Contact:

Roy Widrig, Great Lakes Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist, E: rlw294@cornell.edu, P: (315) 312-3042

Oswego, NY, December 13, 2021 — In early December, Lake Erie and Western Lake Ontario waterfront property owners virtually participated in workshops in an effort to mitigate the impact of shoreline erosion. 

A workshop targeted towards Niagara and Orleans Counties was held on Tuesday, December 7th.


Presentation — Erosion Management for Lake Ontario (pdf)

A workshop aimed at Lake Erie shoreline residents in Erie and Chautauqua Counties was held on Thursday, December 9th.


Presentation — Erosion Management for Lake Erie (pdf)

The pair of workshops were hosted by New York Sea Grant's Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist Roy Widrig, author of Working with Nature, A Guide to Native Plants for New York’s Great Lakes Shorelines.

This is a partnership effort between New York Sea Grant, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, New York Department of State, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“The processes of erosion and accretion along Lakes Erie and Ontario share some similarities, but vast differences in the physical makeup of their shorelines, and the differences in approaching management options must be considered when planning a project,” says Widrig,

In each workshop Widrig covered ways to address such issues as planning for lake level variations, designing and maintaining seawalls or rock rip-rap, water pooling in yards or basements, and general coastal processes. Participants learned how they can freely access Widrig's expertise through New York Sea Grant’s “Virtual Shoreline Visit” tool, www.nyseagrant.org/glcoastalvirtualsitevisit.

Locally-based New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Department of State, and Army Corps of Engineers personnel discussed the permitting process for shoreline projects and answer questions as part of each workshop.

Workshop participants saw before and after photos of properties that have applied options to achieve better drainage, bluff stabilization, and have used nature-based features or traditional structures to manage erosion. Widrig also shared tips from Working with Nature.

For more information on Great Lakes coastal processes and erosion, visit the website at www.nyseagrant.org/glcoastal.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island; at Brooklyn College, with New York City Department of Environmental Protection in Queens and at Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Elmsford and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.