ALBANY - The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today issued a clarification regarding its news release of Tuesday, June 25 concerning a Hazard Mitigation proposal for the New York State Canal Corporation.

The feasibility and projected costs of the type of proposal described in the release issued June 25 have not yet been evaluated, and no conclusive engineering studies have yet been performed on whether "folding gates" could be effectively used on the Mohawk River. 

The release also indicated that FEMA estimated the cost of the project to be $30.5 million. 

No final cost figure has been officially determined to date, and any cost estimate would be developed only after the feasibility of the proposal had been evaluated and an engineering study performed. FEMA acknowledges that such feasibility studies could reveal significantly higher costs than our original estimate.

An engineering evaluation of whether this system, or any other similar system, could be successfully implemented on the Mohawk River, and whether it could help reduce impacts from future floods has not been initiated.  However, FEMA, the New York State Office of Emergency Management (NYS OEM) and the New York State Canal Corporation do continue to work cooperatively to address damage sustained in last year's flooding events and to explore options for possible mitigative measures to reduce impacts from future floods.