Lynn Kennedy Georgetown, Ontario 10/1/2012 3:45. Georgian Bay - Low Water Crisis

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1 Lynn Kennedy Georgetown, Ontario 0//202 3:45 Georgian Bay - Low Water Crisis I am opposed to the new regulation for Lake Superior because it will have a negative impact on Georgian Bay water levels. We don t need more human intervention unless it is in the form of re-establishing the natural flow of our Great Lake system. In other words, finding the best ways and means to restore the water system back to the way nature had originally designed it; back to before humans had reversed the Chicago River, and back to before humans had dredged the St. Clair River. If, however, there are no ways and means to restore our Great Lakes as they once were, or at least not in the near future, then I am in support of control structure(s) in the St. Clair River to mitigate the damages done by years of government interference. The governments of Canada and the US commissioned the dredging of the St. Clair River without seriously considering if they should. And of course the resulting weirs to control the water loss throughout the whole of the Great Lake system were never actually constructed. The governments should not be absolved from their responsibility because of time, nor the fact the contractor is no longer in business. Since the government changed the natural Great Lake system and it must now continue to implement controls for the areas it has negatively impacted. The government cannot simply stop or ignore the damage it has caused because a mistake was made; the mistake needs to be corrected before more damage is done! Low water levels are destroying the ecological system! Our water has been taken over by seaweed where previously nonexistent, decaying vegetation, and the growth of algae and bacteria. Our resulting larger beach areas have been taken over by invasive grasses and vegetation. Geese are everywhere now, polluting our beaches and water further. Inlets have completely dried up. We could argue endlessly on how much water was lost due to what cause; however, that should not be the issue. The issue is to save our Great Lakes; how do we get the levels of our waters, particularly Georgian Bay, back to within the historical averages prior to human intervention? And we have to raise the water levels now!! Our water is at the low water crisis level identified in the 993 Levels Reference Study for Lakes Huron and Michigan and, therefore, should trigger remedial action from the Canadian and US governments. The governments should attend to constructing a control system in the St. Clair River that would not only restore the water levels regardless of the various reasons for the losses, but that would also accommodate any historical extremes and/or any future global warming negatively impacting water levels. Also, a temporary restriction should be put in place to immediately start correcting the problem until a permanent solution is implemented. Another one of my biggest concerns is while the IJC is being public about the low water study, there still seems to be a lot of people unaware of the discussions or, for that matter, the existence of the IJC. I think a mandatory survey, like that of a government census, should be sent to everyone with the results being made public via radio and TV. A brief history of the past and present water situation should be explained, including the details of human intervention. A lot of people are unaware that people have interfered with the water levels! A simple vote should be done on control structure(s) (yes, no) based on an acceptable +/- ft range around historical average. And finally, the least of all this, relatively speaking, is the fact that our property values have tremendously plummeted. As mentioned above, the continued low water issue is depleting the water

2 quality of what little water we do have. About a month ago my boyfriend had a hard time getting his little aluminum boat out of the marina because he had to contend with weeds, thick muck and the low water levels. This affects the both of us getting to his island cottage and I know it is detrimental to the marinas and I m sure it is not good for others trying to enjoy the waters in and around Georgian Bay. I have also just learned, that our particular marina is going to be dredging this Fall which should be unnecessary. Thank you for your consideration of my points. Yours sincerely, Lynn Kennedy 2

3 Ken Key Honey Harbour, Ontario 9/4/202 22:52 Levels of Georgian Bay I am one who has had to re-locate our docks serveral times and have island acess problems now let alone if the levels drop another four feet. We can not ignor this and something must be done to stop the powerful lobby group who want to stop the flow from Lake Superior. I suggest increasing the outflow from Lake Superior and slowing the out flow to the the St Clair. This could be done to allow levels to get back to normal and after al the levels could be controled better with increased management. Something must be done to stop the social and economic devestation that will occur if levels drop further. Wake up federal government and get control over the Internation Joint Commission who is pushing to let levels drop further. There are no special interest groups here this water and the levels belong to us all. Let get moving on the solution.

4 Gary Kent Keyes Cedar, Michigan, U S A 9/30/202 20:3 we must all rise up against the Corps of Engineers and the Government When the Army Corps of Engineers decided to dredge the St. Claire River to allow the ocean going ships to enter the Great Lakes, that was like, "Let's put a little drain with our toes in the corner of this big puddle and see how much water drains out." No one in the Emperor Without Any Clothes Parade of Stupid has said the truth, "If you lower the hole in the puddle, more water runs out, especially since we have reversed the flow of the Chicago Canal that once was flowing north." It is like the Corps saying, "These people are stupid, we can bring in hundreds of invasive species, kill the railroad industry, and drain the Great Lakes calling it necessary shipping. Hell, we might as well have a three or four year study about how to stop the Asian Carp that won't do shit either, because these people are so stupid, that they won't complain or catch on." Soon, if they don't fill the ditch of the St Clair River, the Chicago Canal and River, and permanently separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River Basin, we will have one fish, a lot of Nestle bottles of water leaving this used to be Great Lakes, and no water left.." Why is there not a great massive uprising of people who are bonding together to fill in the St Clair River, stop the bottling of the water, close the Chicago Mississippi connection, and stand up to these jerks. We are not stupid. This is happening right here in Canada, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, etc. Rise up, people, Rise UP!!! 47 8/28/202 :

5 James Kucher Sault Ste Marie, ON 7/2/202 5:07 Poorly done study with no action plan for sustainability Lake Huron - Michigan levels have being dropping - 2 inches every year, this study doesn't address any issues and only says their could be repercussions if we do something or nothing. Looks like it was written by polictians and not engineers or scienctists. There is no data or trending or predications. This report is extremely poor. Extrapolate the current trend and see wee where we're going to be in 5-0 years. From what i see where I live is we'll have No water for shipping and the elimination of wetlands everywhere. The warmer the lakes get the more evaporation we'll have and the levels will continue to drop more and more every year. So start doing something now before it too late. The technology is available to regulate the lakes without having to worry about extreme high lake levels and damage to fish spawning areas. Start now because it will take years to get it legislated!!!