Paul Szmal: I apologize for the delays, but we do have Roy Widrig from New York Sea Grant on the line with us. Good morning, Roy. How are you this morning?
Roy Widrig: I'm doing all right. We got through that. Hopefully we'll have a nice little talk here.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, absolutely. And right off the bat, establish for people that don't know what New York Sea Grant is.
Roy Widrig: So New York Sea Grant is a not-for-profit organization that's in all of America's coastal states. So we're along the East Coast, the West Coast, and the Great Lakes. We provide technical assistance and guidance for communities and individuals on just living with coastlines, shorelines, flooding, erosion, and all sorts of different water-related issues.
Paul Szmal: And I know you deal with shoreline erosion issues as your field of expertise. What are some of the issues that waterfront property owners have to deal with?
Roy Widrig: Well, most of the time it's either seasonal flooding or erosion. That's what we see most of the time. Sometimes it's loss of a beloved landscape tree to coastal erosion, lake erosion. But a lot of times it's just nuisance seasonal flooding that we deal with. Sometimes it's drainage. Sometimes it's because of small streams. Sometimes it's just because of high lake levels.
Paul Szmal: And what types of erosion might require some type of structural approach?
Roy Widrig: Well, generally if you're looking at a structural approach to erosion, it's because it's getting so bad that it's starting to threaten property or safety in some way. So if a dock is falling into the water, or a walkway, or a driveway, or hopefully it never gets to this case, but like a cottage or a shorefront home, that's when generally you need to step in and do some structural work.
Paul Szmal: And this is where New York Sea Grant can come in. What kind of assistance is available for shoreline owners from New York Sea Grant?
Roy Widrig: Well, what I do is I generally consult with the shoreline residents. They call us out to the property, we take a look at it, and we go through various different options, especially ones that are permittable in New York State, and try to guide them through the process so that they're making the best, most science-based informed decisions all the way through.
Paul Szmal: And I know also as well you have an online portal available for people to upload photos to assist in that process. Are there particular types of photos that you're looking for, particular types of angles, things of that nature?
Roy Widrig: Yes, so we like to see the shoreline in both broad and narrow senses. So if you can get out on the lake and take a picture of the shoreline from the lake, that tells us a lot about the processes that are happening there. But also if it tends to be an issue that's focused around footings or some sort of setting for a dock that's eroding around a certain feature up close is fine. We do want to see the broadest aspect of the shoreline, too, just to kind of place that shoreline in the context, both geologically and with neighbors and so on, to get a better idea of what's happening before we even come out.
Paul Szmal: And I wanted to ask about remediation options as well.
Roy Widrig: Sure. There's quite a few available in New York State. It could be as simple as just regrading a shoreline, you know, fixing that jagged slope, that nasty bank in front of a property. Or it could be pretty intense. You know, sometimes we get to the point where we don't recommend specific treatments, but it could be, you know, the only thing that's going to work here is a concrete wall or a rock riprap wall. Those are the big boulders you see on the shoreline. And in most extreme cases, we'll even see, like, steel sheet piling.
Paul Szmal: And I want to emphasize that this program from New York Sea Grant to help with these shoreline issues for people with problems is free. There's no cost to the property owner.
Roy Widrig: That's correct. This is a service provided by New York Sea Grant with assistance from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation with an agreement that we have with them. This is, yeah, totally free. We come out, we take a look, and give you the best options available. And that's subsidized by the state.
Paul Szmal: What areas are covered by this program?
Roy Widrig: Pretty much anywhere within the Great Lakes Basin. So that includes the Single Lakes, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and much of the waters in between. So those connecting streams that connect, you know, Seneca River connects the Single Lakes to Lake Ontario. So that's a place that we would come out. Could be Keuka Lake, could be Lake Erie.
Paul Szmal: And could you give us the information for the online portal that people can utilize?
Roy Widrig: Sure. The easiest way is to go to our website, which is nyseagrant.org. And Sea Grant is S-E-A Grant. And then you do nyseagrant.org slash GL Coastal. And that'll take you to the page specifically for managing shoreline erosion and flooding.
Paul Szmal: All right. Well, I appreciate the information this morning, Roy. Thank you very much for joining us.
Roy Widrig: Thank you for having me.
