The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation plans to sue the International Joint Commission for failing to properly manage water levels on Lake Ontario. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon to a crowd of reporters and local public officials on the deck of Silk O’Loughlin’s in Irondequoit, overlooking the water. “The facts of the matter are […]
International Joint Commission
Posted inNews & Opinion
Federal watchdog agency to review Plan 2014
The federal government’s congressional watchdog agency is taking a look at a controversial plan that regulates outflows from Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence Seaway. The General Accounting Office is reviewing Plan 2014, the regulatory plan that went into effect a few years ago. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand called for the review earlier […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Questions and protests as Lake Ontario’s levels rise
Homeowners and businesses on Lake Ontario are facing the second round of destructive flooding in three years. The lake rose to record springtime peaks in 2017, but the levels this May and June have been even higher.
Posted inNews & Opinion
State offers $300 million for lakeshore infrastructure
Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state will provide up to $300 million to assist communities along Lake Ontario that have been hurt by flooding this year and in 2017. Cuomo announced the funding this morning during a press conference at the Riverside Convention Center. The governor was holding the first meeting of the state Lake Ontario […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
IJC, finally with quorum, faces the Great Lakes’ high water
The International Joint Commission, the joint U.S.-Canadian body that helps determine regulatory decisions about the Great Lakes, hasn’t had a quorum since late last year. Now it does, and a main focus will be the lakes’ flooding.
Posted inNews & Opinion
Feedback 5/15
We welcome your comments. Send them to feedback@rochester-citynews.com with your name, your daytime telephone number for verification, and your city, town or village. Comments of fewer than 500 words have a greater chance of being published, and we do edit selections for publication in print. We don’t publish comments sent to other media. Water, lakes, […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
The water’s everywhere – not solely in our lake
In late April, 6,000 people in the Montreal area had to be evacuated. Late last week, another 3,000 were forced out.
Posted inNews & Opinion
IJC says no plan would have stopped last year’s flooding
About that Lake Ontario flooding last year: blame it on the rain. And the melting snow, too. Today the International Joint Commission, the binational body that manages water bodies shared by Canada and the US, released a report on the causes of last year’s epic flooding. And the conclusions are sure to infuriate landowners and politicians […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Great Lakes contain flame retardants
An international commission says that the governments of Canada and the US can do more to keep toxic flame retardants out of the Great Lakes. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers have been found in significant levels in all of the Great Lakes. Lake Erie has the highest levels, with Lake Ontario coming in second, according to the […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Less water being taken from the Great Lakes
A US-Canada treaty that greatly restricts large-scale water withdrawals from the Great Lakes is working, says a new study prepared for the International Joint Commission. The commission is a bi-national organization that oversees water bodies shared between the United States and Canada. The IJC is accepting comments on the study through June 30. You can […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
Plan 2014 supporters speak out
A coalition of environmental groups is urging the federal government to approve a new plan for regulating Lake Ontario’s water levels. On Monday, the coalition, which includes the Nature Conservancy of Central and Western New York and Citizens Campaign for the Environment, held a press conference to show community support for Plan 2014. The plan would […]
