Case Studies
It Takes a Village: How the Village of Sodus Point Is Adapting to Variable Water Levels
Partnerships and local knowledge can help municipalities—especially smaller ones, such as the Village of Sodus Point—find new ways to build climate resilience.
Adaptative, community-based planning for extreme high and low water levels in the Great Lakes region can be challenging, especially given the uncertainty surrounding future water levels. In 2017 and 2019, Lake Ontario reached record high water levels that lasted for months.1,2 Shoreline communities saw unprecedented depth and duration of flooding. Water overran shorelines and breakwater walls, inundating homes and businesses, covering streets, overburdening wastewater treatment facilities, exacerbating system-wide erosion, and damaging private and public property. The flooding affected the quality of life of those who live, work, and play along Lake Ontario. Following the unprecedented high in water levels in 2017,3 some municipalities—particularly smaller ones such as the Village of Sodus Point—sought out new ways to build climate resilience.
Highlights
- As the climate changes, communities on the Great Lakes are becoming more vulnerable to flooding.
- The Village of Sodus Point, a small, rural municipality, shows how municipalities can use experience, partnerships, and local knowledge to adapt to fluctuating water levels.
- Ongoing action, such as Sodus Point’s post-flood recovery plan, can allow municipalities to focus on future resilience rather than simply rebuilding after climate disasters.
Extreme high- or low-water levels in Lake Ontario can result in coastal flooding or drought. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts water level forecast modeling for all the Great Lakes. However, predicting and preparing for coastal flooding in the Great Lakes region is complicated because of climate-related uncertainties around precipitation and water level modeling projections, the size of the system, and the need for resilience measures to adapt to both extreme high- and extreme low- water levels.
The Village of Sodus Point is located in Wayne County, New York on the northwest edge of Sodus Bay of Lake Ontario. The village has a population of less than 1000 and a small government consisting of a mayor, code enforcement officer, clerk, and deputy clerk.4 Like many other communities, the village relied on their county’s All-Hazard Mitigation Plan to respond to emergencies. After the 2017 high water level damage, the village developed a new action plan to be more resilient and self-sufficient in future events. To create the plan, the village turned to partnerships for technical expertise and resources. The Village of Sodus Point’s action plan helps local leadership identify critical water level thresholds. The critical water level thresholds trigger specific resilience actions. These actions can include updating emergency response and recovery personnel lists, purchasing sand and bags, and preparing a sand bagging station. Through the post-flood recovery plan, the village created a new approach to protecting and improving at-risk assets.
The Village of Sodus Point also received state funding assistance to improve high-water level resilience. In response to the excessive flooding in 2017, New York State created the Resiliency & Economic Development Initiative (REDI) to increase the resilience of shoreline communities and bolster economic development of shoreline communities along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.* REDI provided approximately $41.5 million to Wayne County, with nearly $9 million of that going to the village for specific resilience projects.5 This funding supported the creation of a sand dune to protect 125 homes along the lake side of the village during high water. The REDI funding also provided enhancements to the South Ontario Street Stormwater Management Project, which remedied roughly one-third of the village’s stormwater drainage area, an estimated 52 acres containing over 200 homes and parcels. The upgrade replaced an outdated and poorly functioning natural system with a piped system sized for a 10-year storm. In addition to the REDI funding, the 2017 Lake Ontario–St. Lawrence River Flood Relief and Recovery Grant Program6 allowed for the 10% of homes with the highest flood risk to be elevated, reducing their risk of flooding.
Although flood resilience has been greatly improved through these projects, village officials estimate an additional $14 million would be required to cover remaining coastal resilience work. State programs such as REDI that involve close collaboration with local communities have proven vital for community resilience in the Great Lakes and could be replicated elsewhere in the state.6,7
References
1. David, A. M. (2019, October 15). Impacts of the extreme 2019 Great Lakes high water levels felt throughout Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. International Joint Commission. Retrieved June 8, 2023, from https://ijc.org/en/impacts-extreme-2019-great-lakes-high-water-levels-felt-throughout-lake-ontario-and-st-lawrence
2. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (n.d.). Great Lakes water level data. Retrieved June 23, 2023, from https://www.lre.usace.army.mil/Missions/Great-Lakes-Information/Great-Lakes-Information-2/Water-Level-Data/
3. Peace, L. (n.d.). This is no typical summer in Sodus Point as flooding issues persist. Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2017/07/22/sodus-point-lake-ontario-flooding/496492001/
4. U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). Sodus Point Village, New York [dataset]. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://data.census.gov/all?q=Sodus%20Point%20village,%20New%20York
5. Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative. (2014). Project profiles for Wayne region. https://www.ny.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/REDI_Project_Profiles_WA_20191010.pdf
6. New York State Homes and Community Renewal. (n.d.). Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Flood Relief and Recovery Grant Program. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://hcr.ny.gov/lake-ontario-st-lawrence-river-flood-relief-and-recovery-grant-program
7. New York State Homes and Community Renewal. (n.d.). $15 million available for homeowners impacted by flooding. Retrieved December 21, 2023, from https://www.ny.gov/lake-ontario-relief-and-recovery/7-million-available-homeowners-impacted-flooding