A Management Strategy for Oneida Lake and its ... - CNY RPDB Home

Appendix A: Flooding and Water Level Management
The Flooding and Water Level Management Working Group met on a regular basis for a twelvemonth
period during 2003 and 2004. Special emphasis was placed on research and education and
several guest speakers were invited to present at the meetings. The following information was
compiled by the Working Group members and most agreed with the contents of these documents.
Full group endorsement was not reached, however, as several people did not agree with
the information presented or with the manner in which historical data was interpreted.
Process
Organizations, businesses, and homeowners
throughout the watershed have expressed
many differing opinions regarding flooding
and water level management. The Flooding
and Water Level Management (F/WLM)
Working Group was comprised of a diverse
collection of representatives that met on a
monthly basis for approximately 12 months
with the assistance of a meeting facilitator
from Cornell University.
Education was identified as an integral
component of the Working Group process and
a considerable amount of time was therefore
spent reviewing documents and hearing
presentations from guest speakers. Education
and outreach ideas for homeowners, elected
officials, and other primary stakeholders are
emphasized in the list of recommendations.
Throughout the duration of this period, the
Working Group agreed on several important
points:
- A specific timeline was established for
compiling the recommendations;
- Several important issues relating to flooding
and water level management were determined
to be beyond the scope of the Working Group
because of time restrictions, inadequate
availability of information, conflicting opinions,
and/or because the appropriate stakeholders
were not participating in the discussions.
This includes the following topics:
downstream (beyond the watershed boundary)
issues, upstream water storage and flooding,
dam remnants removal, dredging of the
shoals, interpretation of several technical
reports, rulings from recent law suites, water
level regulation by hydropower companies on
the Oswego River, and GIS mapping of flood
prone areas;
- Although upstream and downstream impacts
were considered and recognized to be potentially
relevant factors, the current priority was
to develop recommendations to address only
flooding and water level management along
the Oneida Lake shoreline;
- Effective surface water management is a
regional issue and decisions to alleviate
flooding in the Oneida Lake watershed require
regional partnerships with lake communities
throughout the Oswego River
Basin.
page 86
Appendices