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Great Lakes could remain high for months

Mayor McDowell says the town was prepared with more sandbags this season.
Veronica Volk/WXXI News
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Great Lakes Today
Mayor McDowell says the town was prepared with more sandbags this season.

Lake Ontario is on the decline, but that doesn’t mean the worst is over.

The Army Corps of Engineers announced it doesn't expect the water in the Great Lakes to go down too much, too soon.

Keith Kompoltowicz is the chief of the Corps' watershed hydrology branch in Detroit, Michigan.

"Currently all the lakes are on their seasonal decline," he said via phone Tuesday. "But additional records for the month of August are still likely on a few of the lakes."

Kompoltowicz said this is likely because of the extremely high levels recorded across all the Great Lakes in the spring and summer.

"Monthly mean water levels on several of the Great Lakes have reached record highs over the past few months," he said.

Lake Ontario set new records in June and July.

The Corps is encouraging all shoreline property owners to prepare for fall and winter storms, which could bring rapid fluctuation in water levels, and large waves.

It predicts the water to remain high potentially for the rest of the year.

Veronica Volk is a senior editor and producer for WXXI News.