Greece, N.Y. - There's some bad news for folks who live along the shoreline of Lake Ontario.
During a visit to Monroe County yesterday, members of the International Joint Commission said nothing can be done to change the lake's water levels.
American and Canadian members differed about how much blame can be placed on the current lake management plan. Co-chair Jane Corwin said officials need to look into the weather patterns to decide whether to make changes to water management plans. She added that regulators let out as much water from Lake Ontario as they could last fall to try to avoid this situation but but record rainfalls and snowmelt raised the water level higher than expected. The Canadian IJC Chairman blamed the flooding this year and in 2017 on heavy spring rains and not on Plan 2014. Critics are quick to point out that flooding has been an issue every year along the shoreline since the plan was implemented in 2016.
Earlier this week, the IJC said water levels are expected to keep rising over the next few weeks. Levels are expected to exceed what they were in 2017, when flooding in some areas caused more than $100 million in damages to shoreline homes and businesses.