CUMULATIVE IMPACT ASSESSMENT - of Withdrawals, Consumptive Uses & Diversions

The assessment of Cumulative Impacts shall form a basis for the review of the Standard and the ExceptionStandardandtheirapplication. [...] Outflowsinclude the Niagara River, evaporation from the surface of the Lake, Diversions and Consumptive Uses throughout the Watershed.4 Figure 14 shows the watershed. [...] As illustrated in Figure 15 and Table G, the largestoutflow for the Lake Erie Watershed is the Niagara River and the smallest is Consumptive Use. [...] As noted in the Introduction, the review and potential revisions to Basin-widewaterconservationandefficiencygoalsandobjectivespursuanttoArticle304paragraph 3 of the Agreement and Section 4.2.3 of the Compact, and other future work, must be in part based on the cumulative impact assessment. [...] In particular, with the potential for changes in the growing season due to changes in the climate, the forecasting of the demand by the agricultural sector may be of particular interest as the region’s water managers work to ensure that water is available for such uses.