In 1998 the Wayne County SWCD, along with Jefferson, Oswego, Cayuga, Monroe County Water Quality Coordinating Committees and Orleans and Niagara County SWCDs, SUNY Brockport was awarded a grant from the Finger Lakes – Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance to create a Lake Ontario Embayment Education Initiative. The groups and agencies that submitted the proposals wished to convey that the bays, river and creek mouths, wetlands, and ponds, collectively referred to as embayments, are “of vital importance to the economic well-being of the area and are threatened by pollution.” The Initiative was to “… develop an awareness and concern for the environmental health of these embayments and to create a dialog that will ultimately influence policy makers on the need to develop sources of government funding to restore these unique but ecologically damaged ecosystems.”
In November 2000 Dr. Joseph Makarewicz of SUNY Brockport, with input from all seven of the NY Lake Ontario counties, completed the Initiative report titled New York’s North Coast – A Troubled Coastline (Lake Ontario Embayment Initiative). The report summarized the environmental problems associated with the embayments, harbors, ponds, creeks and rivers of each county bordering Lake Ontario and advocates the “creation of a more broad-based and adequately funded program targeted at improving water quality of the Lake Ontario embayments and tributaries of the North Coast of New York.”
In May 2002, the Center for Environmental Information (CEI) followed up on the first recommendation made in the North Coast report. With the support of Dr. Makarewicz, FL-LOWPA, and others representing private, business, educational, state, and international interests, CEI held a regional conference titled New York’s North Coast – A Troubled Coastline Conference. Its purpose was to “bring together the affected parties, to educate each other on common problems, and to develop a strategy to develop funding for sources for the restoration of embayment water quality.” This event attracted 176 participants from around the region. They heard from politicians, scientists, agencies, practitioners and each other about the current state of Lake Ontario, what has been and what still needs to be accomplished for restoration and remediation of the coastal ecosystem, and options for ways to facilitate this process. When asked in a questionnaire at the end of the conference, attendees suggested creating a coordinated community-based regional approach to restoration of the coastal waters and future informational conferences. In response, the North Coast Conference Steering Committee continued to meet under the new name of the Lake Ontario Coastal Initiative (LOCI) Steering Committee.
In September 2002 CEI was awarded a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2 to work with the LOCI Steering Committee to follow up the dialogue begun at the conference. The grant was:
In July 2003, after conversations with CEI about the LOCI and the needs for funds to support remediation, Congressman James Walsh announced that he had earmarked $250,000 of federal funds for CEI to aid in the planning, research, and environmental analysis for a Lake Ontario coastline remediation and restoration initiative. It is the intention of the LOCI Steering Committee to use this money to create a strategic plan for implementation of needed remediation projects and the creation of an organizational structure to administer the program.
CEI received an additional $500,000 in the Federal Fiscal year 2005 budget for LOCI as a result of funds earmarked by Congressman James T. Walsh. The additional funding will enable CEI and the other LOCI partners to help enhance the capabilities of coastal communities, agencies and citizens to work with State and Federal Agencies and each other. Most important, they will foster public participation, communication, education and consensus building for effective partnerships to resolve water quality problems.
A chronological summary of milestones in the evolution of LOCI, as well as programs and summaries of the various conferences can be found under LOCI 2002-2005: Milestones and Resources for Input and Public Participation.