Debate over managing Great Lakes levels continues

A study board made up of U.S. and Canadian scientists has released an assessment of options for controlling water levels on the Great Lakes, according to a report from the Associated Press. The report is the most recent development in the decades-old debate on whether lake levels should be altered to appease waterfront property owners and businesses or left alone.

The most extreme option is a multibillion-dollar engineering project to manage levels on all five lakes. The levels of Lake Superior and Lake Ontario are already regulated by dams, but officials say structures have limited influence while precipitation and evaporation play the biggest role.