Many people don’t know that the water flowing over Niagara Falls is managed carefully and there are treaties that limit the amount of water that can flow from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. There’s about a 100 metre drop from Erie to Ontario, which is what creates the Falls. The flow is less than 50% of the unimpeded flow during the day and only about 10-15% of the unimpeded flow at night. The rest of the water is diverted to hydro-electric plants on both sides of the border.
Niagara Falls was originally 7 miles further down Lake Ontario but the full flow of the water through the centuries eroded the soft shale that forms the rock under the Falls. The amount of water MUST be reduced because the erosion would keep moving the Falls further and further west. That’s completely undesirable now that there’s an entire tourist industry and travel infrastructure built around the Falls on both sides of the Canada/US border. The Falls currently erode the crest only about an inch per year, but they’ll likely be entirely gone in less than 100,000 years because the erosion can’t be completely stopped.
Hello everyone. I’ve been MIA, my phone with all the passwords suffered a tragic death death by my bush hog mower. LOL. This thread is a crucial part of my daily routine to stay on top of things, thank you to everyone. And Little Linda, thank you for that info about the Falls! I live in WNY and never knew that. Now waiting for Trump to send Hochul over the falls in a barrel.....
The Falls currently erode the crest only about an inch per year, but they’ll likely be entirely gone in less than 100,000 years because the erosion can’t be completely stopped.
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another victim of climate change?