Governor seeks strong federal-state partnership to help protect Lake Ontario communities

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 February 2018 at 10:40 am

File photo: Residents and the National Guard work to put sandbags along the shoreline in Kendall this past May as high waters caused erosion and damage to the shoreline.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is pushing for a strong federal-state partnership to ensure the protection of flood-prone communities along the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River shoreline.

He sent a letter to Colonel Adam Czekanski, Buffalo district commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, requesting protections for 90 sites that are primarily along Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence River.

Several of those sites – “identified advance measures locations” – are in Orleans County. They include the following privately owned sites:

• Yates – Smythe Lane, Petrie Lane, Pratt Lane, Peters Lane, Sunnycreast Lane and Lake Forest Road

• Carlton – Oak Orchard on the Lake, Knapp Shores and West Brighton Cliffe Drive

• Kendall – Lomond Shores, Banner Beach and Sunset Parkway

Identified advance measures locations at state parks include Oak Orchard State Marine Park in Carlton and the Lake Ontario State Parkway from Carlton to Rochester

Cuomo said the current water levels indicate “a serious threat for renewed coastal flooding in 2018.” The lake is about a foot above normal.

The state has provided $67 million to impacted New Yorkers, the governor said.

“We are taking every step to provide relief and help this beleaguered region recover,” he wrote in his letter. “But our resources are not inexhaustible.”

Federal funding through the Army Corps’ Advanced Measures program “is critical to the protection of the shoreline,” Cuomo said. He also is seeking a comprehensive assessment of the shoreline from the Army Corps, with a plan to how to best protect the land from future storms.

“This crisis will not simply recede with the water – we need a strong federal-state partnership to ensure the protection of our communities over the long term,” the governor wrote.

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