The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s mission is to preserve and enhance the quality, scenic beauty, and ecological health of the lands and waters of the Chautauqua region for the benefit of the community. Conserving and enhancing lands for water quality protection and habitat enhancement are two of our priority activities. We strive to conserve the lands in the Chautauqua Lake watershed and countywide which provide the highest habitat value and highest benefit to protecting and enhancing the quality of our lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwaters. The forests and wetlands above and adjacent to our streams and lakes act as filters as water flows through them, thus providing clean water to those lakes and streams.
In its earlier years, the Conservancy’s highest priority was to conserve as many of the remaining natural shoreland sites on Chautauqua Lake as possible. With the help of many, we succeeded in facilitating the conservation of over two miles of natural forest and wetland shoreline on the Lake and its outlet in our lake quality and habitat protection efforts. We have gone on to conserve sensitive shoreline wetland areas on Cassadaga and Bear Lakes and Cassadaga Creek and even over 1,800 feet of creek bank on Chautauqua Creek as it enters Lake Erie. Overall, the Conservancy has facilitated the conservation of 1,346 acres county-wide.
Research tells us that clean waters flow from healthy forested watersheds. Ideally, we’d like to maintain the land cover in our lake watersheds as at least 75% forest and wetlands to maintain high water and lake quality. The lands contributing water to Chautauqua Lake are approximately 63% forested – in the range for significant water quality and lake condition degradation. To cost-effectively guide its land conservation resources and efforts going forward for maximum water quality and ecological benefits, the Conservancy undertook a computer geographic information system (GIS) analysis of available soils, elevation, wetlands, and ecological data for the Chautauqua Lake basin and then county-wide. This project, called the Collaborative Regional Conservation Implementation Strategy (CRCIS), was funded primarily through the New York State Conservation Partnership Program/Environmental Protection Fund administered by the NYSDEC and Land Trust Alliance.
This analysis resulted in the production of various maps showing the calculated conservation value of landscapes across the county. Since the condition of wetlands, floodplains, waterfront, and streamside lands have the most effect on water quality, those sites ranked highly in the analysis. We are using these maps to show where development may occur with the least environmental impact as well as what landscapes are most important to conserve. Conserving these high priority sites will protect important habitats for birds, salamanders, and a variety of other wildlife, while also helping to maintain clean waters flowing into Chautauqua Lake and other waterways. It will also protect and enhance floodplains and wetlands that absorb stormwaters and reduce the incidence of flood damage to protect our communities. Several of the streams in our watershed are home to brown trout and habitat for spring walleye spawning runs, so conserving streamside forests also enhances our important fishing economy.
During 2024, with funding from a grant from the Lenna Foundation, the Conservancy staff has been contacting as many of the owners of the highest scoring lands as possible to inform them of opportunities available for conserving these sites. As we proceed into 2025, the Conservancy has several properties ranking highly in this CRCIS analysis at various stages in the conservation process for donation, acquisition by purchase, and/or protection through conservation easements. As a result of these ongoing conservation outreach activities, and with your help, we hope to conserve another 300 to 500 acres or more of forests, fields, and wetlands that contribute waters to Chautauqua Lake, Lake Erie, other area lakes, and Conewango Creek. Our intent is to use this strategy as a resource for government leaders, businesses, organizations, and individuals to guide conservation and development for a thriving, resilient, and beautiful Chautauqua County for decades to come!
Article by John Jablonski III, Special Projects Manager
Image by Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy
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