A National Flood Insurance Program map for one of NY’s Great Lakes counties: an example of the resources NYSG can help local governments apply to their unique coastal and watershed resilience needs.
Contacts:
Mary Austerman, NYSG Great Lakes Coastal Community Specialist, E: mp357@cornell.edu, P: (315) 234-1160
Lauren Darcy, NYSG Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Specialist, E: led222@cornell.edu, P: 315-849-3962
NYSG equips local governments with tools and knowledge to protect coastal resources, enhance resilience, and support sustainable waterfront development.
Newark, NY, May 27, 2025 - Lake Erie and Lake Ontario communities face flooding, shoreline erosion, and extreme weather risks worsened by climate change. These threats endanger economies, infrastructure, and ecosystems, requiring localized solutions with broader climate adaptation implications.
In 2024, New York Sea Grant in collaboration with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Town of Greece delivered floodplain management training for municipal officials in Monroe and Wayne counties. Workshops included hands-on exercises on the National Flood Insurance Program, Coastal Floodplain Management, and new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps. Participants accessed decision-support tools, case studies, and adaptive management guidance.
The program engaged more than 30 officials from 11 municipalities, enhancing their knowledge of floodplain management and the National Flood Insurance Program. Surveys showed 92% of attendees gained knowledge, and 65% planned to apply it in their communities. This initiative produced requests to NYSG for training in additional counties.
New York Sea Grant initiatives provide local governments with practical tools and knowledge, empowering them to protect their waterfronts, coastal and watershed communities, and enhance their resilience for future generations.
Project Partners:
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Town of Greece, NY
More Info: New York Sea Grant
Established in 1966, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s National Sea Grant College Program promotes the informed stewardship of coastal resources in 34 joint federal/state university-based programs in every U.S. coastal state (marine and Great Lakes) and Puerto Rico. The Sea Grant model has also inspired similar projects in the Pacific region, Korea and Indonesia.
Since 1971, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.
NYSG historically leverages on average a 3 to 6-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually. We benefit from this, as these resources are invested in Sea Grant staff and their work in communities right here in New York.
Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.
New York Sea Grant, one of the largest of the state Sea Grant programs, is a cooperative program of the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell University. The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Oswego, the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark, and in Watertown. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County on Long Island, in Queens, at Brooklyn College, with Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC, in Bronx, with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County in Kingston, and with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County in Elmsford.
For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org, follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and YouTube). NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which it publishes 2-3 times a year.