Syracuse.com - Critics of new Lake Ontario water regulation plan expecting the worst

[HuntingNY-News]

Steinkamp points out the impacts of low water were felt this summer. Imagine it getting worse, he said.

Jack Steinkamp, of Sodus Bay, can't foresee a better water regulation plan for Lake Ontario than the one now in existence.

A new proposal, Plan 2014, is currently before the International Joint Commission, a panel of U.S. and Canadian officials, and it would change the way the lake's water levels have been regulated since the late 1950s.

"You know, somebody can pull up here, look out and say it looks so beautiful and tranquil," he said. "They'll have no clue, though, what an extra foot or lack of a foot in the lake's depth means to the people living along its shore or doing business in its marinas or harbors."

Steinkamp, founder of the Lake Ontario Riparian Alliance (LORA), a non-profit citizens activist group, is angry about Plan 2014 and quick to rattle off the negatives. He cites increased erosion from high water events, decreased access from shore into the lake for boats and the anticipated need for more dredging of harbors and marinas due to low water conditions. He stresses there's no commitment or mention in the plan that provides for either the U.S. or Canadian governments or the state of New York to help pay landowners for the estimated nearly $2.23 million in annual negative impacts - a figure Steincamp says is "grossly underestimated."

His feelings are shared in full or in part by a number of counties and municipalities up and down the lake, including Cayuga and Oswego counties, that have passed resolutions against or expressing deep concerns about Plan 2014.

Steinkamp points out the impacts of low water were felt this summer. Imagine it getting worse, he said.

"This past summer the season ended some 6 to 8 weeks early in Sodus Bay because of low water levels. Imagine the money our community didn't get...the restaurants, the property rentals," Steincamp said, noting lakefront properties by their nature are assessed at values. Those along Lake Ontario's shore are taxed at rates that are among the highest in the Upstate area, he said.

Opponents of Plan 2014 include landowner groups like LORA, most of the counties and municipalities along the lake's southern shore stretching from Niagara to Oswego, a number of businesses and commercial interests along the south shore, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.and a number of Canadian maritime associations and Canadian shipping interests.

Read the main story on this issue.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog