File No. 711.4216L/63
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador
Washington, February 26, 1914.
My dear Mr. Ambassador: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your personal note of January 23 last, relative to the action taken by the Canadian authorities in the matter of the protest made against the flooding of lands on the American side of the boundary by the dam at Kenora, Ontario.
With reference to your request for information as to whether this Government has, in the past, made to the British Government protests regarding damage done to property in the United States by the waters of the Lake of the Woods, similar to that contained in the Department’s note of May 19 last, I beg to bring to your notice the fact that on May 6, 1905, this Department addressed to your Embassy a note on the subject of the level of the Lake of the Woods, calling attention to its variations during the preceding year and to the desirability of maintaining the level at or above the datum of 7.2 feet on the Warroad harbor gauge for the benefit of navigation on the lake. The Department, in this note, expressed its opinion that the level of the Jake might easily be controlled by inserting or removing stop planks in the dam near Eat Portage, which the Department understood had passed to the control of the provincial government of Ontario, and suggested the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Canadian authorities whereby the dam could be so operated as to prevent the level of the lake from falling below the datum of 7.2 feet. Under date of September 27, 1906, another note was addressed to the Embassy, asking that the subject be recalled to the notice of the Canadian authorities. Aside from the note of May 19, 1913, referred to by you, there appears to be no record in this Department of any further correspondence with the British Government regarding injuries to American interests by the waters of the Lake of the Woods.
I am [etc.]