Residents petition to save Hoople Bay from low water levels

Nick Seebruch
Residents petition to save Hoople Bay from low water levels
Photo of a dead fish on dried up land that was once submerged by the St. Lawrence River. Photo courtesy of John Sliter.

SOUTH STORMONT, Ontario – South Stormont residents, anglers, and boaters are petitioning the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to step in and save the ecosystem of Hoople Bay.

That region of the St. Lawrence River is experiencing extremely low water levels that has lead to the death of fish and has prevented some boaters from getting their craft out of the water.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) that manages the water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River held a public meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at the South Stormont Township Hall about the low water levels.

They explained that water levels were at their lowest point in 20 years, but that they were unable to significantly increase them without putting other areas of the river at risk.

“To achieve a 1 cm change in Lake Ontario water levels in one week requires outflows to be changed by about 320 mper-second,” said Jamie Dicout, Regulations Representative from the IJC at the meeting. “This same volume in water results in more than ten times change in water levels in critical areas of the St. Lawrence River…”

The IJC did offer to increase water levels from Oct. 5 to 7 to help boaters get their craft out of the water, but many felt that this was not a wide enough window.

Now, the petitioners are asking the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to intercede on their behalf with the IJC and the International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board.

“The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has designated Hoople Bay as a Fish Sanctuary and an environmentally sensitive area,” the petition reads. “The Board has made a decision to have the outflows of Lake Saint Lawrence exceed the inflows resulting in significant lowering of the water levels, thereby destroying the the ecosystem and fish habitat in Hoople Bay.”

“We are asking you to sign this petition to have the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources take the IJC Board to task on the destruction of the ecosystem and fish habitat in Hoople Bay – to request they maintain minimum water levels to protect this sensitive area and to repair any damage done by the recent drying up of the bay,” the petition goes on to state.

The petition, which started on Sept. 12, already had 280 signatures online as of time of writing.

The petition can be found here.

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[…] to increase water levels from Oct. 4 to 5. At that time, South Stormont residents circulated a petition asking the IJC to address low water levels in Hoople Bay. The IJC held a public information meeting […]