By JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – A portion of the Ogdensburg Maple City trail is closed and work is suspended on the city dock as water levels continue to rise.

“The water levels have risen considerably over the last week forcing the city dock project to be suspended. High water levels have made it harder to perform routine maintenance in the marina but we are trying to change our approach to make the repairs happen,” Ogdensburg Parks and Recreation Director Matthew J. Curatolo said.

“A small, 40-foot section of the Maple City Trail, just behind the Dobisky Center, 100 Riverside Ave., has been closed due to minor flooding from the St. Lawrence.”

The flooding comes as the city has been working to repair damage caused by high water levels in 2017.

Meanwhile St. Lawrence County Emergency Services Interim Director says docks and lawns along the river are being impacted by the high water flows.

“Many docks and lawns are currently inundated with high water along many reaches of the St. Lawrence and river levels remain seasonally high,” he said. “Lake Ontario water levels are still rising and the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board is aggressively managing flows to mitigate flooding in all component parts of the system. Therefore we have been and likely will continue to see fluctuating water levels in the St. Lawrence for a while longer.”

Zimmerman said the state has “deployed physical and technical resources to our area and our first responders and local highway crews are poised to render further assistance should that prove necessary.”

He said the county’s emergency management staff have been frequently observing river conditions these past few weeks and are benefiting from state and federal condition briefings and weather forecast updates three days per week.

“Obviously current conditions can change and all shoreline residents are urged to remain vigilant while River water levels remain higher than normal,” he said.