scholarly journals A feasibility study of merits and development strategies for a regional water resources modelling platform for southern Ontario - Great Lakes Basin

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S K Frey ◽  
S J Berg ◽  
E A Sudicky
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Feasibility Study ◽  
Development Strategies ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Regional Water

scholarly journals Assessment of impact of climate change on water resources: a long term analysis of the Great Lakes of North America

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. McBean ◽  
H. Motiee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
North America ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
Global Circulation Models ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In the threshold of the appearance of global warming from theory to reality, extensive research has focused on predicting the impact of potential climate change on water resources using results from Global Circulation Models (GCMs). This research carries this further by statistical analyses of long term meteorological and hydrological data. Seventy years of historical trends in precipitation, temperature, and streamflows in the Great Lakes of North America are developed using long term regression analyses and Mann-Kendall statistics. The results generated by the two statistical procedures are in agreement and demonstrate that many of these variables are experiencing statistically significant increases over a seven-decade period. The trend lines of streamflows in the three rivers of St. Clair, Niagara and St. Lawrence, and precipitation levels over four of the five Great Lakes, show statistically significant increases in flows and precipitation. Further, precipitation rates as predicted using fitted regression lines are compared with scenarios from GCMs and demonstrate similar forecast predictions for Lake Superior. Trend projections from historical data are higher than GCM predictions for Lakes Michigan/Huron. Significant variability in predictions, as developed from alternative GCMs, is noted. Given the general agreement as derived from very different procedures, predictions extrapolated from historical trends and from GCMs, there is evidence that hydrologic changes particularly for the precipitation in the Great Lakes Basin may be demonstrating influences arising from global warming and climate change.

Geology and paleoecology of a Middle Wisconsin fossil occurrence in Zorra Township, southwestern Ontario, Canada

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 386-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.F. Bajc ◽  
P.F. Karrow ◽  
C.H. Yansa ◽  
B.B. Curry ◽  
Jeffrey C. Nekola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Plant Macrofossils ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Stage ◽  
Fossil Assemblage ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Organic Deposit

Nonglacial deposits of Middle Wisconsin age are being discovered with increased frequency across a broad region of southern Ontario, Canada, and provide strong evidence for a time of significant ice withdrawal from the lower Great Lakes region. With each new discovery, a refined understanding of regional climatic and paleoecological environments is emerging. In this paper, we present the results of a sedimentological and paleoecological study of a subtill organic deposit in Zorra Township, southwestern Ontario. The organic deposit, which lies beneath Nissouri Phase Catfish Creek Till (Late Wisconsin), has been dated by accelerator mass spectrometry at between 50.5 and 42.9 14C ka BP. The organic remains are contained within slack water pond deposits infilling a channel incised into till either of Early Wisconsin or Illinoian age. The fossil assemblage appears to be strongly influenced by taphonomic processes, including degradation due to oxidation, bacterial and fungal decay, and glacial overriding. Reworking and (or) recycling and selective sorting as well as long-distance transport has also influenced the composition of the fossil assemblage preserved. Nonetheless, meaningful paleoecological information is still obtained from this record. Collectively, the pollen and plant macrofossils indicate a boreal-type pine–spruce forest with temperatures cooler than present. The absence of arctic tundra plants, as are found in many other deposits of similar age in the lower Great Lakes basin, is notable. A pond or wetland inhabited by shoreline herbs, shrubs, and trees was present at or proximal to the site. The freshwater mollusc and ostracode assemblages are consistent with a shallow water habitat with dense submerged vegetation. The terrestrial mollusc assemblage suggests a taiga or transitional taiga–tundra fauna. Together, these fossil groups provide one of the most comprehensive environmental reconstructions of Middle Wisconsin time (oxygen isotope stage 3 or OIS3) in southern Ontario and serve to build on the ever-increasing database of paleoecological information accumulating for this episode of the late Quaternary.

Securing the Future of Ground Water Resources in the Great Lakes Basin

Ground Water ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Galloway ◽  
Ralph Pentland
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Ground Water ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
The Future

Science as a fundamental framework for shaping policy discussions regarding the use of groundwater in the State of Michigan: a case study

Water Policy ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan D. Steinman ◽  
James R. Nicholas ◽  
Paul W. Seelbach ◽  
Jon W. Allan ◽  
Frank Ruswick
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Water Withdrawal ◽  
Advisory Council ◽  
Great Lakes Basin

The availability and use of freshwater is a growing concern in the United States and around the globe. Despite apparently abundant water resources, several conflicts over water use have emerged in the Great Lakes region and the State of Michigan. These conflicts resulted in state legislation that both addresses water withdrawal from the Great Lakes Basin and requires the State of Michigan to begin a process to address the sustainability of water resources. The former resulted in Michigan's support of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Water Resources Compact, whereas the latter resulted in the formation of a Groundwater Conservation Advisory Council. This paper focuses primarily on the Council, describing its formation, and the products it generated. In particular, we focus on the development of indicators of sustainable use of water, the creation of a water withdrawal assessment process to determine if a proposed withdrawal will create an adverse resource impact in the state, and how the lessons learned in Michigan may be applied to other units of government addressing similar issues. Attention is also given to the Compact, as it provides important context for the Council's formation.

scholarly journals The Legal Impact of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement on Canadian Water Exports

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 705-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Dufour
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Water Transfers ◽  
Future Supply

In recent years, the issue of Canadian water exports has assumed a prominent position on the policy agenda of both Canada and the United States. As water supplies in several western states of the U.S.A. have been increasingly depleted over the past three decades, the threat of a water crisis has raised interest in the possibility of diverting Canadian waters, originating presumably in the Great Lakes Basin. While the beginning of the 1980s has already witnessed a number of heated debates over Great Lakes water transfers, the signing of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement on the 2nd of January 1988, revives the polemic since it is viewed by some as a new menace to the future supply of Canadian waters. The present paper, which is divided in two parts, begins with an examination of a number of events which have raised significant concern about the prospect of major water transfers from the Great Lakes Basin, the latest being the conclusion of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. It then analyses the legal effects of the Agreement on Canadian water resources. This study concludes that there is nothing in the deal to suggest that Canada has in any way conceded future access to its water resources to the United States.

scholarly journals Ancient Lake Maxima and Substrate-dependent Riverine Migration Have Defined the Range of the Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) in Southern Ontario Following the Wisconsinan Glaciation

2016 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B Mills ◽  
Duncan J E Hill
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Ancient Lake ◽  
Flow Conditions ◽  
Great Lakes Basin ◽  
Southern Ontario ◽  
Necturus Maculosus ◽  
Outlet Flow ◽  
Nipissing Phase

The Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) is an entirely aquatic salamander whose geographic range is thus defined by immigration routes in watersheds that permit feasible travel. Significant barriers, such as large waterfalls, effectively bar this species from further colonization upstream. We compared the contemporary distribution of Mudpuppies in southern Ontario with varying post-glacial ancient lake maxima and riverine outlet-flow conditions. Topography does not appear to be a range-limiting factor, but the type of river grade (waterfalls versus riffles) does. The distribution of modern records of this species in Ontario aligns closely with maxima from the Nipissing phase occurring 4000–5000 years ago, leading us to suggest that this is when Mudpuppies invaded and proliferated in the Great Lakes Basin.

scholarly journals The Water-Energy-Environment Nexus in the Great Lakes Region: The Case for Integrated Resource Planning

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent C Tidwell ◽  
Victoria Pebbles
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Electric Power ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Electric Power Industry ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Great Lakes Basin

<p>Water is a critical element of electric power production in the U.S., particularly in the Great Lakes Basin region. Thermoelectric power generation accounts for the majority of all water withdrawals in the Basin, in large part due to the comparatively heavy concentrations of coal and nuclear power generation that utilize open-loop cooling. This paper explores how different energy generation portfolios could affect the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin. The suite of power generation scenarios analyzed reflects a range of potential outcomes resulting from the implementation of key national and regional energy and environmental policies for the electric power industry. These policies include U.S. EPA’s pending power plant cooling water intake standards, state renewable energy portfolio standards,  possible climate change legislation, and the 2005 Great Lakes regional water resource agreement (Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact of 2005; Public Law 110–342).  Five scenarios were analyzed, resulting in different levels and intensities of total water use (withdrawal and consumption) in hydrologically-sensitive watersheds. These results confirm the close relationship between water and energy in the Great Lakes, and point to the need to take into account water resource impacts in designing future energy and environmental policies.</p>

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