Boating Ontario Conference – Where did the Water Go?

This is an invitation from Al Donaldson – Boating Ontario Executive Director – It is now the middle of November 2012 and I am in Georgian Bay. For the past six weeks we have had a reasonable amount of rain. The rain was welcomed following a marvelous summer for boaters but not a great summer for farmers due to the almost drought conditions. Despite the recent rain falls, the water level throughout the Bay has dropped considerably, in some cases marinas now can only access two thirds of their slips due to low water levels and many deep draught vessels cannot be hauled out due to low water. A cottage near my home had 40 feet of beach in August 2012 today it has four hundred and fifty feet of beach.

All of the locals seem to know exactly what has happened:
•    The St. Clair river is taking all of the water
•    Bottled water plants are causing the water to fall
•    The Americans are stealing the water to feed the Mississippi
•    The IJC is taking the water to keep the water in the Port of Montreal high for ocean shipping.
•    The big pipe in Chicago is draining the Canadian water

All of these theories may or may not have some merit but the following seems to have some merit:
•    The last few years has seen below normal precipitation both in the summer and winter
•    Snowfall last year was low
•    Global warming is slowly increasing the temperature throughout the world
•    The polar ice caps are definitely declining
•    Severe weather patterns around the world are more common with more hurricanes, more tsunamis, more flooding and tornadoes.

Control of our water systems has become a very complicated issue due to the many changes that we as a society have introduced to the environment and control of the water systems. The control of water levels on the Great Lakes is not a unilateral decision but one that must be approved by Canada and the United States as well as all of the Provinces and States that surround the Great Lakes.

Some of the stakeholders that play a major role in the water level discussions include:
•    Shipping interests
•    Hydro groups
•    Environmental groups
•    Recreational boating interests
•    Riparian rights groups and millions of land owners who border the waters
•    Tourism groups

The economic interests of the entire region surrounding the Great Lakes are affected by the water levels.

All of these facts are very interesting, but as one of my acquaintances said, “I really don’t care about all of those issues, I just want the water levels in Georgian Bay fixed, leave all the other challenges to someone else they are not my issue at this time.” The scary part of this is that this individual is a very learned person with a PHD as well as being a university professor.

Boating Ontario is speaking to local Mayors, members of parliament, the IJC, and Federal Cabinet Ministers in an attempt to find some assistance for our members. The forecast for water levels in the spring of 2013 currently calls for water levels to be lower.

We will be discussing the issue at our annual conference, the 2012 Boating Ontario Conference and Trade Show to be held in London, Ontario on December 3rd and 4th, 2012. We encourage everyone to attend and let us know how this matter will affect your business whether you are in Georgian Bay or some other part of Ontario, the water levels will have an effect on boating.