FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

PUBLIC INFORMATION – Activities where the purpose, design, and plan intends to deliver information
to the public or various publics. Examples: press releases and articles in the Study Newsletter,
Ripple Effects.
PUBLIC INTEREST ADVISORY GROUP (PIAG) – The group of volunteers from the United States and
Canada working to ensure effective communication between the public and the International Lake
Ontario-St. Lawrence River Study Team.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT – Activities where the purpose, design, and plan is such that members of the
public or various publics are engaged in the Study on a continuing basis with other “expert” resources.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – Activities where purpose, design, and plan intends that members of the public
have an opportunity to participate for a defined period of time in a Study activity.
QUARTER-MONTHLY MEAN WATER LEVEL – This is the average water level that would occur during
a quarter-month period. A quarter-month is seven or eight days depending on the number of days
in the month.
RAPIDS – A turbulent and swift-flowing section of a river.
REACH – A length of shore with fairly uniform onshore and offshore physiographic features and subject
to the same wave dynamics.
REBOUND (CRUSTAL MOVEMENT) – The uplift or recovery of the earth’s crust in areas where a past
continental glaciation had depressed the earth’s crust by the weight of the ice.
RECESSION – A landward retreat of the shoreline by removal of shore materials in a direction
perpendicular or parallel to the shore.
RECREATIONAL BOATING AND TOURISM TECHNICAL WORK GROUP – A group of technical experts that
will investigate the impacts of water levels on individual boaters, marinas, and boating-related tourism
for the Study.
REGULATION – Artificial changes to the lake levels or their outflows for specific purpose or to achieve
certain objectives.
REGULATIONS – Control of land and water use in accordance with rules designed to accomplish
certain goals.
RELIABILITY – While ranking plans, it is the percentage of time that a criterion is met
(i.e., 4,848 out of 4,848 quarter-months = 100%).
RESILIENCE – During plan ranking, it is the average amount of time it takes to get back in compliance
(how long). It is calculated as the total number of quarter-months of failure divided by the number
of failures.
RESILIENCY – The ability to readily recover from an unexpected event, either because costs were not
significantly affected by changing levels, another source of income provided a cushion to levels
induced costs, and/or a conscious effort was made on the part of the interest.
RESERVOIR – A place where water is collected and kept for use when wanted, as to supply a fountain,
a canal, or a city by means of aqueducts, or to drive a mill wheel, or the like.
REVETMENT – A natural (grass, aquatic plants, etc.) or artificial (concrete, stone, asphalt, earth, sand bag,
etc.) covering (facing) to protect an embankment (raised structure made of soil, rock or other material)
or other structure (such as a cliff) from erosion.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows
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