Herbicides to Control Aquatic Plants in Chautauqua Lake
Every year since its formation, the Consortium has carefully reviewed requests to apply herbicides in Chautauqua Lake. Following this review and identification of concerns, a comment letter has been prepared and submitted to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) delineating our objections to the wide-spread use of chemical herbicides in the Lake. Our review identifies several sections of DEC Policy DSHM-PES-05-05 that appear to be violated by the permit application process. Our specific concerns vary from year-to-year depending on the request in the permit application. Major concerns we have raised over the years include:
- A permit application and the public notification should be filed for each herbicide to be used. We have pointed out to the DEC that multiple chemicals are identified in a single application.
- The required Letter of Notification is supposed to be sent to all potentially affected riparian owners or users. This often does not occur.
- Required information is not always included with the Letter of Notification such as: (1) Map of the progression of the herbicide(s) into the outlet waters of the Chadakoin River, the Conewango Creek or upstream during the Water Use Restriction period is omitted; (2) Date(s) of proposed treatment(s) are not specified; and (3) Product labels of the chemical(s) to be used are not provided.
Our recent work has involved a temporal analysis of changes in the status of the aquatic plant species, including their abundance, due to herbicide treatment in the previous year. A report co-authored by Robert Johnson and Scott Kishbaugh for the Consortium has examined changes in the plant community over the past decade. This report is found here: https://www.cccwaters.org/evaluation-of-chautauqua-lake-aquatic-plant-conditions/. Significant findings from the Kishbaugh and Johnson report suggest that there are increases in the biomass in herbicide treated areas when compared to untreated areas. While more data are needed to verify this finding, it appears that the primary purpose for using herbicides is not being achieved and that the herbicides might not be effective in controlling aquatic vegetation.
Water Quality Monitoring
The Consortium is responsible for the New York State Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP) on Chautauqua Lake. Chautauqua has participated in this program since 1987 which is jointly operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Federation of Lake Associations. It currently gathers grab water samples from two lake sites, one in the North Basin and one in the South Basin. Water quality parameters are analyzed at the Upstate Freshwater Institute and a report is produced annually for each basin. These reports are located at: https://nysfola.org/cslap-report-search/.
Monitoring HABs
From both ground level to images collected from the Sentinel-2 satellite, the Consortium keeps track of algal blooms. Ground reporting is done through a website operated by New York State. https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/water-quality/harmful-algal-blooms/ notifications Everyone is welcome to use this site by clicking on the ”Suspicious Algal Bloom Report Form.” The CSLAP program also submits HABs reports during the summer season. The Consortium monitors the Chautauqua Lake flyovers of the Sentinel-2 satellite. As images indicate algal blooms or other lake events, they are posted to our website.
PFAS Monitoring
PFAS is the generic name for a group of man-made compounds, commonly called “forever chemicals.” Because they are harmful, the Consortium has taken on monitoring them in the main, inland surface-water bodies in Chautauqua County. These are Findley Lake, Bear Lake, the Cassadaga Lakes and Chautauqua Lake. The first PFAS samples taken in the county were from the Chadakoin River as part of nationwide Waterkeeper Alliance program in 2022. Every two years since, the county lakes have been tested and will continue to be tested.
Aquatic Vegetation and Herbivory Surveys
In 2026, the Consortium took on the responsibility of conducting professional surveys of the Chautauqua Lake herbivore and aquatic vegetation communities. Several species of insects attack aquatic plants and are named, “herbivores.” Because Eurasian watermilfoil, the invasive plant, is a favorite target of a moth, a weevil and caddisfly, monitoring these herbivore populations helps inform the management of the milfoil. The work of collecting and counting plants stems is done by Melanie Rooney, principal of Rooney’s Aquatic Biologists. Her training includes working with Robert Johnson who began the herbivore research here in 2005.
Robert Johnson produced his high-quality Chautauqua Lake aquatic vegetation surveys from 2003 to 2021. SUNY Oneonta continued this work from 2021 to the present. The 300+ lake sites require two sample collections with time taken to identify the species of every plant and label its percentage of the whole amount. This work takes approximately 4 days on the water, which is weather dependent. The data are compiled and a full report is published by the following Spring. Because all data since 2003 were collected using the same PIRTRAM methodology, these reports are a valuable longitudinal record of the Chautauqua Lake plant communities.
Education and Outreach
Public outreach is how the Consortium’s education and advocacy is communicated to general audiences. We participate in community tabling events, such as the Musky EXPO and Panama Rock’s Wild America Festival. Educational information is transferred by our experts personally, through printed materials, our website, our Spiny Newsletter and by attending conferences and local government meetings. Specific topics require advocacy tools of face-to-face meetings, comment and letter writing, group presentations, published ads and social media. We provide unique outreach when the public uses our Community Response service. Linked to this website, anyone can report a suspicious environmental condition. The reporting individual remains anonymous as the Consortium researches the issue and reports back to the individual. resolution to the individual. This service is key responsibility we have as a Waterkeeper Alliance Affiliate.
Partnerships with other Organizations
The Consortium works in conjunction with multiple organizations for professional support and guidance. Our perspective and level of information is widened by our national and world-wide partnerships. The global Waterkeeper Alliance (WKA) provides information, workshops, training and a network of talented, dedicated water protectors. The Freshwater Future organization is geared to support small, grassroots not-for-profit organizations with some funding and significant administrative assistance. The Environmental Protection Network (EPN) is a group of retired USEPA specialists who offer unlimited expertise and knowledge at no cost due to our WKA license. Locally, we work with multiple organizations including Region 9 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the Conewango Creek Watershed Association, with whom we got our start.