SLA visits sister lake
The FUND for Lake George hosted a delegation of regional leaders from Skaneateles Lake on June 5th to discuss common threats facing the two “sister” lakes — both designated by New York State as Class AA-Special water bodies, “sources of water for drinking, culinary or food processing purposes; primary and secondary contact recreation; and fishing.” Both are also among the twelve lakes selected for New York State’s Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) Initiative launched by
Governor Cuomo in late 2017 to confront the growing threat of toxic algal blooms in water bodies across the state.
The Skaneateles Lake group was briefed on The FUND’s comprehensive program to protect the water quality and surrounding watershed of Lake George. In a packed FUND conference room that included current and former municipal leaders from the region, FUND Executive Director Eric Siy and Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky presented The FUND’s Model for Enduring Protection of Lake George that fuses partnerships, innovations, and direct investments to deliver measureable protections.
Detailed was progress being made across The FUND’s four “portals to protection”—invasive species prevention, road salt reduction, and water quality and clarity protection. Discussion focused on how measures being successfully implemented at Lake George could be adapted for Skaneateles Lake. Group discussion included the possibility of developing a “Class AA-Special Collaboration” to share knowledge and organize leadership in applying water quality protection programs for replication and scaling.
Keen interest in establishing such a joint venture was expressed by representatives from each lake. “Given that Lake George and Skaneateles Lake are both experiencing intensifying pressure from human use creates a strong impetus for shared action,” said FUND Executive Director Eric Siy. “New York’s HABs
Initiative provides both a call to action and timely structure, as well as a source of much needed public funding, that can ensure we succeed in protecting our waters,” Siy said.
Paul Torrisi, MD, President of the Skaneateles Lake Association and organizer of the delegation captured the spirit of the meeting, “The sense of energy and common commitment defined our day at Lake George and brought to light the value of working together at this crucial time. Like Lake George, Skaneateles Lake is one of New York’s crown natural jewels and the hub of a regional economy depending on the superb quality of our water,” said Torrisi.
Skaneateles Lake serves as drinking water supply for over 200,000 Central New Yorkers, including the City of Syracuse and other smaller municipalities. It experienced its first HAB in the summer of 2017.
Lake George provides drinking water for two municipalities along with many residents in the basin and has yet to experience a HAB. It is considered a control lake for the HABs Initiative that aims to reduce the risk of HABs through priority actions identified in separate Action Plans for each of the twelve lakes.
While these projects and their funding are key to the Initiative’s success, leveraging effective programs already underway such as those at Lake George can accelerate progress across all participating HABs lakes in curbing the threat.
Crucial to such progress is the research that guides solutions to the problem. While at Lake George, the Skaneateles delegation also visited the Data Visualization Lab of The Jefferson Project at Lake George, housed at Rensselaer’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute in Bolton Landing, for presentations on the Project. A collaboration of The FUND, IBM, and RPI, the Jefferson Project is designed to make Lake George the global model for freshwater ecosystem understanding and sustained protection. World-leading science and technologies of the Jefferson Project are being brought to bear on developing data-driven techniques including new tools that could be applied for predicting and detecting HABs, starting at Lake George.
As a final stop, the Skaneateles group was fully briefed on the highly successful Lake George Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program administered by New York’s Lake George Park Commission.
Skaneateles Lake has had the most robust invasives Lake Stewardship Program in its region since 2012, but it has operated on a voluntary basis and is not mandated as it is in Lake George. It is among the top 26 invasive species source waters for trailered boats traveling to the Adirondacks, including Lake George.
A mandatory prevention program at Skaneateles Lake similar to the program at Lake George would not
only protect the lake but would also serve to preempt invasives from reaching waters in the Adirondacks.
The 12-member Skaneateles Lake delegation included:
Paul Torrisi, MD – President of the Skaneateles Lake Association (SLA)
Bob Werner, Ph.D. – Co-Chair Watershed Nutrient Management Work Group of the SLA
Bill Dean, Ph.D. – Co-Chair Watershed Nutrient Management Work Group of the SLA
Neil Murphy, Ph.D. – Nutrient Management Work Group of the SLA; President, SUNY ESF (Retired)
Bob Liegel, Esq. – Co-Chair, Watershed Governance Task Force of the SLA
Betty Liegel
Rich Hole, Esq. – Co-Chair, Watershed Governance Task Force of the SLA
Buzz Roberts, MD – Vice President of the SLA, Director of Lake Stewardship Program
Fran Rotunno Fish – Chair of Membership of the SLA
Dave Birchenough – Co-Chair, The FUND for Skaneateles Lake of the SLA; Board Member
Finger Lakes Land Trust
Mary Menapace – Chair, Watershed Community Task Force of the SLA
John Menapace – Owner, Aquatic Invasives, Director of the Eurasian Milfoil Control Project since 2007
Lake George participants included:
Eric Siy – Executive Director, The FUND for Lake George; Associate Director, The Jefferson Project
Jeff Killeen – Chairman, The FUND for Lake George
Chris Navitsky – Lake George Waterkeeper
Ron Conover-Town of Bolton Supervisor and Chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors
Fred Monroe – Executive Director, Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board
Rick Relyea, Ph.D. – Director, The Jefferson Project; David M. Darrin ’40 Senior Endowed Chair in
Biological Sciences, RPI
Harry Kolar, Ph.D. – Associate Director, The Jefferson Project; IBM Research; 2018 IBM Fellow
Justin Luyk – Park Ranger, Lake George Park Commission
ABOUT CLASS AA-SPECIAL CLASSIFICATION
The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Water Quality Standards Program sets water quality standards and guidance values for waters throughout New York State. This state program, with federal oversight from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, assigns a letter classification to denote the
best uses of all the waters. The best uses are determined by the classification including: drinking water, swimming, boating, fishing, and shellfishing. Lake George and Skaneateles Lake are rated as Class AASpecial.
About NYS HAB Initiative
In December 2017, an initiative was announced by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to aggressively combat Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that threaten twelve priority lakes across the state, including Lake George. All twelve lakes are critical sources of drinking water and vital tourism drivers. Of the twelve, only Lake George has yet to experience a harmful algal bloom. A brain trust of state and local officials, national algae experts, and advocacy organizations including The FUND for Lake George are working together to solve this growing threat. Given The FUND’s science-guided leadership on issues contributing to HABs, we were invited by state officials to present our work at two of four state-organized summits being held around the state.
About the SLA
Skaneateles Lake Association, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation (501c3) and a member of the New York State Federation of Lake Associations and the Finger Lakes Regional Watershed Alliance. The Association is a voice for the protection of Skaneateles Lake, its water and the watershed with local governing boards and various committees and forums. The Association efforts focus on ensuring that regulations and comprehensive watershed management plans reflect current science and the potential impact of current threats and that the management of the watershed remains vigilant. For more on the Association, visit skaneateleslake.org.
About the FUND for Lake George
The FUND for Lake George is a privately funded not-for-profit organization dedicated to the protection of Lake George. Formed in 1980, The FUND applies a science-based approach to protection focused on Lake George water quality and the overall health of the Lake George watershed. The FUND pursues this
mission through support of long-term scientific research, direct advocacy, strategic partnerships and investments with diverse public and private interests. The FUND sponsors the Lake George Waterkeeper among other programs on Lake George. For more on the FUND’s work, visit fundforlakegeorge.org.
