Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne, D-Theresa, is calling on federal officials to support a monitoring system that she says could help local communities and shoreline municipalities across the state better prepare for changes in water levels.

"Communities from Rochester to Lisbon are facing challenges due to high water levels this spring," Assemblywoman Jenne said. "While we work to restore a more natural flow to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, it is important that we do so with a full embrace of scientific data that can help us more effectively and responsibly protect shoreline communities."

The assemblywoman was joined on the trip by Dr. James Bonner, a professor and chief research and education officer of the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries based at Clarkson University.

They met with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Senator Charles Schumer's staff; Congressman Paul Tonko, Amsterdam; and Congresswoman Grace Meng, Queens.

"We are seeing first-hand in the North Country the impact of climate change on our lakes and rivers. It is inconceivable that at a time when we are facing serious weather-related challenges on the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River that the president's budget proposal calls for the elimination of funding programs that provide important research and the steps necessary to improve water quality in the Great Lakes region," according to Assemblywoman Jenne.

The flooding along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River shows the cost of doing nothing will be far higher than the cost of continuing to do research and install technology that can lead to better management as well as improve the quality of the water that is used by so many border communities as the source of their drinking water," she said.

Assemblywoman Jenne said the move to Plan 2014, an agreement reached by the Canadian and American governments, means higher water levels will be the norm on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario.

She said this year's heavy spring rainfall on top of snow melt and the new water level plan have demonstrated a need to improve monitoring efforts so proactive steps can be taken to help protect shoreline communities in New York State.

"I shared with our federal officials that the technology already exists for a system that is basically a watershed weather station that could help prevent some of these flooding issues. The research that has developed this technology is being done in the North Country and after doing pilot work in New York State has the potential to be rolled out in New York, the Great lakes Region and nationally and in Canada," the assemblywoman said, noting she was pleased with the reaction they received from members of the state's Congressional delegation.

Assemblywoman Jenne noted Dr. Bonner has already been funded for work on the Hudson River and its watershed, and she said she believes that his technology can be used to address several types of issues impacting New Yorkers.

"The technology Dr. Bonner has created monitors water flow in real time as well as monitors for quality. It can be used to monitor rivers and estuaries.

"New York has abundant rivers, many of which have control mechanisms, of course, including the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.," Assemblywoman Jenne said. "The transition to new Plan 2014 to control the flows of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, combined with the late and plentiful precipitation in tributary watersheds, has put the issue of water flows front and center in New York this spring.

"As pressure increases to better manage the impact of Mother Nature, one tool we can and should use to inform future policy is hard scientific data. The technology available can collect the data and provide modeling that can be used to mitigate localized weather patterns and also accurately identify the actual cause of localized flooding," she added.

Assemblywoman Jenne said it is her belief the systematic deployment of this technology throughout New York's watersheds would provide comprehensive data and management of our freshwater resources and also to provide federal, state and local officials with the ability to take actions to mitigate the effects of extreme weather while balancing the environmental benefits of natural variations of water flows.

Dr. Bonner, a nationally recognized expert in real-time water monitoring technologies, leads the development and implementation of the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON).

Assemblywoman Jenne successfully fought to have $250,000 included in the 2017-18 state budget designated for the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries at Clarkson University for the operation of the River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON) and the Sensor Development Laboratory located on the university’s Downtown Campus.

These funds will help support a specialized research infrastructure that is a real-time Environmental Observatory.

The sensor development laboratory will continue to develop sensors, sensor deployment strategies and robotic systems used to conduct automated data collection and field maintenance processes to meet the primary objective of improving environmental observatory cost performance. This developed technology will be evaluated for general applicability and efficacy through other water sheds as well.

Dr. Bonner said his technology is designed to "empower citizen scientists to actively assist in the monitoring of water levels." With an open-source design, Dr. Bonner said he hopes to empower individuals, communities, and entire regions to better manage their watersheds and plan for inevitable fluctuations.

"We have to address mitigation for future flooding in order to get the St. Lawrence Seaway operating the way it should," Assemblywoman Jenne said.

She added that freshwater is one of New York's most valuable resources that should be protected and supported.

"There is a finite amount of drinking water in the world and a substantial amount of it runs through the St. Lawrence River. If we are going to continue to enjoy that crucial asset in the decades to come, we have to begin to take more seriously efforts to understand how this ecosystem functions," Assemblywoman Jenne noted.