Maybe Saturday afternoon's fuel spill, just south of the Cayuga County line and a stone's throw from the banks of the Owasco Inlet, might just spur local leaders to stop jawing and start acting to get a watershed inspector for the Owasco Lake watershed. For months, local officials have been talking about the need for a watershed inspector. Yet, when it comes to the big issue - who will pay for it - local leaders are a model of inaction.
While the spill of fuel oil and kerosene would have occurred with or without a watershed inspector, the event highlights the need to be an active steward for the single major source of drinking water for some 40,000 Cayuga County residents. The leaders of this community, at all local levels, have failed to put in place the steps needed to protect and to reverse the decline of Owasco Lake.
A report last spring by Hobart and William Smith College's assistant professor of Geosciences John Halfman showed that of seven area lakes tested, Owasco was more turbid (sediment clouded) and had higher harmful nitrate nutrients than any other. Yet, even with months of talk, local officials may all agree on the need for a watershed inspector but not on who will pay for it.
Protecting Owasco Lake, and its greater watershed (208 square miles), is more than the responsibility of Auburn and town of Owasco, the two municipalities that treat water for consumption. While they may legally have that responsibility, this is clearly an issue for all of the residents of Cayuga County.
State Sen. Michael F. Nozzolio, R-Fayette, has come up with the funding for one year for a watershed inspector, but rightfully wants to make sure that there is a mechanism in place to not only create the position, but also to fund it beyond the monies he secures through the state. He is right in making this a condition of getting outside funding. He has been burned by local governments not making programs that the state funded initially, sustainable. One has only to look at the creation of an economic development post he and Assemblyman Gary Finch, R-Springport, funded two years ago, that saw John Christopher at the County Office Building only until the state's money ran out.
To take advantage of state money, local governments need to put in place a sustainable funding stream that goes beyond just one year of funding, like the economic developer. To accomplish this, leaders from the county, city and all impacted towns and villages need to be willing to bite the financial bullet now.
Every month that passes without the post, is another month where Owasco Lake continues to be at risk for further decline - we have no one to blame but our local leaders and ourselves for that.
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com
A report last spring by Hobart and William Smith College's assistant professor of Geosciences John Halfman showed that of seven area lakes tested, Owasco was more turbid (sediment clouded) and had higher harmful nitrate nutrients than any other. Yet, even with months of talk, local officials may all agree on the need for a watershed inspector but not on who will pay for it.
Protecting Owasco Lake, and its greater watershed (208 square miles), is more than the responsibility of Auburn and town of Owasco, the two municipalities that treat water for consumption. While they may legally have that responsibility, this is clearly an issue for all of the residents of Cayuga County.
State Sen. Michael F. Nozzolio, R-Fayette, has come up with the funding for one year for a watershed inspector, but rightfully wants to make sure that there is a mechanism in place to not only create the position, but also to fund it beyond the monies he secures through the state. He is right in making this a condition of getting outside funding. He has been burned by local governments not making programs that the state funded initially, sustainable. One has only to look at the creation of an economic development post he and Assemblyman Gary Finch, R-Springport, funded two years ago, that saw John Christopher at the County Office Building only until the state's money ran out.
To take advantage of state money, local governments need to put in place a sustainable funding stream that goes beyond just one year of funding, like the economic developer. To accomplish this, leaders from the county, city and all impacted towns and villages need to be willing to bite the financial bullet now.
Every month that passes without the post, is another month where Owasco Lake continues to be at risk for further decline - we have no one to blame but our local leaders and ourselves for that.
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com
