What LOCI has accomplished

The Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative (LOCI) was founded in 2002 to unite our community in the effort to improve the quality of the coastal water. Since then we have received funding for analysis of impairments in tributaries, basic research, assessment of phytoplankton, improvement of wastewater treatment and infrastructure, coastal education and sustainable use/strategic planning for local areas.
Lake Ontario’s coastal waters are a valuable resource for drinking water, recreational activities, fishing, and wastewater processing. Despite significant water quality improvements in the open, offshore waters of the lake, the 320 miles of shoreline, river and creek mouths and embayments suffer from severe impairments, including beach closings, problems with the taste and odor of drinking water, increased treatment costs for drinking water, habitat destruction, animal and fish deformities and erosion, and restrictions on dredging activities.
An Action Agenda to guide restoration was produced by LOCI in January 2006. Extensive public participation process involving a variety of stakeholders throughout the region, including government officials, the research community, environmental and civic organizations, and concerned citizens formed its basis. The Action Agenda proposes a fifteen year, multi –million dollar program to remediate, restore, protect and enable the sustainable use of New York’s north coast.

Next Steps

There are many well-intentioned programs, both public and private, that address some aspect of cleaning up the Lake Ontario shoreline. LOCI believes that New York State needs an over-arching program to harness the collective capability of these programs. From the Action Agenda, we propose that this program outlined below focus on four issues. This effort is critical to the economic and environmental revitalization of the Lake Ontario basin.

1. Education and Awareness will promote better understanding and appreciation of the issues facing the Lake Ontario basin in order to encourage greater public participation, individual responsibility, and action for protecting these resources. Estimated cost is $100,000/year.
   
2. Capability Building is geared towards providing local communities with understanding and technical assistance to allow them to document their individual community contributions to water quality impairment and how to fix it. Estimated cost is $200,000/year.
   
3. Research must be conducted to better understand the extent and nature of the impairments to ensure remediation is done cost-effectively. Estimated cost is $500,000 – 1,000,000/year.
   
4. Implementation of selected, cost-effective capital projects and best management practices is the final step. It is estimated that the region will need to spend between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000 per year for 15 years to make an impact.

PHOTO CREDIT: JAY ROSS
LOCI News displayed this image of Braddock's Bay on page 3 of its Winter Newsletter. Credit for this photo goes to Jay Ross with our apology for the omission. Thank you Jay for the use of your lovely image.

LOCI News Winter 2008

LOCI Action Agenda