Photo by Roy Widrig/NYSG Erosion along the Lake Erie shoreline has exposed tree roots and damaged the bluff.

IRVING — New York Sea Grant, the Sunset Bay Association, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a workshop on Friday, June 13, to help waterfront property owners, municipal leaders, and natural resource managers better understand the climate and weather patterns that influence seiche events, erosion, and flooding along New York’s Lake Erie shoreline.

The workshop will be from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Sunset Bay Volunteer Fire Station 1 at 12798 Allegany Road in Irving. Registration is encouraged for this free workshop. To register, visit www.nyseagrant.org/glcoastal. For more information, call New York Sea Grant at 315-312-3042.

The workshop will include presentations by retired National Weather Service personnel on weather patterns that cause seiches, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) coastal processes staff on the management of sandy shoreline, and DEC staff on Coastal Erosion Hazard Areas in New York and DEC permitting requirements. Copies of a “Seiche Events on Lake Erie” fact sheet authored by NYSG Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist Roy Widrig will be available to workshop attendees.

Seiche (pronounced “saysh”) events can drive prolonged seiche waves of 8 feet or more against the eastern Lake Erie shoreline. Five of the top ten recorded Lake Erie seiches near Buffalo have occurred since 2019, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Widrig notes, “Recent intensified seiche events along Lake Erie have caused more shoreline erosion in low-lying coastal areas, flooding, and dangerous rip currents.”

Climate patterns suggest that the risk of seiche impact along Lake Erie may intensify, particularly in years when the lake does not ice over.

Funding for this program is provided by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund, under the authority of the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Conservation Act, in cooperation with NYSDEC’s Great Lakes Program.

New York Sea Grant is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York and one of 34 university-based programs under the National Sea Grant College Program. Its statewide network integrates research, education, and extension services focused on coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness and understanding about New York’s Great Lakes and marine resources, www.nyseagrant.org. # # #