reach–Chippewa
Bay to Iroquois Dam and a new
Lake St. Lawrence Reach–Iroquois
Dam to Moses Saunders Dam.
Figure B-1 shows the seven reaches
in the study area.
Performance Indicators
Figure B-1: Recreational boating reaches
The Recreational Boating Technical Work Group focused on two performance indicators: total possible
boating days lost and net economic value lost (willingness-to-pay). These measures provide an estimate
of both recreational loss and economic loss as water levels change. The economic measure was chosen
by the economic advisors to the Study Board to be most comparable to measures used by other technical
work groups, and was used by the Study Board when comparing impacts among different interest groups.
The Recreational Boating Work Group developed estimates of days boated and net economic value by
water reach, country (U.S. or Canada), water access method (private dock, marina, launch ramp, charter
boat), boat type (sail or power), and boat length class. Net economic value was estimated based on boat
owners’ willingness-to-pay for boating over and above what they are already paying. Net economic value
was calculated on a per-day basis. The average value was multiplied by days boated per month unconstrained
by water levels. The number of days unconstrained by water level was the sum of actual days boated in
2002 plus boaters’ estimates of days that would have been boated if water levels were not a problem.
38 Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows