Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo, and Rep. Joe Morelle are calling on the International Joint Commission (IJC) to take immediate action to lower the high water levels in Lake Ontario.

Dinolfo, a Republican, says that, “Recent reports show lake levels are approaching the same heights as the winter of 2017, when flooding along our southern shore devastated local homes and businesses for much of the next year. Given the Commission’s ‘wait and see’ response to resident concerns, I am very concerned that the IJC has not yet learned from the lessons of 2017. Mainly, that if waters are already high during the winter months, they are likely to surge even higher as we approach the wet spring season in our region. Therefore, I join residents and businesses across our community in calling on the IJC to take immediate action to lower lake levels now, before it’s too late.”

Morelle, who is a Democrat, wrote in a letter to the IJC that, "“On behalf of my community and thousands who would be adversely impacted by further flooding, I strongly urge the IJC to sustain outflow at the highest allowable levels until the risk of flooding is averted.” Morelle strongly urged the IJC to to sustain outflow of water from Lake Ontario at the highest allowable levels until the risk of flooding is averted.

As WXXI news reported this week, according to the International Lake Ontario - St. Lawrence River Board, Lake Ontario is more than a foot higher than usual for this time of year.

Keith Koralewski with the Army Corps of Engineers said that there’s no way to tell yet if we'll see a repeat of the 2017 floods along the south shore of the lake, which caused property damage and loss of homes and businesses. He says the current levels are largely due to heavy precipitation, which could change over the next few months.

In an attempt to regulate the high levels, Koralewski says the amount of water being let out of Lake Ontario is higher than average as well.