SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – With Lake Ontario’s water levels about a foot above average, communities along its shoreline are trying to get help in preventing the flooding that devastated the area in 2017.
“This protects us from the strong winds and waves that come in,” Basile said. “When you have the 8, 10, 12-footers out on the lake we don’t have that on the bay. This dissipates all of that.”
But the pier is collapsing due to years of damage from Lake Ontario, leaving the bay and Fair Haven vulnerable to possible flooding.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is conducting an assessment to determine what repairs are needed, but funding to make those changes has not been acquired.
But there are other projects in communities along Lake Ontario that need attention as Lake Ontario’s levels rise. Sodus Point Mayor Dave McDowell says the Wayne County village’s east break wall is deteriorating and has huge holes in it. They have also called on the U.S. Army Corps for assistance in repairing the structure.