Officials will work to keep the Seneca River navigable again this summer by chemically and manually removing the water chestnut, an invasive plant that continues to threaten water quality and recreation along upstate New York waterways.
The Onondaga County Health Department will target three areas in greater Baldwinsville for control efforts, which will include a combination of plant cutting (mid June) followed by a chemical treatment later in the season (late July), as well as mechanical harvesting to prevent plants from drifting downstream and spreading.
The following areas will be treated: 32 acres at Jack’s Reef and the State Ditch Cut (towns of Lysander and Van Buren); 37 acres upstream of the Baldwinsville Dam from Riverview Cemetery to Maloney Island area (Van Buren, village of Baldwinsville); and 13 acres downstream of Baldwinsville Dam near Onondaga Lake Outlet (Lysander, Van Buren).
Grant funding will be used to implement this year’s program.
