FINAL REPORT - International Joint Commission

Equity Considerations
Plan A + ’s higher lake levels and higher flows are of great benefit to recreational boaters and hydropower,
and the Plan provides modest gains for Seaway navigation and Lake Ontario coastal interests. However,
Plan A + causes greater flooding on the lower river. It offers no significant overall environmental gains and
is the only candidate plan that has a negative impact on a species at risk.
FINAL REPORT
Plan B + benefits the environment on the Lake and the upper St. Lawrence River, as well as hydropower
and commercial navigation, and imposes costs on riparians on the Lake and the River, and costs on
recreational boaters, especially on Lake Ontario.
Plan D + generates net benefits with modest gains in all sectors except Lake Ontario coastal, and is
associated with very little damage to any interest or location.
Figure 34 shows the economic benefits by region based on the stochastic analysis. The Lake Ontario,
upper St. Lawrence River, and lower St. Lawrence River totals include the economic benefits of the overall
coastal, recreational boating and municipal and industrial performance indicators. Hydropower and
commercial navigation are shown separately as their impacts cannot be as easily separated into the three
geographic categories (Lake, upper and lower river).
Figure 35 shows the environmental benefits in terms of ratios (where 1 is the same as 1958-DD,
> 1 represents an improvement, and < 1 a deterioration relative to 1958-DD) by geographic area, based on
the historical supply sequence analysis, as represented by the Environmental Index scores developed for
the Study Board (see note 4 to Table 4).
+ + +
Figure 34: Economic benefits by region based on stochastic analysis
Options for Managing Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River Water Levels and Flows
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