Assemblywoman Jenne toured the shoreline on Wilson Hill and on Route 131 in the town of Louisville Tuesday and listened as long-time residents and river users shared their frustration with this year's low-water levels.
While high-water levels impacted residents and communities on Lake Ontario and the portion of the St. Lawrence River from Alexandria Bay to Lisbon last summer, Louisville residents say their property value is being impacted by low-water levels this summer.
Assemblywoman Jenne said her office has received concerns from a number of shoreline residents in the Louisville area in recent days, and she wanted to get a first-hand look at the situation.
"This is the lifeblood of our tourism economy," Assemblywoman Jenne said as she looked over the river from the lawn of a residence on Muskrat Point on Wilson Hill.
"I've been working on steps we can take to rebuild our maritime economy in the North Country. We've got to get this under control," she said after meeting with Wilson Hill residents, who shared their personal stories about the impact the low-water levels have had on their ability to use their docks and boats this summer.
James Garcia told Assemblywoman Jenne Wilson Hill residents know the water levels are determined by the federal IJC's River Board of Control, whose members come from the United States and Canada.
But he indicated he was hoping their message could be bolstered by sharing their concerns with state officials. He said his counterparts on Ault Island on the Canadian side of Lake St. Lawrence have also shared their frustrations with provincial officials.
Mr. Garcia said the low-water levels have resulted in damage to boats, boats struck in the mud and property owners unable to lower boats from hoists into the water.
After last year's flooding, the IJC has kept outflows high this summer and spring and while water levels are much closer to normal from Rochester to Alexandria Bay.
Wilson Hill residents say the velocity of moving that water out of the Great Lakes has literally drained water from Lake St. Lawrence.
Mr. Garcia said he and many of his neighbors have shared their concerns with the IJC, and the responses they have received have not left them optimistic about the rest of the boating season.
Some residents of the area say they have typically had boats in the water at their docks from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but it appears this year's season ended in early July.
They suggested the water levels on their shore ranges from 18 inches to four to five feet below what they expect to have during the first week of August.
Those residents say the low-water levels were exacerbated late last month when strong northeast winds over a period of a few days pushed even more water out of the lake, dropping water levels near their homes by about a foot in a short period of time.
Rob Caldwell, Canadian Secretary on the IJC's St. Lawrence River Board of Control, noted in an email to a Wilson Hill resident on July 23 that water levels on Lake St. Lawrence would remain very low this year, and he indicated those water levels could actually be expected to drop in the coming weeks.
Wilson Hill and Louisville residents say their current water levels are typically where the lake levels are in late October or early November.
" ... Plan 2014 will increase the variability of water levels you experience on Lake St. Lawrence, and, in some years as this one, you will experience very low levels for an extended period of time. That said, overall, residents of Lake St. Lawrence should see higher levels in general, but this will not happen until at least next year," Mr. Caldwell wrote in that email.
Mr. Garcia also shared an email with the assemblywoman he had received from Mr. Caldwell on July 24 in response to an inquiry he had sent suggesting the IJC should give some consideration to Lake St. Lawrence residents already suffering from low water levels when high east winds made a major concern even worse.
The email from the River Board of Control official noted outflows are typically changed only once a week.
"Changing the flow more often creates issues with other users such as commercial navigation, hydropower and recreational boaters elsewhere in the system that rely on consistent flows and water velocities. We cannot, therefore, take secondary transient effects such as wind into account in our regulatory practices," Mr. Caldwell wrote in his email response.
The IJC official also pointed out current water levels on Lake Ontario are comparable to levels in 1987 and 1998 under the previous regulation plan.
"It's worth noting the very high inflows from the upper Great Lakes from Lake Erie right now are comparable to those back in 1987 and 1998 too, when high outflows persisted during a similar period over the boating season," Mr. Caldwell said.
Assemblywoman Jenne, after discussing the issues with residents in the town of Louisville says she continues to have concerns about the quality of the data the River Board of Control uses when it makes its weekly outflow rulings.
She said the visit was valuable for her fact-gathering effort and pledged to share the concerns she heard with other state and federal officials.
"It's important to understand what is going on with our water levels, put it together with what happened last year, and see if there are tweaks that need to be made to Plan 2014," Assemblywoman Jenne said.
"I feel it is important to go out and see what is going on. It's worth investigating to make sure we are using the best data to make these outflow decisions. I question whether they are utilizing the latest state of the art technology to inform their decisions," the assemblywoman said.
"I am concerned they don't have the data they need and that could be reflected in a misinterpretation of Plan 2014 that is causing hardships along the watershed from the lakes to the locks over the past couple of years," she added.
The assemblywoman said she is also interested in learning if the IJC's decisions are being influenced by outside voices, whether they come from upriver of downriver from Lake Ontario.
Lake St. Lawrence is an artificial lake formed in the St. Lawrence River during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project and stretches from Waddington to Massena.
"I am concerned they don't have the data they need and that could be reflected in a misinterpretation of Plan 2014 that is causing hardships along the watershed from the lakes to the locks over the past couple of years," she added.
The assemblywoman said she is also interested in learning if the IJC's decisions are being influenced by outside voices, whether they come from upriver of downriver from Lake Ontario.
Lake St. Lawrence is an artificial lake formed in the St. Lawrence River during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project and stretches from Waddington to Massena.
IN THE TOP PHOTO:
Jim Garcia of Wilson Hill shows Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne photographs detailing the impact low-water levels on Lake St. Lawrence are having on some of his neighbors' properties.
