FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

D. Commercial Navigation Technical Work Group Summary
The Commercial Navigation Technical Work Group (CNTWG) developed planning objectives and metrics,
performance indicators and evaluation methodologies to evaluate the impacts on the U.S. and Canadian
commercial navigation industry of alternative Lake Ontario outflow regulation plans. Changes in Lake
Ontario outflows change water levels and velocities/currents in the Lake Ontario–St. Lawrence River
System, which has impacts on commercial vessels transiting through this area.
ANNEX 2
Three key geographical areas were identified for which impacts on commercial navigation were developed:
1) Port Weller to Cape Vincent (Lake Ontario); 2) Cape Vincent to the Seaway entrance at Montreal Harbour
(the St. Lawrence Seaway); 3) Montreal to Batiscan (St. Lawrence Ship Channel). Impacts from high Lake
Ontario outflows, impacts from low Lake Ontario outflows, and impacts from the timing of discharges were
developed for each of the three (3) geographical areas. Ice management operations, especially in the
downstream area (Montreal to Batiscan), also have an impact on commercial navigation.
Objectives
The Commercial Navigation Work Group developed the following planning objectives for their interest:
• Optimize water levels and currents to minimize damages, maximize benefits and maintain navigational
safety, without exceeding flood thresholds.
• Minimize extremes in water levels and velocities in terms of amplitudes and frequencies of variations
to provide stability and predictability, in order to optimize long-term cargo load planning for
commercial navigation.
• Maintain velocities in a safe range for commercial navigation.
• Maximize ice cover stability and integrity from Montreal to Batiscan in winter to prevent ice jams and
resulting flooding and to maintain navigational safety.
The preferred plan for the Commercial Navigation interests is one that optimizes navigable conditions in
Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River through Batiscan and balances impacts between the three reaches.
Data Collection and Evaluation Methodology
Baseline information on U.S. and Canadian vessel movements was developed for the study area. The 1995
to 1999 period represented the most recent information available at the time.
Data collection focused on four main types of data: data on commercial vessels, data on vessel trips, data
on the cargo carried and data on the ports. This data was used to model economic impacts of various
water regulation plans on commercial navigation.
The final database consisted of 28,390 individual vessel trips that took place from 1995 to 1999. The movement
data was obtained from the Canadian Coast Guard, the St. Lawrence Seaway and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers. The trip data included movement for all vessels with a draft equal to or greater than 7 m.
The Commercial Navigation Technical Work Group developed an economic impact model to evaluate
integrated impacts on Canadian and U.S. commercial navigation of various Lake Ontario regulation schemes
for the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River System. The model used the commodity movement database for
1995 to 1999 as representative commodities/tonnage and origins/destinations. The model was built by
Innovation Maritime, in collaboration with HLB Decision Economics Inc., Lauga and Associates Consulting
Ltd., J.D Pace and Associates Inc., and respective organizations of the Commercial Navigation Technical
Work Group members.
Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows
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