Free help available to landowners, communities to evaluate and address waterfront erosion problems
In 2025, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) Great Lakes Coastal Processes and Hazards Specialist Roy Widrig anticipates property owners and community leaders will have questions about impact to shorelines by heavy winter snows and melting snowpack. NYSG is offering free online and in-person assistance to help property owners evaluate shoreline areas for damage and to develop potential remediation response. The assistance is available via the NYSG Virtual Site Visit portal at https://www.nyseagrant.org/glcoastal and by calling NYSG at 315-312-3042.
This free assistance represents an estimated cost-saving value of up to $1,000 for a basic shoreline erosion evaluation and up to $10,000 for a neighborhood-level assessment (based on Bureau of Labor Statistics). New York Sea Grant provides this assistance with support from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund, in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Great Lakes Program.
Widrig’s assistance is available to property owners and communities throughout New York’s Great Lakes region and its inland watershed areas serving Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River.
Recent site visits by Widrig have shown that some coastal erosion issues have worsened due to natural events, including intense winter storms, heavy rainfall, and flooding, and through lack of maintenance of shoreline revetments.
“High intensity rainfall; lake, river, and stream flooding; and storm events that may include a Nor’easter, seiche, or meteotsunami have impacted various areas in New York,” said Widrig, whose expertise includes the use of natural and nature-based approaches to lakeshore erosion management and streambank stabilization.
Shoreline impact varies by location and the type and intensity of storm activity. The west-to-east positioning of Lake Erie, the shallowest of the Great Lakes, is conducive to development of seiches – wind-driven standing waves that impact the western New York shoreline with significant force. Seiches have a more limited impact along Lake Ontario’s southern shoreline. Nor’easter storms that develop over the Atlantic Ocean along North America’s east coast generally influence winter erosion action with heavy snowfall and high winds along Lake Ontario’s southern shore. Meteotsunami – brief, but intense large wave action caused by rapid changes in air pressure associated with fast-moving thunderstorms and squalls – have been recorded on the Great Lakes even in fair weather conditions.
Through the NYSG Virtual Site Visit portal at https://www.nyseagrant.org/glcoastal, a property owner can locate a property on a map, upload photos, and describe the shoreline problem. Widrig evaluates options for addressing the issue and contacts the property owner. Remediation options may apply natural and nature-based or structural features or a combination of both approaches. If needed, a free in-person visit is scheduled. Widrig provides information on state and local shoreline project permitting requirements, if needed.
Widrig is the author of Working with Nature: A Guide to Native Plants for New York’s Great Lakes Shorelines and Erosion Management for New York’s Great Lakes Shorelines. He is co-author of Erosion and Recession of New York’s Coastal Bluffs.
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.
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