Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is a complex of waterfalls on the Niagara River, which separates the U.S. state of New York from Canadian province of Ontario. Niagara Falls include Horseshoe Falls, sometimes called the Canadian Falls, the American Falls waterfall and the Bridal Veil Falls. While not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls are very wide and are the most powerful waterfalls in North America
The height of waterfalls is 53 meters. The foot of American Falls waterfalls is shielded by heap of stones, that is why its visible height is only 21 meters. The American Falls is 323 feet wide, The Horseshoe waterfall - 792 meters. The volume of falling water is up to 5700 m³ per sec.
The beauty of this miracle of nature attracts many tourists from all over the world, which contributes to the prosperity of the cities situated on the banks of the Falls – Niagara Falls, New York state, USA and Niagara Falls, Ontario province, Canada.
The most spectacular view of the Falls can be enjoyed from the Canadian coast. A few hundred meters downstream Rainbow Bridge is thrown across the Niagara, carrying both pedestrian and vehicular traffic between the two countries and Canadian and U.S. customs for each country.
During the first two centuries after the settlement of Europeans, the land on both sides of Niagara Falls has become privately owned. Development and commercial ventures began to threaten the natural beauty of the area, and visitors sometimes had to pay money to businessmen to see the waterfall through a hole in the fence. Public discontent led to the movement of the "Free Niagara», which included the painter Frederick Church, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a member of the local legislative body Thomas Vincent Welch and journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison. Harrison's letters to New York and Boston newspapers greatly contributed to changing of public opinion towards the preservation of the Falls. In 1885 New York State began to buy the land out from the owners including Niagara Reservation State Park. The same year, the province of Ontario in Canada founded Queen Victoria Niagara Falls Park for the same purpose. Both organizations have significantly restricted building activity around the waterfalls and the Niagara River. On its side Canadian Niagara Parks Commission monitors the use of land along the Niagara River from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
Up to now, owing to erosion the falls were gradually drawing back to south at a speed of 0.6 to 3.0 meters a year. At first, this process was slowed down by increasing the outflow of water from the Niagara River to hydroelectric power plants in the United States and Canada. January 2, 1929 Canada and the United States reached an agreement to halt further erosion. In 1950 two countries signed the Niagara River Water Diversion Treaty, suggesting further effort to divert the water. In addition to the diverting of some water to power plants, erosion control efforts include underwater dam to redirect the most devastating flows, and the strengthening of slopes at the top of the waterfall. The most significant work was done in1969. In June of that year, the course of the Niagara River was changed completely, and American Falls remained dry for a few months. This allowed creating a temporary rock slope and levee. While Horseshoe waterfall received an additional volume of water, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers studied the riverbed, repairing some faults to prevent eventual erosion of the American side of the waterfall.
Plan to remove the heaps of stones, formed in 1954 as a result of the landslide, was revised because of high expenses of the project, and in November 1969 the temporary dam was blown up to restore water flow. Even then, Luna Island, a small piece of land between American Falls and Veil waterfall was closed to the public for many years because of fears that it could collapse any moment.
Conservation efforts were made outside the waterfalls proper. The building of several tall buildings (most of which were hotels) on the Canadian side made air flow change its direction. Students from the University of Guelph, using scale models, showed that air passes over the new hotels, twists on the south side of buildings and goes downstream the river, causing whirlpools. As a result, observation decks on the Canadian side are often covered with fog. Another possible explanation for the fog is rising temperatures due to global warming. In any case, the solution of the problem is not so easy.
Soil erosion under the waterfall continues, which suggests that the falls are slowly moving upstream. According to experts, over the past 560 years, the average travel speed was 1-1.5 m per year. The building of the bypass channel and power plant, as well as an artificial stone levee at American Falls, led to slow erosion, now it is estimated at 30 cm per year, with further measures of protection it can be reduced to 30 cm per 10 years. Further speed of the waterfall also depends on natural factors such as climate change. Upstream of the Niagara there are rapids, and if the waterfall draws down to their highest point, its height will increase by another 15 m, which in turn will increase the pressure on the bottom and quicken the erosion. The problem is shown in popular science TV series "Life After People", according to which in 5,000 years American Falls and the Veil will dry, while the Horseshoe Falls will move to the north for 1.2 miles.