FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

FINAL REPORT
water level and flow data to the other groups for their evaluations. The Information Management Group
stores information generated by the technical groups and all other Study elements, for use among groups
and for future archiving. The Plan Formulation and Evaluation Group is responsible for creating plan
options with input from all Study elements.
A unique group within the organization is the Public Interest Advisory Group (PIAG). The Group consists
of individuals from various locations around the system and provides a direct link to the public. The leads
of that group are also members of the Study Board. Members interact with the technical work groups with
which they have a particular knowledge. The Group also interacts with the Board and Commission. Its
input helped shape plan options through the interaction of committee members with the Plan Formulation
and Evaluation Group.
Figure 4. Study Organization
Reviews
There were several layers of expert review undertaken during the Study, including internal, external, and
independent reviews, all designed to ensure confidence in the use of the findings to shape the new
regulation plans.
Reviews in Progress
Reviews in progress are built into the Shared Vision Planning process. The act of building one model that
encompasses all other models requires an in-depth analysis and review of the underlying models. Because
Shared Vision modelers need to understand the workings of the underlying models so thoroughly and
because they remold the underlying models into a format that hundreds of people can access, this in-progress
review proved to be much more thorough and effective than traditional quality control methods.
10 Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows