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The Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency will be meeting on Thursday, January 19th from 5:00 to 6:30pm in the Legislative Chambers (on the third floor) of the Gerace Office Building at 3 North Erie Street in Mayville, NY. This meeting will be in person and open to the public and also available to stream on the County’s YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/@ChautauquaCounty/streams. The CLPRA was formed pursuant to Resolution 315-17 of the Chautauqua County Legislature to evaluate lake protection and rehabilitation needs and make recommendations to the County Legislature regarding the creation of Chautauqua Lake protection and rehabilitation taxing district(s) as may be necessary in the best interest of the people of Chautauqua County. The Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency project website can be found at https://bartonloguidice.mysocialpinpoint.com/chautauqua-co-lake-fund. We at CWC believe that: 1) The straight “flat fee” per parcel approach is totally inequitable and not related to a parcel’s impact on lake water quality, plant/algae growth or sedimentation and should be completely rejected; 2) A formula-based approach which is based on the impermeable land cover and poorly permeable land cover area per parcel which incentivizes parcel owners to minimize and remove impervious and poorly permeable land cover would be the preferred approach, with zero fees for lands in agriculture, natural forest, meadow, or wetland cover would be the most beneficial, equitable and effective funding strategy; 3) An “Equivalent Residential Unit” approach might be acceptable if it is based on the functional impermeability of an average residential parcel in the watershed, and applied to all parcels with functional impermeability calculated in comparison to the average residential parcel, with zero fees or zero scoring factor for lands in agriculture, natural forest, meadow, or wetland cover; 4) The proposed district should be watershed-wide as all lands in the watershed either negatively or positively impact the tributaries, groundwater and lake water and conditions, and all landowners should be assessed fees or credits based on the negative or positive impact of their parcels on the health of these waters; 5) Conservation and enhancement actions across the entire watershed should be eligible for support from the proposed district; 6) The district should be established watershed-wide, potentially except for very small land areas in peripheral towns and villages, as all property taxpayers’ tax bills in this region are strongly affected by whether or not lake property values are maintained; 7) A draft program of proposed activities with budget be developed by the CLPRA before addressing funding levels needed and recommending funding options. We believe that a fee structure should engage each landowner to assess their parcel’s contribution to excess stormwater and pollution and take advantage of ways to reduce that resulting in lowering their district fee, which would collectively over time strongly benefit the health of the lake and municipal infrastructure costs across the watershed. For the Freshwater Future’s perspective on this potential district, please go to their Facebook site at: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=freshwater%20future (photo by Barton & Loguidice)

What do we know about the sources of nutrients fueling algae blooms and plant growth in Chautauqua Lake? The deeper glacial till soils of our region contain an abundance of phosphorus, which makes the sediments and waters in our lakes naturally more fertile and able to support more algae and aquatic plant growth. Human activities (especially since European settlers arrived) have cleared forests, conducted intensive animal and crop agriculture, and developed roads, parking lots, buildings, and lawns which have accelerated the deposition of nutrient-laden soils, animal wastes, crop fertilizers, and human sewage into Chautauqua Lake. Nutrients, sediments, metals, synthetic organic chemicals, and other pollutants are also delivered to our watersheds and lakes by wind and precipitation. The shallower southern basin of Chautauqua Lake has an average depth of about 11 feet, while the northern basin has an average depth of about 33 feet. The northern basin has much more water volume than the southern basin. Wind, wave, and boat action easily resuspend sediments, causing turbid conditions much more frequently in the southern basin. It also makes it easier for water to mix and not stratify due to water temperatures in the southern basin. Nutrients in the lake’s water generally become more concentrated in the shallower basin and toward Celoron. More developed suburban and urban land uses in general deliver more pollutants to the lake than the more heavily forested rural areas, and since the lake is quite shallow, lake plant and algae conditions are consistently more problematic in Lakewood east to Celoron. Once the nutrient phosphorus gets in the lake, a significant portion of the annual load reaching the lake stays in the lake. Lake plants and algae containing phosphorus die and decay. Some of that phosphorus is released to the water column, and some accumulates in the sediments. Phosphorus is most often the nutrient element limiting algae and plant growth in Chautauqua Lake, with nitrogen sometimes limiting as well. These nutrients come primarily from runoff from the watershed and secondarily from precipitation and wind deposition of soil and leaf materials. Phosphorus can be in a dissolved form very readily available for absorption and use by algae and plants, in organic form as part of plant and animal materials, or tightly bound to soil particles. The 2012 Total Maximum Daily Load for Phosphorus in Chautauqua Lake report estimated that 25% of the phosphorus load to the northern basin of the lake was from internal loading released from sediments and that 55% of the load to the southern basin was from internal loading. Researchers from the Jefferson Project, SUNY-Fredonia, and Bowling Green State University are using multiple sampling and monitoring approaches over several years with the intent to better understand the watershed nutrient loading and internal nutrient loading to the lake and the lake stratification, weather, and wind conditions as they relate to what triggers problematic harmful algae blooms. The completion of tertiary wastewater treatment plants in Mayville and Chautauqua have substantially reduced human sources of annual phosphorus loading to the entire lake over the last 10 years. Installing public sewers along more of the lake is also reducing human nutrient loading to the lake. Preliminary data indicate that heavy rainfall storm events with heavy phosphorus pulses to the lake, hot and calm weather, and strong summer lake water temperature stratification setting up oxygen-deficient conditions in deep waters promoting the release of phosphorus from sediments followed by strong wind water mixing events, can all be factors in making phosphorus abundant and available for harmful algae blooms. In addition, the deep northern basin may react differently to these factors than the shallow southern basin. Warmer waters from climate change may enhance lake stratification and accelerate the release of phosphorus from sediments. We know that excessive nutrient and sediment loading from poorly managed agricultural practices, wastewater treatment systems, and urban land uses all load the lake with nutrients that fuel plant and algae growth and that phosphorus loading to the lake is cumulative. The more we substantially reduce the amount of nutrients and sediments reaching the lake today, the better the conditions will be in the lake tomorrow! by John Jablonski III, CWC Executive Director

It’s probably no surprise that a land trust’s main objective is to conserve land with the goal of protecting – in perpetuity – water and other important natural resources that exist in such areas. In addition, conservation lands secure the health and homes of animals and plants that inhabit them, help improve the scenic beauty of a landscape, and provide opportunities for outdoor recreation. In these days of significant human impact on the environment, selecting areas in greatest need of protection may also be guided by such variables as carbon sequestration or protecting tree canopies to provide shade and cooling effects on surrounding areas. The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is currently spearheading a county-wide assessment to evaluate where the most important conservation areas exist. By combining data sets that factor in steepness of the terrain, vegetation cover, occurrence of known sensitive species or habitats, presence of headwaters and stream corridors, current land use, permeability of the soils, etc., we are compiling maps that indicate which areas have the highest conservation value. Even though this may seem like a mostly academic exercise, in reality, this means that we are objectively identifying the parts of the county where spending scarce conservation dollars will have the biggest impact in terms of best protecting our clean air and water, best reducing runoff that ends up polluting our lakes and waterways, best providing habitat for our most endangered plants and animals, and best ensuring a healthy future for current and new residents of Chautauqua County. A point that is often missed by those who are not in the conservation field is that smart conservation is an essential piece of planning for smart economic growth. Because let’s face it: if we were to jeopardize our quality of life by harming our most precious natural resources, who would want to live or plan a future here? The great news is that, when comparing our county’s environmental health against much of the rest of the country, we are in good shape. We are not routinely threatened by forest fires, hurricanes, droughts, or floods. Our water quality is top grade, and our landscape supports abundant agriculture and lush forests. Pretty great! Now, the smart thing is to not only acknowledge those strengths but to also put in place policies to ensure that we can sustainably maintain our environmental health in this rapidly changing world, while also making improvements where needed. In the simplest terms, maintaining clean air and water can be achieved by keeping about 70% of our landscape in intact forest or wetland. With that amount of cover, these habitats will adequately serve as our landscape’s kidneys and lungs to supply us with clean air and water – quietly, at no financial cost to us and looking good doing all this hard work! Once healthy land cover drops below 70%, impacts on water quality become noticeable, and we will have to engineer solutions to make up for that. Usually, this cannot be done quietly or cheaply, and often such engineered solutions negatively impact the environment in other ways. So, protecting the right land in the right places, where it has the greatest positive impact makes good economic sense! Many parts of Chautauqua County have large forest blocks and are near that desirable 70% mark, unlike more developed, urbanized areas. CWC staff also actively works to restore impacted areas and attempt to connect smaller habitat fragments in more impacted areas to improve their ecological functionality. Areas with higher population density tend to have less room for nature, creating environmental inequities in areas where most people live. This is why, for example, CWC is working with community partners to restore and activate the Chadakoin River as it winds through Jamestown – to improve the benefits it provides to the community and to individuals. After all, every bit of “green” that is restored counts towards that 70% mark. Unfortunately, even protected areas suffer from ongoing outside stressors, such as climate change, diseases, and invasive species. Just like we work with partner organizations to improve the quality of Chautauqua Lake by addressing issues of excess nutrient loading, runoff, and invasive species, we also address similar issues in our preserves. Invasive species are among the greatest threats to the health of our forests, and we work closely with entities such as Western New York Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM) to mitigate these challenges. Here too, planning and prioritization is key to ensure that time and money is applied where it has the greatest benefit for everyone. At the end of a very busy year, I want to extend our deepest gratitude to all regional partners, supporters, and volunteers who are working with us to make the Chautauqua region healthier, more beautiful, and more resilient! Here’s to a future with more “green” for everyone! (photo by Twan Leenders: Members of WNY PRISM's Crew Assist Program helping to eradicate invasive Japanese Knotweed at CWC's Ball Creek Preserve to help improve the area's environmental health and functionality.)

As we close out one year and look forward with anticipation to a new year, we tally our accomplishments of 2022. CWC’s team of scientists and conservationists carried out an ambitious array of activities to further our mission to preserve and enhance the water quality, scenic beauty, and ecological health of the lakes, streams and watersheds of the Chautauqua region. Our conservation work was implemented from the Lake Erie watershed south to Chautauqua Lake, the Chadakoin River and Conewango Creek, on wild rural sites to industrial city sites. Natural habitats were conserved, and urban residents experienced ecological enhancements to their riverfront neighborhoods. In 2022, we expanded the Salomon Family Preserve by 6.6 acres to permanently add the trail head and meadow areas of this preserve and added a 5.5-acre conservation easement to enlarge the protected area of the Chautauqua Creek Oxbow Preserve in the Chautauqua Gorge. These two conservation donations were the culmination of several years of work with landowners who care deeply about the plants and animals that live on their land. CWC had another successful year of assisting landowners to enhance their yards and grounds for water quality and wildlife habitat. CWC’s conservationist Carol Markham provided LakeScapes technical assistance to 156 landowners on the lakes and in the watersheds feeding our lakes in 2022. This means less pollution going into our lakes and more food and shelter for songbirds, waterfowl, frogs, turtles, snakes, and other wildlife so important to the ecology of the region and to those of us who take great delight in watching this wildlife in our yards and other wild places. CWC’s Director of Conservation Twan Leenders led teams of volunteers to identify and pull invasive European water chestnut in the Chautauqua Lake Outlet. Leenders and volunteers documented the expansion of a newer invasive macro algae, starry stonewort, in Ashville Bay and off Prendergast Point and also led experiments with multiple methods of removing these algae colonies. CWC partnered with the City of Jamestown and Tactical Tree Solutions to address long-neglected sections of the Chadakoin River through industrial and residential eastside Jamestown neighborhoods by removing decades-old accumulations of dead trees and other debris that can lead to flooding and poses a threat to important public infrastructure, the foundations of buildings and walls, and residential properties. Additional work took place on behalf of the Town of Poland to remove dangerous debris dams in Conewango Creek. Our work on the Chadakoin alerted us to major infestations of tree-of-heaven, a land-based invasive plant which is also a preferred host of the Spotted Lanternfly, an invasive insect that poses a major threat to grape vineyards and fruit trees should it get a foothold and expand in our region. CWC once again took the lead on behalf of the City of Jamestown to start a multi-year effort to kill and control this infestation along the Chadakoin with the help of Arbor Wild Environmental. In addition to this conservation and enhancement work, CWC staff, crews from the Western New York Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (WNY PRISM), and numerous preserve stewards and other volunteers maintained and monitored 1,061 acres of nature preserves at 32 sites, with eight preserves improved and managed for regular public recreational use. Throughout 2022, CWC staff has been working with GIS specialist Jonathan Townsend, county officials, and other regional stakeholders on an analysis to identify the areas with the highest conservation value our across our county. This large-scale conservation model will identify areas most in need of protection to ensure that our water quality remains high, our natural areas remain healthy, and our region continues to be a sustainable and equitable climate-change “oasis” for generations to come. CWC has had a busy and successful impactful 2022 thanks to the collective support from over 800 families, individuals, businesses and partnerships with area foundations, Chautauqua County, Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, City of Jamestown and several towns and villages, private landowners and local service providers. We are very grateful to all our volunteers, contributors, grantors, and partners who make this conservation work possible! For 2023, CWC is working to conserve over 250 acres of forest, meadow, wetlands, and shorelands at seven or more sites across the region, engage landowners to conserve and enhance habitat on their properties, partner with community groups to make our preserves more accessible and enjoyable to those with physical limitations, and planning and implementing several water quality and ecological enhancement projects on public and private lands and creeks with various agency, organizational partners and landowners. (photo of community volunteers helping to plant a rain garden by Carol Markham)

Our wonderful Chautauqua Lake this autumn…her surface, like glass, reflecting the stunningly vibrant and beautiful fall colors. What a spectacular sight! Reds, oranges, yellows, and greens all dancing and shimmering on her surface, swaying and drifting in concert with the waves and wind. As we are mesmerized by her beauty, we are finding ourselves lost looking at her reflection. Looks can be deceiving. Her beautiful outward appearance is masking what is truly happening beneath her surface, and we are desperately trying to find answers to questions about her health and well-being when these answers have been staring back at us all the time…in the form of excessive plant growth and harmful algae blooms. When are we going to realize that we as a community are the reflection of the health of our lake? What we do in our daily lives in our home and around our yards has a profound impact on the quality and integrity of the water that we drink, swim, and fish in. Instead of pointing fingers and adhering band-aids to fix these problems, it is time to take a step back, regroup, and honestly ask ourselves what we can do to improve our lake’s health instead of always shedding that responsibility onto someone or something else. Our Chautauqua Lake mirror is not cruel – she’s only truthful. She is reflecting life and her health exactly how it is. No lens, no filter, just at face value. Her overabundant plant growth and algae are a grim reminder of the truth she is so desperately trying to show us. We cannot continue to ignore her cries for help, and we can’t keep pretending that these temporary band-aids are going to magically fix everything. Our life is a mirror. What you put in is what you get out. And that is exactly what we are doing to our Chautauqua Lake. Excessive fertilizers, pollutants, and sediment are what we are putting in and excessive plants, algae and compromised water quality are what we are getting out. So through her reflection, we can grow and change. We must! We can’t change the past, but we can benefit from learning from it. It isn’t always easy or pretty, and we have to understand and commit for the long-term. So why not choose to add daily changes that will only benefit your quality of life and the quality of our lake? Lead with awareness and empathy and from a place of support, and you'll find it will return in the most important ways! And one of the easiest and most effective ways to start is with your own home and yard. I would love to see our communities come together and work on these issues as a whole instead of finger-pointing, name blaming, and band-aid fixing. It’s time to start, as Michael Jackson so eloquently stated, with “the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could’ve been any clearer. If you want to make the world (including our lakes!) a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.” For more information on how to make these changes and learn more about lake-friendly landscapes and lawncare, contact CWC Conservationist Carol Markham at carol@chautauquawatershed.org or call 716-664-2166 Ext. 2005. Thank you in advance for your willingness and desire to make a change for our Chautauqua Lake! (photo by Sarah Roberts)

A “less is more” approach to fall yard care can help birds thrive in and survive winter! Fall is a season of change and beauty. We gaze upon the vibrant colors of changing fall leaves, drink in the cool, crisp morning air and observe the migration of some of our favorite backyard birds that adorn our yards. As the brilliant reds and golds of leaves dim and plant life fades to grays and browns, many homeowners and gardeners begin an annual fall rite of raking leaves and cleaning out other dried plant matter from their lawns and garden beds. But perhaps it’s time to reconsider this practice. A 2019 Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology study (https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back) conducted by an international team of scientists from seven institutions revealed that the North American bird population is down a staggering 2.9 billion in breeding adults since 1970! The so-called common backyard birdfeeder birds represent the greatest losses of birdlife. Ken Rosenburg, a senior scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and lead author of the study, stated that “these bird losses are a strong signal that our human-altered landscapes are losing their ability to support birdlife.” Are there things we as homeowners can do to our landscapes that can help our distressed bird populations? You bet! One of the easiest and simplest ways is to minimize our fall lawn care practices and learn to embrace a “messy” lawn and garden area – in other words, a welcoming fall and winter haven for birds! How? Stack Your Sticks! Limbs, branches and twigs that fall into our yards are perfect for creating a brush pile that will provide shelter for birds from the winter weather and protection from predators. Don’t Deadhead! No, we’re not referencing fans of the Grateful Dead, but we are talking about the benefits of savings seeds. Many of the birds we observe in our yards in the fall and winter not only eat seed from our feeders but also rely on the seeds, nuts and berries that are produced on many of your landscape plants and shrubs. If we weed whack or trim everything down for the winter, we remove valuable sources of calories for birds. For example, goldfinches love to perch and feed on native grasses, black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower seed heads during the winter months as do cardinals on the withered red berries of winterberry holly. Many species of native bees and butterflies also use “messy” garden spaces to overwinter. So wait to snip the stems of those perennials or other dried or dead plants until springtime. Leave The Leaves! Mowing and mulching your leaves right into your lawn naturally enriches the soil and eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. In other words, leaves are free lawn food! Leaves that remain in or are raked into gardens and mulched areas not only add winter insulation for plants and bulbs but can also establish cover for birds and create space and habitat for beneficial insects and caterpillars to overwinter. In turn, these bugs provide food for birds during the cold winter months. As a bonus, leaving or mulching your leaves into your yard or garden bed will also help keep them out of storm drains, which in turn helps to keep them out of our streams and lakes where the phosphorus and nitrogen contained within the leaves can act as fertilizer for aquatic plants and algae. Even if the leaves don’t make it into storm drains, leaves left on the curb or swept into streets can block storm drains and cause or exacerbate flooding problems. Need even more reason? You’ll also save yourself time, backaches and blisters by skipping the leaf raking this fall! And, if you are a village or city resident, it can also help keep municipal costs down by reducing the amount of leaves your local public works department needs to haul away. (photo by Stephen Bonk)

As the trees are signaling the end of another growing season in quite a spectacular fashion, it's a good time to reflect on the less obvious end-of-season changes to the submerged aquatic vegetation in Chautauqua Lake. CWC’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Early Detection Network may appear similarly unassuming, yet it plays a critically important role in maintaining the health of the lake. When it comes to new invasive species, early detection and rapid action are the critical next steps in case prevention fails. And our staff, volunteers, and program partners have been very busy this summer keeping potentially harmful new invasives from getting a foothold here. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” very much holds true when it comes to invasive species. To avoid economic or ecological harm, it is always best to prevent them from establishing. During the high-traffic summer season on Chautauqua Lake, boat steward programs are in place at several boat launches to educate boat owners on the importance of cleaning watercraft and equipment so that no vegetation fragments are inadvertently transported in from elsewhere. At least half a dozen new aquatic invasive species are known to occur within an easy drive’s distance from Chautauqua County, and any could hitch a ride here and potentially spell bad news for the lake. Voluntary boat checks are not a perfect defense against new invasives, though, and some will eventually find their way in. This is exactly where the AIS Early Detection Network shines. Through targeted education and outreach efforts, CWC staff trains volunteers in the identification of watchlist nuisance species through in-person and online training sessions. Next, instructors and students take to the water for “online classroom” experiences that are hosted in areas where new invasives have been reported in years past. Such on-water surveys allow volunteers to apply their newfound identification skills while simultaneously re-surveying areas where potentially harmful invasives may persist. If found, such target species are reported through the online reporting portal iMapInvasives (www.imapinvasives.org), and the offending plants are carefully removed. It is in exactly this manner that, under the guidance of CWC staff, lake stewards, volunteers, and community partners, hundreds of invasive water chestnut plants have been removed from the Chautauqua Lake outlet. This high-priority invasive species was detected shortly after it first arrived in the lake some years ago, and it has been effectively managed since. Water chestnut plants reproduce by dropping spiky nutlets by late summer. Every plant can produce 15-20 nutlets, each able to grow 10-15 new plants. Once dropped in the sediment, nutlets remain viable for up to 12 years. Clearly, these plants will spread exponentially if not properly managed, and their timely removal is critical. Even removal of a single water chestnut plant can prevent dozens from appearing the next year. And the longevity of their seeds indicates why annual re-surveys of previously treated areas is necessary. Another example of the effectiveness of this program is the discovery this summer of two “meadows” of the plant-like algae starry stonewort. This invasive has been in Chautauqua Lake in low densities since 2009, but for reasons still unclear, it recently exploded to nuisance levels in these locations and now cover more than 7 acres. Fortunately, rapid re-surveys of other areas where starry stonewort had been found previously did not reveal such growth. The AIS Early Detection Program and its stewards will continue to keep a watchful eye on these areas while we figure out, in collaboration with aquatic invasive species experts and local partners, how to best keep starry stonewort from expanding farther into Chautauqua Lake. While prevention may have failed in both of these cases, early detection and rapid action are stopping these newcomers from becoming a systemic threat to Chautauqua Lake. Please be a vigilant lake user and consider joining our programs next season. With more watchers on the water, you too can help keep Chautauqua Lake healthy!

Fall is one of the best times of year to plant trees. Why should you consider planting trees in your yard or on your business property? Because they provide numerous benefits! First, trees add thousands of dollars to the value of your property. The abundance of mature trees is one of the reasons that the Chautauqua Institution community is so appealing. Mature trees provide shade for your home, business and parking lots, which makes living and working more comfortable. In fact, computer simulations using standard building and tree configurations for cities across the U.S. indicate that shade from a single well-placed, mature tree (about 25-ft crown diameter) reduces annual air conditioning use 2 to 8 percent and peak cooling demand 2 to 10 percent (Simpson and McPherson, 1996). The ambient air temperature difference between an urban heat island and a vegetated area can be as much as ten degrees F. The temperature measured directly above man-made surfaces can be as much as 25 degrees F hotter than the air temperature beneath a forested area (Akbari et. al., 1992; Simpson and McPherson, 1996). Business districts with ample trees are also more attractive to shoppers because they look better, are more pleasing to patrons and are cooler and more comfortable during the summer. Simply put, trees make us feel better. Several studies indicate that viewing a setting abundant with trees can have a calming effect after stressful incidents, and those neighborhoods rich with tree life provide multiple psychological benefits to their residents. Have you heard of “forest bathing?” Entering a forest for relaxation has proven to be good for your health. Trees also provide many pollution and storm water control benefits. Ever notice that you can stand under a tree to stay out of the rain? The leafy canopies of trees trap and absorb rainwater. A study by Xiao et al. found that an 8-year old Cork Oak intercepted 27 percent of gross rainfall and a 9-year old Bradford Pear intercepted 15 percent. The tree canopy of Austin, Texas, which covers about 30% of its community, is estimated to reduce storm water flows by 28%, providing that city with an estimated $122 million in avoided storm water capacity (MacDonald. 1996). Trees and shrubs can also control soil erosion. First, their branches and foliage absorb and deflect the energy of raindrops before they reach the ground. Second, their roots effectively hold the soil in place. It’s also important to leave streamside and lakeshore trees and shrubs in place to avoid soil erosion when developing waterfront lots because the roots are very effective at absorbing nutrients and fertilizers before they reach waterways. Consider returning parts of your yard to forest. Start with conserving your large trees – they are irreplaceable in your lifetime. Have an experienced arborist trim dead branches and branches that are a threat to buildings. You can assist the growth of wild saplings with the purchase and installation of tree tubes to protect them from rabbits, deer and rodents. Visit local nurseries to select appropriate native trees to plant for your soil conditions. Search “Working Trees for Your Community,” and “Working Trees for Water Quality” on the internet for more information. Also visit https://chautauquawatershed.org/native-species/ for a list of trees and other plants native to the Chautauqua region. This fall, please plant or nurture the growth of at least one new tree and e-mail the CWC at info@chautauquawatershed.org to let us know that you did!

It’s that wonderful time of year where we can drink in the crisp, cool air and gaze upon the beautiful array of yellows, oranges and reds that adorn our trees as they slowly prepare themselves for winter. It’s a season full of change, beauty and opportunity we all can enjoy. Unfortunately, these beautiful colors eventually fall to the ground and, as they decay, can release excess nutrients and phosphorous into our local streams and lakes, causing eutrophication and algal blooms. Leaves also contribute to a large volume of material that we or our local municipalities have to collect and haul to compost sites. The same leaves that add color to our neighborhoods in the fall can also add color to our lakes in the summer – and that can be a problem. When leaves are piled at the curb or blown into the street, those leaf piles are exposed to rain which seeps through the piles, making a nutrient-rich tea that flows along the curb into storm drains and then to the lakes. Those nutrients are a significant contributor to the algae that turns our lakes into a green and smelly mess in the summer. So that leads to the question…how can we better manage leaves to address this issue? One of the easiest ways to help is to manage leaves right on your own property. Communities working together can reduce the need for leaf bagging and collection, reduce phosphorous runoff from leaves and improve the health of our soils and gardens. Most of us grew up with the understanding that once leaves fell, they were messy and had to be cleaned up and removed. It’s a new day, though, and it’s time for some new thinking! It is time to view leaves as an asset that can be used to improve our lawns and reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, as well as making great mulch, garden cover or rich compost. Many homes in Chautauqua County produce too many leaves to be composted or mulched on site, but any amount of leaves that you can handle at home will clean our water, benefit the environment and help save tax dollars. Here are a few ways you can handle leaves on your property: MULCH LEAVES ON YOUR LAWN Most of us mulch our grass clippings right back into our lawns, which provides valuable nutrients for our lawns and saves us trips to the yard waste drop off sites. It turns out that mulching leaves back into your lawn is also good for our lawns and also reduces the time we spend raking in the fall. Mowing and mulching your leaves right into your lawn with your mower is easy. Mowers cut leaves into small pieces, allowing them to fall into and beneath the blades of grass instead of resting upon it, which in turn makes it easier for insects and microbes to consume the leaves and put nutrients back into the soil. Leaf mulching also provides a softer cushion in your lawn in the following summer for walking and playing in your yard. MAKE LEAF COMPOST Composting is a great way to handle leaves at home. Of course, most of us cannot possibly compost all of our leaves on our properties, but composting can make a dent in the volume of leaves you put at the curb for collection or carry to the dump. When you compost leaves, you should be sure to add some nitrogen rich material to the pile to help the leaves (which are high in carbon) break down. Grass clippings are an excellent source of nitrogen as are fruit and vegetable scraps. You can also speed up the composting process by chopping up your leaves with a lawn mower or garden chipper. MAKE LEAF MULCH Leaves make great mulch and winter ground cover for gardens and around shrubs and trees. And they are free! Shred your leaves and pile them on top of your vegetable garden or around perennial plants and shrubs. This will help insulate plants and protect them from winter freeze damage. Who knew that our beautiful fall leaves could be such an asset! And all we had to do was think a little differently about how we manage them.

Ninety-eight people were in attendance for the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy’s 2022 annual meeting held on August 3rd at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel, with CWC Ecological Restoration Manager Twan Leenders as the featured speaker. Leenders presentation about protecting Chautauqua County’s natural resources and scenic beauty highlighted the connection between water quality and the quality of upland habitat. Leenders noted that research shows a watershed needs 70% forest cover and 5% or less of impervious surfaces in order to minimize stream degradation and maintain and maximize water quality in both streams and lakes. The Chautauqua Lake watershed is estimated to be in only 66% overall forest/wetland cover. He reported that CWC has undertaken an analysis to identify and prioritize sites of highest value for conservation across the Chautauqua Lake watershed to protect its water quality and ecology. CWC is currently undertaking this analysis county-wide and invites input from landowners, local leaders, birders, hunters and fisherpersons and other stakeholders in this process. He stressed the need to objectively identify the most important areas for preservation and restoration in the region and align those with funding opportunities to maintain and restore the ecological functionality of those sites for water quality, habitat protection for fish and wildlife and climate resiliency across the Chautauqua Region. Restoration efforts also need to include the training of lake stewards and efforts to both prevent and manage invasive species. CWC Executive Director John Jablonski III presented an accomplishments report which included the Conservancy’s conservation of an additional 21 acres of land, an additional 223 LakeScapes landscaping consultations and an additional 4,500 visitor sign-ins at CWC preserves. Jablonski also noted that CWC launched its Chautauqua County Wildlife Habitat Project during the past year to certify the county as a community wildlife habitat with the National Wildlife Federation. The project aims to make the county a healthier, greener and more wildlife-friendly community by creating or protecting habitat that is beneficial to birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife and, in doing so, encourage both local and migrating wildlife to visit and thrive here. Funding has also been secured to complete the CWC’s Fish Hawks & Steelhead Habitat Conservation Campaign, which will permanently conserve 71 acres of land at locations on Goose Creek and Chautauqua Creek to help provide and protect critical habitat for local osprey, bald eagle and steelhead populations. Closing on these sites is anticipated for this fall. The meeting also included an election of new and renewing board directors. Kaitlyn Bentley, Janis Bowman, Dennis Collins, Christine Flanders, Rebecca Nystrom, Craig Seger, Mary Beth Southwick and Jeanne Wiebenga were each elected to the board for new terms. It was also announced that John Jablonski III will be stepping down from his position as CWC executive director and assuming a part-time special projects manager position with the organization in February of 2023. Whitney Gleason, CWC’s Director of Development, will be promoted to executive director.

Following last week’s application of herbicides to approximately 105 acres of curly-leafed pondweed beds on Chautauqua Lake, and with the potential for additional applications in coming weeks, many have asked for CWC’s position on these treatments. CWC believes that, under certain circumstances and with limited, targeted use, herbicides can be an appropriate tool for the control of invasive, non-native aquatic plants, especially for eradicating new infestations where other means (such as mechanical or hand harvesting) are not feasible. CWC has specific concerns about the recent in-lake treatments, however, in that the herbicides chosen are not plant specific and will target and kill both non-native and beneficial native plants which are critical to our local fisheries. There is also significant potential for unintended dispersion of these chemicals outside of the permitted application sites due to winds, waves and currents, with possible damage to shoreline vegetation and adjacent wetland vegetation. CWC asked that the use of herbicides be strictly targeted and limited in application to certain areas where dense milfoil growth is documented and likely to interfere with high levels of lake use. The CWC is one of the largest shoreline property owners on Chautauqua Lake. As CWC owns considerable shoreline near some of the treatment areas, CWC submitted written comments to the NYSDEC during the permit application review process in April 2022. You can read CWC’s full letter, which outlines these and other concerns pertaining to these herbicide applications, here.

The NYS State Department of Environmental Conservation recently awarded the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy two New York State Conservation Partnership Program Capacity and Excellence grants, totaling $51,024. One of the grants provides a $36,000 investment in the development of a Collaborative Regional Conservation Implementation Strategy for Chautauqua County to help CWC, as well as its county, municipal, private, corporate, or non-profit partners, prioritize regional conservation, land use, and economic development efforts. Numerous environmentally sensitive areas exist in the county, but no objective regional land cover analysis has been carried out to identify which areas have the highest priority when it comes to protecting critical water sources, wildlife habitat, or natural resources. Conversely, no standardized analysis has been carried out county-wide to assess which areas are most erosion prone or flood prone or otherwise contribute negatively to our environmental health. CWC has run preliminary models to answer these questions in the Chautauqua Lake watershed, and this new grant will allow CWC to extend such an analysis over the entire county and, consequently, allow better prioritize of the region’s scarce conservation dollars by applying them where they have the greatest impact. In addition, the development of this Regional Conservation Implementation Strategy will involve significant outreach to inform municipal leaders, landowners, and other stakeholders on the presence of high priority conservation areas in their respective jurisdictions. Ultimately, this project will form a road map to recognition and protection of our most valued natural resources, areas of scenic beauty, and biological diversity, which will help to ensure that Chautauqua County and its residents will enjoy a greener, more beautiful, and more resilient future. This effort will be led by Twan Leenders, CWC Ecological Restoration Manager, with mapping geographic information system (GIS) analysis to be performed by biologist Jonathan Townsend of Royal Fern Nursery. The second grant awarded to CWC will support organizational growth and includes $15,024 for accreditation preparation and application support. These funds will enable CWC to add needed capacity to augment and document its policies and practices and properly archive important records to become an accredited land trust in 2023. Accreditation will assure its members, sponsors, and funders that CWC is meeting the highest standards for its organizational governance, financial, fundraising and conservation practices among its peer group of land conservation organizations. Increasingly, conservation grant programs require accreditation as a prerequisite for funding. CWC strives to be in the strongest position possible to secure conservation funding that can conserve and restore as many critical habitat areas and sites that capture, store, filter, and deliver clean surface and groundwaters to Chautauqua County’s streams, lakes, and drinking water supplies. Funded through the Land Trust Alliance/NYS Conservation Partnership Program, these grants are part of a record $3.375 million dollar investment into 51 land trusts across New York State. The Land Trust Alliance administers the Conservation Partnership Program in coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. These programs are tentatively scheduled to run from now through June of 2023. Read the NYSDEC announcement here: DEC Announces $3.375 Million in Conservation Partnership Program Grants – NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Last fall, the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy undertook a computer analysis of lands comprising the Chautauqua Lake watershed using eleven ecological and water quality criteria to identify and prioritize landscapes for future conservation. Conserving and restoring as much of our natural open spaces in forests and wetlands is essential for fighting climate change and for the future health of our waterways and fish and wildlife populations. CWC will use this analysis to determine how to best invest its limited funding and organizational resources for the most positive water quality, habitat and carbon sequestration impacts. This project was part of CWC’s Chautauqua Lake Watershed Forest, Wetland and Tributary Conservation and Enhancement Program funded by the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance. University of Buffalo Biology PhD candidate Jonathan Townsend was the principal geographic information system (GIS) analyst performing this work. First, using 2019 land cover data, CWC produced a land cover map of the 180-square mile Chautauqua Lake watershed and determined the percentages of forest and wetland cover in each town and tributary sub-watershed as a measurement of the land cover quality of each. The more forest and wetland cover in a watershed, the cleaner the water that it “sheds” downstream to the lake is. The higher the percentage of suburban lands, developed lands and impervious surfaces in a watershed, the more nutrient- and sediment-laden those runoff waters become. The percentage of forest and wetlands was found to be most pristine at nearly 80% in the portion of the watershed in the Town of Stockton feeding Dewittville Creek and lowest at 48% for the Town of Ellicott’s portion of the watershed. Municipalities concerned about lake conditions can undertake conservation initiatives to conserve remaining forested and wetland areas and adopt tree ordinances, stormwater, land cover and other land use laws to reduce pollution fueling excessive plant and algae growth in their lake waters. CWC then performed an analysis considering eleven hydrological and ecological indicators of the lands in the watershed. The map above shows a preliminary prioritization of lands across the watershed, with lands indicated in dark orange being lowest priority for conservation, yellow being moderate priority and greens and blues being the highest priority. Some of the factors included whether or not lands were within 300 feet of a stream, whether flood plains, wetlands, steep slopes or interior forest were present, whether known significant habitat areas were present, and whether land was adjacent to existing conserved lands such as nature preserves and state wildlife management areas. Maintaining and restoring healthy, naturally-forested buffers and wetlands adjacent to all tributary streams feeding the lake is necessary to trap and filter pollutants before they enter the streams and flow to the lake. One can see on this map that stream corridors and wetland areas scored quite highly. Some landscapes that stand out are the large wetland complexes along Big Inlet in the Hartfield to Elm Flats area of the Town of Chautauqua, the Open Meadows marsh area in the Town of North Harmony and wetlands and forests feeding Goose, Prendergast and Ball Creeks. CWC will be presenting this information to the various communities in coming months and encouraging input from landowners, sportsmen, birders and other outdoor enthusiasts on identifying sites with important habitat or water features worthy of conservation to include in its priority conservation plan. As part of this initiative, CWC desires to work with the agricultural community to conserve these features on their properties and to help facilitate the conservation of the most productive agricultural lands across the region to keep those lands in the hands of farmers and not lost to commercial, industrial or residential uses. The CWC will seek to communicate with the owners of the highest priority landscapes in coming months to introduce them to the various opportunities and benefits associated with voluntarily conserving the ecological attributes, water quality and water storage functions of their lands. The CWC has also applied for 2022 New York State Conservation Partnership Program grant funding and other funding to undertake this priority conservation landscape modeling across the entire county and is seeking funding to conserve several forest, streamside and wetland sites this year.

Two CWC-Facilitated Conservation Projects Have Been Awarded $425,576! The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is pleased to announce New York State Water Quality Improvement Program (NYS WQIP) grant awards on two projects that the CWC has been facilitating which will result in considerably less sediment and nutrients reaching Chautauqua Lake! The Village of Lakewood was awarded a NYS WQIP grant in the amount of $250,064 for the construction of a wetland pond system to be located above the Save-A-Lot plaza in Lakewood to capture stormwater from the Grandview development and settle out nutrients and sediments before that water is slowly discharged to the stormwater system passing under the railroad and Fairmount Avenue and on to Chautauqua Lake. Future flooding of Fairmount Avenue under the railroad bridge should become extremely rare upon completion of this project. This project was conceived by the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy in collaboration with the Village of Lakewood and Town of Busti, with engineering provided by Ecostrategies and with grants and WQIP grant drafting services from the Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance (CLWMA). The Town of North Harmony was awarded $175,512 for bank stabilization and planting at two severely eroding sites consisting of a total of 440 linear feet of Ball Creek at Stow. CWC assisted the Town of North Harmony with engineering technical assistance provided by Ecostrategies, field assessment and proposal writing assistance. The Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance is providing grant funding and prepared the successful WQIP grant application for this project. The CWC, Town, CLWMA, County and County Soil & Watershed Management District have collaborated to complete two prior erosion control projects on nearby Ball Creek segments over the last five years. These projects are intended to decrease lake sedimentation in the Ball Creek-Hadley Bay area and reduce nutrient loading, fueling excessive lake plant and algae growth. Other Chautauqua Lake communities receiving NYSWQIP grants were the Town of Chautauqua for the Chautauqua Roadside Swales Stabilization Project: $213,057 and Chautauqua County/N. Chautauqua Lake Sewer District for a North Chautauqua Lake Inflow and Infiltration Study: $30,000. More details on all of these projects can be found in the CLWMA press release at: http://www.chautauquaalliance.org/news/press-release-alliance-members-awarded-nearly-670000-for-four-new-york-state-consolidated-funding-application-grants-to-improve-water-quality/ The CWC will continue to provide technical assistance on the implementation of these important projects and encourages municipal leaders and property owners to contact CWC regarding exploring potential opportunities to capture excessive stormwater runoff and pollutants to enhance streams and lakes of the Chautauqua region. Large expanses of turf, rooftops, roads and parking lots commonly generate excessive amounts of stormwater runoff, soil erosion and pollution, which enhances lake conditions for abundant aquatic plant and algae growth. CWC seeks to develop more pro-active projects with its partners to reduce the pollution fueling problems in our lakes. You can help support the work which creates impactful projects such as these by making a gift to CWC. You can: Donate online at https://chautauquawatershed.org/donation Mail a check to: CWC, PO Box 45, Lakewood, NY 14750 Send a payment via Venmo: Open the Venmo app and search at the top for @ChautauquaWatershedConservancy Under the “People” tab, look for our kingfisher logo and select “Caitlin Gustafson @ChautauquaWatershershedConservancy Select “Pay or Request” to donate any amount! To donate via a donor advised fund or to make a stock gift, call Whitney Gleason, CWC Development Director, at 716-664-2166 x1006.

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To create your first blog post, click here and select 'Add and Edit Blog Posts'> All Posts> This is the title of your first blog post. Blogs are a great way to connect you with your audience and keep them coming back to your site. We suggest that your blog posts be related to your site and your business so that visitors are more engaged. Having a blog is also very good for SEO, so we recommend using keywords related to your site from your posts. Good luck!

To create your first blog post, click here and select 'Add and Edit Blog Posts'> All Posts> This is the title of your first blog post. Blogs are a great way to connect you with your audience and keep them coming back to your site. We suggest that your blog posts be related to your site and your business so that visitors are more engaged. Having a blog is also very good for SEO, so we recommend using keywords related to your site from your posts. Good luck!

By: Becky Nystrom, President, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Melanie Smith, Chair, Chautauqua-Conewango Consortium, A Waterkeeper Alliance Affiliate Chautauqua Lake is an old lake, rich in plant diversity and an abundance of living things. The shoreline waters host a well-established diversity of aquatic plants that support multiple natural communities, hold sediments in place, and provide food, oxygen, and critical habitat for countless creatures. All are woven together in an amazing web of interdependency, complexity, and connection. But our lake suffers from a pervasive problem of excessive weeds and unwanted, unsightly, and sometimes harmful and toxic algal blooms. For many decades Chautauqua Lake has been the receptacle for the by-products of human activities in the watershed. This includes the nutrients in animal waste from farms, human waste, fertilizer, and eroded soils caused by development throughout the watershed. The phosphorus, nitrogen, and other nutrients introduced through these land use practices have contributed to today’s excessive weed and algae growth and harmful algal blooms (HABs). We must think of the nutrients and sediments in Chautauqua Lake not as the “causes” of our lake’s problems, but as the symptoms of a sick watershed. Our lake’s severe algae and plant growth problems result from a distressed system long in the making, and it’s urgent we acknowledge and address the root causes at work. The bottom line is—we must quickly and effectively change the way we manage the lands in our watershed. According to the Trust for Public Land and American Water Works Association (2004), watersheds should be maintained in at least 60-70% forest and wetlands for clean, non-polluting waters to feed the lake to support improved water quality, wildlife and fisheries habitats, and human health and enjoyment. We must conserve as much of the remaining forest land as possible, protect remaining wetlands, and reforest and restore as much of the watershed as possible. Landscaping of residential and commercial areas must be re-considered, and roadway stormwater systems reconstructed to better absorb precipitation to recharge groundwaters and reduce the severe erosion dumping fresh soil into our waterways every year. Because New York State declared the lake impaired for phosphorus (based on EPA standards) in 2012, a document titled “Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)” was issued to provide thresholds for various sources of phosphorus. What is rarely discussed, however, are the costs of the needed environmental actions. The TMDL states: “When lakes receive excess phosphorus, it “fertilizes” the Lake by feeding the algae.” We must opt for the most cost-effective environmental actions with the greatest capacity to reduce nutrients, preferably both phosphorus and nitrogen, reaching the lake. If an action, such as herbicide treatment, only makes the area look better, and does not address nutrient reduction, then those dollars are wasted. Making the reduction of nutrients the top priority directly cuts into the process that causes the unwanted algal blooms. Low-cost actions that can be taken by individuals to reduce nutrients abound; protect and retain our tree canopy, allow dead trees to remain, when safe, to retain their deep root systems, scoop the poop, mulch your grass clipping and leaves, avoid using lawn fertilizer routinely, allow no-mow zones to grow, plant a buffer or rain garden. Actions taken by local governments and lake management officials should be held to the same nutrient-reduction standard. It is the local governments that can adopt and enforce stormwater runoff laws to keep more sediment and nutrients from reaching the lake. It is the local governments that can help support the mechanical harvesting of plants which removes the plant nutrients from the lake as opposed to treatment with herbicides which releases these back into the water column and sediments where they can contribute to algal blooms. It’s worth noting that the species targeted by herbicide treatments – Curly-leaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil – are Tier 4 invasives, meaning that, with the extent of their growth, they cannot be eradicated (Western New York Partnership for Invasive Species Management, or WNY PRISM). These species have been well-established for decades and are now providing services to the living lake communities. Herbicide treatments cannot “target” the Tier 4 species without also causing collateral damage to intermingled native species, including native, beneficial pondweeds and coontail. Financing a large-scale killing of native plants, either directly or indirectly, funds the reduction of the natural biodiversity of the region, including the foraging, spawning, and rearing areas of our world class and economically important muskellunge, walleye and bass fisheries. We call on our local governments and Chautauqua Lake management efforts to hold watershed land conservation and enhancement efforts at a much higher priority. To truly address the root causes of nutrient loading in Chautauqua Lake, a pro-active, preventive approach is urgently needed to reduce the loss of watershed forests and wetlands, protect streams and stream corridors, control stormwater and erosion, and reduce sediment loading into the lake, including effective stormwater erosion control regulations. Every year in which local governments fail to adopt and enforce such laws means more sediment and pollution are reaching the lake and contributing more phosphorus to be released as “internal loading” each summer. The sources of our lake’s problems emanate from the watershed. Unless we effectively reduce the flow of nutrients and sediments into the lake from our severely damaged watershed, the lake will incrementally get worse and its symptoms more expensive to treat. Protecting the quality of the water for this lake’s ecology, wildlife habitat, outstanding fisheries, Class A drinking water source, and watershed is a high moral obligation, to the benefit of our region’s economic, ecological, and social well-being. Let’s work together to make sure that the watershed gets the appreciation, funding, energy, new laws, enforcement, and attention necessary to save and restore its forests and wetlands, and to heal its streams and shorelands delivering clean waters to Chautauqua Lake.

Nearly 100 persons attended CWC's Annual Meeting on August 11th at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel! Vince Cotrone, an award-winning Penn State Urban Forester, presented about the essential importance of trees in absorbing rainfall and pollutants in the landscape. Keeping forests intact in your watersheds and maintaining and restoring streamside forest buffers can significantly reduce runoff reducing soil erosion and reducing lake sedimentation. Fertile soil eroded from the watershed fuels abundant aquatic plant growth. He observed that the Chautauqua Mall property is "crying out for trees," recommending CWC and local governments seek infrastructure funding to plant trees on commercial sites and provide incentives for business owners to retrofit such sites with green infrastructure. This will help to intercept the pollutants and stormwater now running off such sites and directly into lake tributaries with no storage or treatment to remove a myriad of pollutants impacting the lake. The handout summarizing information in his presentation can be found at https://rb.gy/3r25zq. CWC will hold one or more follow-up webcasts with him on stormwater management to reduce lake pollution in upcoming months. During the CWC business meeting, musician and County Legislator Bill Ward of Mayville was elected as to the board and Michael Jabot of Fredonia, Bill Locke of Ellery, Craig Seger of Lakewood, and Deb Trefts of Chautauqua were re-elected to the board, each for three-year terms. Treasurer Bill Locke reported that CWC’s event revenues were seriously impacted in 2020, but due to receiving a federal PPP loan, CWC was able to keep its staff fully-employed and finish the last fiscal year with only a small deficit. He noted CWC has had a robust rebound in its grants, donations and event sponsorships in 2021 and would finish its fiscal year on September 30th in a strong financial position. President Becky Nystrom and Executive Director John Jablonski outlined recent notable accomplishments: 112 LakeScaping consultations for lakeshore buffers and landscaping for wildlife and water quality; CWC assisting in the engineering design of the erosion control projects on Ball Creek for which N. Harmony is seeking $200,000 in State WQIP funding and CWC contributing to the preliminary design of a 1,200-foot long constructed wetland above the Save-A-Lot Plaza for which Lakewood is seeking $250,000 in State WQIP funding to construct to trap nutrients and sediments and protect Fairmount Ave and downstream properties from flooding and flood damage. Mr. Jablonski also reported that CWC has 1,071 acres at 32 sites under its protection across the Chautauqua region and that more than 5,000 persons have signed in at CWC's preserves since March 2020—stating, "your CWC preserves are a great refuge for people as well fish & wildlife.” He announced CWC is pursuing several land conservation projects, including at sites on Mud Creek, Goose Creek, Chautauqua Creek, Cheney Creek and more. He also announced that CWC is launching the Fish Hawks (osprey and eagles) & Steelhead Habitat Campaign to conserve habitats along Goose Creek feeding Chautauqua Lake and Chautauqua Creek feeding Lake Erie. Those who would like to make a donation in celebration of the CWC mission may donate at www.chautauquawatershed.org. Becky Nystrom thanked all who have generously supported this work over the past year.

Click here to download the 2021 CWC Annual Report!

Please click here to view CWC's latest Case Statement. Thank you!

CWC's Board of Directors recently endorsed Chautauqua County’s Chautauqua Lake Memorandum of Understanding. CWC strongly supports good faith and cordial collaboration among our lake and watershed partners and seeks to continue working together to conserve and improve Chautauqua Lake watershed and in-lake conditions. We support objective, evidence-based science with which to guide management decisions that conserve and enhance the water quality, scenic beauty, and ecological health of the lakes, streams, wetlands, and watersheds of the Chautauqua region, and recognize the critical importance of an economically and ecologically healthy Chautauqua Lake. The CWC notes, however, our disappointment that the MOU fails to acknowledge the human land uses that continue to contribute significant sources of the phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediments to Chautauqua Lake which fuel excessive weed and algae growth, harmful algae blooms (HABs), and loss of lake depth. Each of the lake’s sub-watersheds should be maintained in at least 60-70% forest and wetlands for clean, non-polluting waters to feed the lake (Protecting the Source, The Trust for Public Land and American Water Works Association, 2004) which, in turn, will support improved Chautauqua Lake water quality, wildlife and fisheries habitats, and human health and enjoyment. To truly address the root causes of nutrient loading in Chautauqua Lake, a pro-active, preventive approach is urgently needed to reduce the loss of watershed forests and wetlands, protect streams and stream corridors, control stormwater and erosion, and reduce sediment loading into the lake, including effective stormwater erosion control regulations, currently lacking. Every year in which local governments fail to adopt and enforce such laws means more pollution is reaching the lake and contributing more phosphorus cumulatively being released as “internal loading” each summer. And while the NYSDEC has regulatory responsibility over the waters of Chautauqua Lake, it does not regulate local land uses that contribute the nutrients and sediments driving excessive plant and algae growth in the lake. That is primarily up to local municipalities, potentially augmented by the County through its human health protection jurisdiction. CWC encourages local governments to look to Lake George and the Finger Lakes and local land use regulations in other states for examples on how to better protect our precious water resources, now and long into the future. CWC looks forward to continued participation in the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance and Chautauqua County Water Quality Task Force, and to ongoing and future collaborations with our lake and watershed conservation partners. .

Click here for directions The Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park protects 1,100 feet of Cassadaga Lakes’ shoreline. The site includes 26 acres of high ecological value lake front wetlands as well as 51 acres of rolling forest covered terrain that is mostly hemlock and white pine, which is ideal habitat for all kinds of birds, frogs, salamanders, snakes and waterfowl. The site effectively filters 1,800 acres of farm and field runoff on its way through to the lakes. Size: 77 acres Year Conserved by CWC: 2020 Location and Parking: Located on the south shore of the upper Cassadaga Lakes basin in Chautauqua County, the preserve can be easily accessed off the unmarked spur road across from the south end of Ulrich park road. Signs indicate the beginning of the park just past the last home on the “old route 60 road”. Parking accommodates at least six normal vehicles. Recreational Use: There are currently two moderately developed trails – an easy loop (0.8 miles) and a center loop (1.8 miles) that overlap each other near the parking area but then separate to provide a shorter, flatter trail on the easy loop and a longer more rolling terrain hike on the center loop. Easy loop trails are marked with orange markers and center loop trails are marked with blue markers. When completed, the park will have a bird-blind location on the edge of Mud Lake (orange trail markers) and a welcome kiosk pavilion near the parking area. No other facilities or amenities are provided on site. There is no easy access for fishing from the site as most of the shore is dominated by emergent swamp that impenetrable on foot or by boat. Birdwatching, botanizing and nature walking are all common uses for the trails and forests. Conservation Values: This preserve protects approximately 1,100 feet of naturally vegetated lakeshore. Trees and emergent vegetation along the lake offer natural bank protection and stabilization. Water is filtered as it passes through wetland plant communities en route to Cassadaga Lakes. Features of Interest: The preserve is bordered on the west by Upper Cassadaga Lake. The land is currently undeveloped and forested, with a “beaver pond” at the back of the center loop trail. Seasonal pools along the trail host frogs and salamanders and the park includes a view out across a small glacial kettle lake called Mudlake. Species of Interest: Trees: Red Maple (Acer Rubrum), Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum), Yellow Birch (Betula allegheniensis), White pine (Pinus strobus), Hemlock (Conium maculatum) Understory: eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), royal fern (Osmunda regalis) Shrubs: Spice bush (Lindera benzoin), Witch hazel (Hamemelis virginiana) Wildflowers: marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), purple trillium (Trillium erectum), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), trout lily (Erythronium americanum), false hellebore (Veratrum viride), Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora) Birds: common loon (Gavia immer), belted kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon), hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus), Screech owl (Megascops asio) Amphibians: red backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Join us on Sunday, May 9th, for our annual Mother’s Day Wildflower Walk at the Bentley Nature Preserve! This year, to help with social distancing, CWC is offering two group tours, the first starting at 1PM and led by local naturalist Jack Gulvin, and the second at 2 PM led by CWC Board President Becky Nystrom. The walks will follow the Pamela A. Westrom Wildflower Trail, where tour leaders will point out the numerous wildflowers and ferns typically encountered in the region in springtime. Participants should dress for the weather and also wear footwear appropriate for the typical muddy conditions of a wooded wetland. Face masks are required for all participants. All other current COVID-19 safety protocols will also be followed. Advance registration is required, and each group is limited to 15 people. A $5 donation per individual or $10 donation per family for non-CWC members is suggested. Register online via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mothers-day-wildflower-walk-registration-151704073969. Or, if you prefer to register by phone, please contact Tracy at 716-664-2166, ext. 1001. Find directions to the Bentley Preserve (on Bentley Avenue in Jamestown) here: https://goo.gl/maps/UFahbqJWoLFTncTP8 Read more about the Bentley Nature Preserve here: Bentley Preserve – Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy

Several local municipalities have submitted applications to the NYSDEC for permits to apply the herbicides ProcellaCOR EC and Aquathol K on up to 529.4 acres and 345.5 acres respectively in 2021. Permit applications for Aquathol K have been requested to control curly-leaf pondweed between 4/19 and 5/19 and for ProcellaCOR EC to control Eurasian watermilfoil between 5/17 and 6/18. Both proposed chemicals kill beneficial and native aquatic plants in addition to the targeted “nuisance” plants. Some of CWC's nature preserves in Ellicott and Celoron with waterfront habitats may be directly impacted by the herbicide treatments by these municipalities. CWC has submitted a letter voicing this concern to the NYSDEC and urging careful protection of the ecology of our preserves, fisheries and wildlife and the ecology of the lake and its outlet. Read our full letter by clicking on the link below. CWC Letter to NYSDEC 2.23.21