British Officer E. T. Coke, after visiting Niagara Falls in 1832. What made Niagara Falls the most famous waterfall in the world was the enormous amount of water rushing over the crest of the cataracts. But the extraordinary spectacle of Niagara Falls has been greatly diminished since October 10, 1950. On that day, a treaty between the United States of America and Canada took effect. The treaty limits the amount of water passing over Niagara Falls.
Water is diverted from the river above the falls to hydroelectric power plants in both countries.
The diverted water is returned to the river roughly 6 miles down-river of the falls. Since the implementation of the 1950 Niagara River Water Diversion Treaty, everyone has been deprived of seeing Niagara Falls in their full glory. This was done to help distribute the flow of water more evenly over the crest of the falls. A summer time visitor to Niagara Falls now sees only half of the natural volume of the river passing over the falls. On winter days and every night the volume is reduced even more, to only one quarter of the natural volume.