Lake Ontario

Olcott is ready to build multimillion-dollar defenses against Lake Ontario's high waters, which have hit shoreline communities so hard the last couple of years. Just in time for the construction, lake levels are low.

Lake Ontario is eight inches lower than average for this time of year. That’s the lowest it’s been in early April since 2015 and a hopeful sign the chance of flooding on the lake and St. Lawrence River is relatively low this summer.

More than 140 businesses along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River will get state money to make their properties less vulnerable to flooding.

The International Joint Commission has appointed a 16-member public advisory group to help identify potential improvements to the regulation of Lake Ontario outflows into the St. Lawrence River.

Water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River are expected to peak well below the record high levels reached in 2017 and 2019.

The international agency that regulates water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River could find itself the target of lawsuits if some upstate New York congressional representatives have their way.

The recently released "count the cost" survey of 379 households in New York found that the average loss per home from the flooding along Lake Ontario's shoreline in 2017 and 2019 is $95,000. And the authors of the survey say it's not just those at the top who are suffering. Half of the households who participated in the survey earn less than $125,000 and 70% of those who responded say they do not have the resources to protect against another year of flooding.

The start of the shipping season on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River will be delayed by at least 12 days. It’s due to the efforts to try and deal with the possibility of flooding along the lakeshore.

Governor Cuomo announced Wednesday that 20 harbors in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River will be dredged over the next two years, including two in Niagara County, as part of an ongoing state project to protect the shoreline from what was again called "the new normal" of lake waters.

The U.S. and Canadian governments plan to undertake a study to assess Plan 2014, the water management plan used to help regulate the water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State Attorney General Letitia James have announced an expanded lawsuit against the International Joint Commission, for “failing to implement its flood protocol for the Moses-Saunders Power Dam.” That is the dam that can be used to help regulate the level of water in Lake Ontario.

Officials say populations of fish-killing sea lamprey remain at near-historic lows in Lakes Ontario and Michigan, but are above target levels in Lakes Erie, Huron and Superior.

The amount of water that officials on the International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board are releasing from Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence River continues to be above the usual outflows for this time of year. That is due to the fact that lake levels are still over the so-called trigger levels in the government's water management, called Plan 2014. When those levels are exceeded, the Board can deviate from the Plan, allowing for more water to be pushed into the river.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced some changes this week to his plan to build back the southern shore of Lake Ontario.

Local community members will now be able to play an even larger role in shaping the proposed national marine sanctuary in Lake Ontario. The federal government is seeking applications from those interested in serving on a council that would advise the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as it considers creating a 1,700-square-mile national marine sanctuary in the southeastern portion of the lake to preserve the shipwrecks below its waters.

This week, central New York Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) brought acting administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Pete Gaynor, to tour some of the flooding damage along the Lake Ontario shoreline. The purpose was to figure out how to get funding for those affected.

Katko said it starts with local authorities aggregating the extent of the damages. The state will decide if it warrants a disaster declaration. Then, it goes to the president, which if he approves it, would release funds.

Greece Supervisor Bill Reilich has a new role overseeing the Great Lakes.

The international board that helps manage water levels on the Great Lakes announced it is reducing outflows. This means the International Joint Commission's International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board will be letting less water from Lake Ontario through the Moses-Saunders Power Dam into the upper St. Lawrence River.

Lake Ontario is on the decline, but that doesn’t mean the worst is over. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it doesn't expect the water in the Great Lakes to go down too much, too soon.