US and Canadian scientists to study cross-border flooding

MONTPELIER: US and Canadian scientists are planning to spend the next five years studying flooding on Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River, which drains the lake north into Quebec.

In addition to studying the causes of past flooding, the scientists will look for ways to better forecast flooding and consider what can be done to reduce the effects of future floods, a likely prospect with the weather extremes in an era of climate change.

The US and Canada embarked on the study after the 2011 flooding around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York and along the river.

Jean-Francois Cantin, of Canada's National Hydrological Service, says the scientists conducting the $11.3 million study will look at issues such as whether man-made structures in the Richelieu River could worsen flooding.