Focusing on Cayuga

Myriad efforts are under way to manage the glorious lake and its watershed

 Lake Source Cooling has been credited with helping Cayuga Lake in two ways even before construction of the project began this spring. Data gathered for the project are providing unprecedented information about lake conditions. And, even if it is unfounded, the clamor over the project is focusing attention on the lake.

That is good news for the many regional organizations and government agencies at work on lake-related issues. Experts say the lake is in relatively good shape, but steps to maintain its health, such as proposals to reduce the impact of contaminants in runoff streams, will require public interest, cooperation, and support. That process is now under way.

In April 1998, the New York Department of State's Local Waterfront Revitalization Program awarded funding to the Town of Ledyard for the first two years of a three-year project to prepare a Cayuga Lake Watershed Management plan. An intermunicipal organization of municipal, county, state, and regional levels of government has been organized to guide the plan's development and ensure that it reflects local priorities.

Other stakeholders are also deeply involved. Two regional planning boards active in the six-county watershed are planning process. The Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, a grassroots organization, is working for a healthy and sustainable Cayuga Lake Watershed. The Cayuga Nature Center is also working with the watershed planning process to facilitate community education.

The permit granted to Cornell for operation of Lake Source Cooling also includes requirements for Cornell to work with the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to promote reduction of nonpoint source pollutant loading to the southern basin of Cayuga Lake. This will be accomplished by supporting existing public outreach and education programs and promoting the implementation of new public education methods.

A number of other federal, state, regional, and county water-resources management programs are active in the Cayuga Lake watershed. To cite a few:

• Using data provided by Cornell to help strengthen their position, area municipalities have secured state environmental bond money to offset the cost of improved wastewater treatment that will reduce, by more than half, the amount of phosphorus now entering the lake through the treatment plants in Ithaca and Cayuga Heights.
• The US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service is the primary nonpoint source pollution-control agency of the federal government, encouraging farm-management techniques that reduce pollution.
• The US Geological Survey monitors and researches issues related to streamflow and water quality.
• The DEC has a program that monitors the Finger Lakes, including Cayuga. A rotating, intensive basin-survey is scheduled for the year 2003.
• In the Seneca-Oswego River basin, the Canal Corporation monitors and controls water levels of eight lakes, including Cayuga, and four canals.
• The state Department of Health focuses on protecting surface water and groundwater supplies and on testing fish.
• The Finger Lakes-Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance (FL-LOWPA), an umbrella organization of twenty-five counties in the Lake Ontario basin, promotes watershed planning and nonpoint source pollution reduction.
• County Soil and Water Conservation Districts in Tompkins and other counties adjoining the lake are working with local landowners to reduce sediment loss and repair eroding stream banks.
• Cornell Cooperative Extension has a number of water-resources specialists working on programs affecting Cayuga Lake.
• County Environmental Management Councils and Water Quality Coordinating Committees are active in protecting local resources.
• Six localitiesthe City and Town of Ithaca, the Village of Cayuga Heights, the Town of Dryden, and the Village and Town of Lansingare working together on waste water treatment and other watershed planning issues.

As part of the discharge permit granted by the DEC, Cornell must do a significant amount of ongoing water-quality monitoring in the southern end of the lake. Data gathered in this process will identify changes in conditions of the shallow southern waters and help guide efforts to further improve water quality.

To that end, Cornell has been charged by the DEC with creating and implementing public outreach tools geared toward reducing nonpoint source pollution in shallow waters at the southern end of the lake, complementing the existing role Cornell research and Cornell Cooperative Extension play both locally and statewide in protecting water quality. Cornell has agreed to provide both policy and technical staff to sit on the recently formed Tompkins County Water Council and participate in efforts that will include attention to water quality issues throughout the lake and its watershed.