New York Sea Grant has awarded rapid response funding to Cornell University to develop and conduct a standardized high water impact survey in the areas along southern and eastern Lake Ontario. This effort is in response to stakeholder requests for a standardized method to collect data on the impacts of high water levels on waterfront properties.
The information collected will be used to identify areas that are most vulnerable to high water levels in the future, and to inform future community flood risk planning.
The survey was pilot tested in the Sodus Bay area of Wayne County, and will be made available through municipality email lists and New York Sea Grant social media to property owners in communities along southern and eastern Lake Ontario. Survey responses will be accepted through Aug. 31.
The project leaders are New York Sea Grant Coastal Community Development Specialist Mary Austerman, Cornell University assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering Dr. Scott Steinschneider, and Cornell University professor of natural resources Dr. Richard C. Stedman.
New York Sea Grant is also developing a specific survey for the St. Lawrence River region.
New York Sea Grant is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, and one of three university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. New York Sea Grant maintains Great Lakes regional offices in Buffalo, Newark and Oswego.
