U.S. Rep. Chris Collins Tuesday blamed flooding along Lake Ontario on "environmentalists who care more about cattails and beavers than about western New York homeowners," calling on New York Democrats to push to overturn the lake level control Plan 2014 even while acknowledging that success there is unlikely.

"The disaster is upon us," he said, standing in a muddy footpath between two rows of sandbags on the Hamlin shoreline, flanked by Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo and Hamlin Supervisor Eric Peters. "Until we get rid of Plan 2014, this is just a sign of more to come."

Plan 2014 was developed by the International Joint Commission to control the lake level and balance all competing American and Canadian interests. As for the flooding this spring, hydrologists with the IJC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have said the heavy rains, not the plan, are to blame.

"That's ridiculous on its face," Collins said. "If you raise the lake level, which is what Plan 2014 did, you get devastation. A third-grader knows that.

"(The hydrologists) are right now running for cover and pointing fingers. ... They got caught in a level of incompetence and they're trying to say, 'Oh, this is Mother Nature.' "

Were it not for the plan, Collins said he would advocate for immediately draining water from Lake Ontario. Asked about the effect downstream, where thousands of people have already been evacuated from their homes, he said: "We have to look into that."

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As it is, Collins acknowledged, there is little action to be taken except for distributing sandbags and helping homeowners clean up as the water recedes.

He criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter and U.S. senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand for not pressuring the Canadian government to consider revising Plan 2014; Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he has no interest in doing so.

Cuomo was in Rochester Monday and called on the federal government to provide funding for riprap, or boulders to help contain the lake. Collins said he plans to investigate that possibility but doubted whether federal funding could be found.

"(Cuomo) is too busy pointing fingers," he said. "That's what he does. He's a finger-pointer, not a problem-solver."

Cuomo's office responded to Collins' criticism later Tuesday.

“While Collins was concocting ways to deprive his own constituents of basic health care, this administration has supplied New Yorkers along Lake Ontario with 1.5 million sandbags, hundreds of pumps, $22 million in financial assistance and thousands of man hours," Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi wrote in an email. "When (Collins) is ready to do something to help, we've got plenty of jobs for him.”

Slaughter's office also responded via email: "Present water levels are due to the extraordinary rainfall, melting snow, and the fact that Lake Ontario acts as a drain lake. ... Anyone who blames current conditions on the new plan is playing politics."

JMURPHY7@Gannett.com

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