Tony David, a water resources program manager with the tribe’s Environment Division, will be a member of the International Joint Commission’s (IJC) International Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Board of Control through Jan. 31.

The board’s main duty is overseeing the Plan 2014 implementation, ensuring that outflows from Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence River, including releases from the Moses-Saunders Dam, comply with the requirements of the IJC’s Supplementary Order of Approval. The tribe has been working to negate the environmental impact of regulated water levels and supported implementation of Plan 2014 in partnership with Save the River, American Rivers, congressional leadership, and the IJC.

As the SRMT water resources program manager, David oversees the Environment Division’s effort to protect and enhance Akwesasne’s water resources, including fish species through a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science. Since 1999, he has coordinated efforts to reintroduce Atlantic Salmon into the St. Regis River, as well as to improve the natural habitat for Lake Sturgeon and other species.

David also served as project leader for the tribe’s decommissioning and removal of the Hogansburg Dam in collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and state Department of Environmental Conservation. It was the first hydroelectric dam in the state to be successfully removed, and the first federally licensed dam in the United States to be removed by a tribe.

David will attend the IJC’s International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board of Control semi-annual board meeting being held at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s Great Lakes and Ohio River Division Office in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 1.

“For nearly 13 years, Tony has been leading projects within the Tribe’s Water Resources Program to improve water quality standards, fish populations and other efforts to protect and rehabilitate our natural environment,” Tribal Chief Ron LaFrance said in a prepared statement. “I’m proud that his experience and knowledge is now being enlisted to enhance the environments for river communities that reside all along the St. Lawrence River.”