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DIR Return to: Seneca River - Erie Canal Community Discussion
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#Post#: 2454--------------------------------------------------
Welcome Seneca River / Erie Canal Neighbors to the Discussion
DIR By: Doug K
Date: June 25, 2023, 12:20 pm
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We, my wife Sandy & I, used to live along an unsafe Earthen
Canal Embankment in Monroe County... and we traded that for
full-time living along the Upper Seneca River.
We had to get used to having NYS as a neighbor, as they owned
the Erie Canal that was behind that unsafe embankment dam and
the Empire Trail that ran along the canal main channel.
And now we moved to a new home, new retirement lifestyle but we
still have to deal with a few NYS agencies who share the same
space along the Seneca River. That includes the Seneca River
sections that were changed in the 1920s to enlarge the Erie
Canal to a more commercial sized waterway. and also the sections
of the Seneca River that have been abandoned, bypassed when the
Erie Canal made the "big cut" along what is now the Northern
Montezuma Preserve.
We have the New York Power Authority as neighbors, they own and
operate the NYS Canal Corporation and also are the CHAMPIONS of
the Reimagine the Canals Program that is slowly turning the Erie
Canal Corridor, from Waterway to trail, into a more recreational
centered destination for New Yorkers and everyone from around
the world. NYPA is a main energy company and is serious about
safety along the Canal System and also insuring they do the
right thing environmentally, they have several active programs
dealing with invasive species issues along the NYS Canal System.
REIMAGINE THE CANALS -
HTML https://ecna.us/reimagine/
- NYPA / NYS Canal Corporation Invasive Species Programs -
Earthen Embankment Management -
HTML https://www.nyscanalintegrity.org/
General Invasive Species Programs -
HTML https://www.canals.ny.gov/community/environmental/Invasive_Species.html
Just about every agency that releases water from the western
Finger Lakes, is now a neighbor. Cottage associations upstream
flood us with every major rainfall. And there are a few smaller
power generation companies that have strategic releases of
water, that threaten to put our dock underwater everytime we see
an inch or two of rain. We are starting to see the pattern
though and can get our boat moved around as needed now as each
lake empties their overflow down to the Seneca-Erie Canal here
in Central NY.
We also have the New York State DEC (multiple Regions), along
with the Dept of Fish & Wildlife, under the DEC Bureau of
Wildlife. These folks try to manage the issues in the waters,
along the waters, and with visitors to the waters and
surrounding lands. Our Neighbor to the west is the Howland
Island preserve, where a DEC Field office is located.
And of course, Mother Nature is our neighbor. Water flows
downhill, and we were told to expect "some flooding" and as 'new
kids on the block' we took a wait & see attitude. Didn't quite
expect 7 FEET of CHANGE in the Seneca River "tide" but NYPA and
the NYS Canal Folks are starting to work on that by getting
communication working to prevent the flooding issues many of us
see.
And let's NOT forget the other part of living in the middle of
nature... fish to catch in the river our great neighbors and
tasty too. And we have seen more kinds of wildlife here than we
have ever seen in our lives. It's like living in an
ever-changing wild kingdom. Ducks, Eagles, 1000s of Birds... and
Fishers, Beavers, Otters, and Muskrats vie for food along the
shoreline with the Minks and Blue Herons.
Every season is better than the last, we are in our first
summer, after a nice Autumn and busy Winter.
[attachimg=3]
And hopefully many of you reading this FIRST POST of our new
ECNA Board will use this Forum as part of an open discussion
with ALL of these agencies. We have the ear of the New York
State agencies, hopefully we can start to discuss issues seen
downstream from agencies and associations on Keuka & Canandaigua
Lakes, and on Seneca & Cayuga Lakes as well.
Maybe we can start to find out why Oneida Lake has to have it's
water level regulated to NINE INCHES overall while the Seneca
River basin is allowed to change to SEVEN FEET from min to max
levels.
Please follow the guidelines of the ECNA Forum, we suggest you
sign-up as a Member so you can view the other Forum Boards we
have that are not open to guests & the general public. And lets
start the conversations up about issues we see and how we can
find the right state or federal agencies to help our particular
Erie Canal Neighborhood out.
The Seneca River - Erie Canal section of the Erie Canal National
Heritage Corridor is one of the most unique there is...
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=2]
MORE LINKS:
HTML https://eriecanalway.org/application/files/4716/6611/7638/6_WTGuide2E_Cayuga-Seneca_p214-240.pdf
HTML https://www.gofingerlakes.org/locations/cayuga-seneca-canal-trail/
#Post#: 2459--------------------------------------------------
Re: Welcome Seneca River / Erie Canal Neighbors to the
Discussion
DIR By: Neighbor greg
Date: June 26, 2023, 1:13 pm
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Thank you an excellent statement of the situation
#Post#: 2460--------------------------------------------------
Re: Welcome Seneca River / Erie Canal Neighbors to the
Discussion
DIR By: Doug K
Date: June 26, 2023, 3:16 pm
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Greg, we use a term here... perzactly!
It appears that a new monitoring station was added/installed on
the Seneca River by Mosquito Point, another in the USGS wide
array of water level sensors for the Seneca River Corridor. But
it doesn't have any set min or max levels yet, I was told by
NYSCC that the aim is 372' but is allowed to rise to 379' in
certain situations. That's 7 feet overall and it appears that
most Finger Lakes upstream, who dump water into our bavkyards
have about 20% of that... these min & max levels allowed are
separated by 10 - 20".
So the question is simple, and we all need to ask the 'powers to
be' :
Can these minimum & maximum water levels, used for water
releases, be changed so that upstream water sources could hold a
bit more water, to slow the releases over a few days, so the
whole system can recover?
Seneca River is designated as a Floodway, but doesn't need to be
if the water is managed properly.. don't you think?
Let's get the Seneca - Erie Neighbors organized now, so we can
work some solutions from these opportunities for improvement.
The ECNA does have the ear of NYPA & the NYS Canal Corporation,
and a link to these posts have been sent to CEOs in both
organizations.
The NYS DEC has also been sent links to the posts about Water
Chestnut issues... that's a big issue and only getting bigger
with time and inactivity by ALL parties who could fix the issue,
or at least try to...
Read this post:
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/seneca-river-erie-canal-community-discussion/time-to-get-serious-about-invasive-water-chestnuts-around-howland-island-seneca-/
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