LANSING – The International Joint Commission has approved a plan to control Lake Superior water levels and is urging the United States and Canadian governments to consider plans to control water levels in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

Under the approved plan, opening of the locks along the St. Mary’s River would be limited, as would flow over hydro-electric dams along the river, to control water flowing out of the topmost of the Great Lakes.

The group said the two nations also need to consider plans that would increase water levels in Huron and Michigan by at least 5 inches, but also that would not exacerbate problems when they fill above normal water levels.

“Although future water levels are uncertain, we cannot ignore the damage from record low water levels,” said Joe Comuzzi, Canadian chair of the commission. “From Georgian Bay to Door County, from shoreline property owners to the shipping industry, we heard calls for action, and we urge governments to act in response to our recommendations.”

And Rich Moy, U.S. commissioner, said that while the improvements are modest, the new regulation plan for Lake Superior outflows is better for the environment, better for navigation and better for hydropower production.

“But all stakeholders need to be aware that changes in regulation are not the answer to the extremely low levels we are experiencing right now,” he said.

Lana Pollack, former Senate member and U.S. chair of the commission, declined to sign the decision because she said it did not do enough to address the effects of climate change on lake levels.

She said in a separate statement that plans to control water levels in Huron and Michigan would raise “false hopes that structures in the St. Clair River, if built, would be sufficient to resolve the suffering from low water levels of Lake Michigan-Huron, while at the same time causing possible disruption downstream in Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie.”

Brian Sweeney, spokesperson for the Office of the Great Lakes, said Michigan supports the changes proposed by the IJC for Lake Superior, but not necessarily for Michigan and Huron.

“We’re pleased to see adaptive management rise to a more prominent position than ever in the IJC’s recommendations for Lake Superior regulation,” Mr. Sweeney said. “We also support IJC’s recommendation to give Lake Superior water managers the flexibility to lower any environmental impact of their operations. It is important to note, however, that these recommendations do not have strong implications for raising low lake levels.”

But he said support measures in Huron and Michigan to reverse man-made changes to the lake levels would depend on the cost of the structures. Studies have shown dredging and related erosion in the 1960s brought lake levels down as much as 10 inches, which he said later might not warrant the cost of the controls to correct.

“The IJC’s recommendations call for more detailed study of specific control mechanisms,” he said. “If these studies move forward it will be interesting to see what they reveal about our options.”

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