Aquatic Invasion Species Eradication grants totaling $1.4 million will now help control non-native aquatic species in 30 municipalities across the state.
Area organizations slated to receive the grants include Skaneateles Lake Milfoil Eradication Corporation, which was granted $100,000 to eradicate 10 aces of Eurasian watermilfoil in Skaneateles Lake; and Owasco Flats Nature Reserve, which will receive $55,000 to get rid of Japanese knotweed and Eurasian watermilfoil in the Owasco Inlet and adjacent channels.
Skaneateles Lake is fairly unique, compared with New York state's approximately 7,500 lakes because it is relatively nutrient poor, contributing to its clarity and lack of overly invasive plant species taking hold so far, according to Robert G. Warner, retired professor of SUNY Environmental Science of Forestry.
Public concern has grown to keep the lake clean from sediment runoff, which makes the lake more nutrient rich to create algae, increasing the likelihood of invasive species.
Werner, who chairs the town's Lake Monitoring Committee and co-chairs the Aquatic Invasive Species Committee, has been monitoring Eurasian watermilfoil and water chestnuts. The Lake Monitoring Committee has also joined the Upstate Fresh Water Institute, which helps monitor the purity and ecological life of freshwater lakes, to study and find ways to maintain the present-day purity of Skaneateles Lake.
Werner views the lake as an economic and recreational resource that must be maintained.
The issue at Owasco inlet is maintaining the wetlands around the inlet at Owasco Flats. If the inlet can't flood, the nutrients in floodwaters can't be pushed out of the main channel and the bordering wetlands can't filter floodwaters of nutrients before the nutrients enter Owasco Lake. The wetlands would remain a deterrent to the invasive species by cutting down on the nutrients in the water.
Deteriorating conditions on Owasco Lake led to a public outcry a year ago, but the lake's quality is slowly improving. “The preliminary data from this year suggests that the water quality in the lake, especially at the southern end, has improved, everything except perhaps the density of near-shore weeds,” said Dr. John Halfman, of the Finger Lakes Institute, in a news release. “The improvement that I observe from 2006 to 2007 suggests that water quality in Owasco Lake will rebound, albeit slowly, if the sources of nutrients and suspended sediments can be reduced from the runoff in normal rain years.”
With $325,000 in funding acquired last year by State Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, Halfman and researchers tested Owasco Lake and its watershed, finding sources of nutrients that caused the lake's degraded conditions through water sampling, including runoff events following storms and rain.
The lake's largest enemy is phosphorous, which limits the oxygen supply to the lake, causing an over abundance of weeds and algae.
Halfman pinpointed the village of Groton's sewage and water treatment plant as one major nutrient source last summer.
With last year's implementation of a state Department of Environmental Conservation enforcement order, the facility has reduced its phosphorous discharge, in turn, increasing the lake's quality.
Commissioner Pete Grannis of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the grants on Friday. They will be used to fight zebra mussels, water chestnuts, round goby, Eurasian watermilfoil, purple loosestrife, phragmites, and other invasive threats to New York's ecosystems.
State funds can be used to pay for up to one half of the total cost of a selected eradication project. Grants for terrestrial invasive species eradication programs will be awarded separately in early 2008.
Grant awardees will still need to get any necessary state or federal permits and complete review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
In Erie County, Buffalo will receive $18,036 to remove Japanese knotweed, phragmites, and purple loosestrife from Squaw Island wetlands. The town of Caroga in Fulton County will get $25,055 to get rid of 75 acres of Eurasian watermilfoil from East and West Caroga Lakes. Hamilton County's Town of Inlet gets $82,168 for 71 acres of Eurasian watermilfoil in Upper 7th Lake.
Additional grants were awarded to similar projects in a number of other counties throughout New York state.
A new Invasive Species Council, established in law by Governor Elliott Spitzer earlier this year, is spearheading the attack on invasive species statewide by carrying out the Invasive Species Task Force's recommendations, including organizing and funding regional partnerships for invasive species management, creating an invasive species research center, developing a database, and establishing an education outreach program.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext.248 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
Skaneateles Lake is fairly unique, compared with New York state's approximately 7,500 lakes because it is relatively nutrient poor, contributing to its clarity and lack of overly invasive plant species taking hold so far, according to Robert G. Warner, retired professor of SUNY Environmental Science of Forestry.
Public concern has grown to keep the lake clean from sediment runoff, which makes the lake more nutrient rich to create algae, increasing the likelihood of invasive species.
Werner, who chairs the town's Lake Monitoring Committee and co-chairs the Aquatic Invasive Species Committee, has been monitoring Eurasian watermilfoil and water chestnuts. The Lake Monitoring Committee has also joined the Upstate Fresh Water Institute, which helps monitor the purity and ecological life of freshwater lakes, to study and find ways to maintain the present-day purity of Skaneateles Lake.
Werner views the lake as an economic and recreational resource that must be maintained.
The issue at Owasco inlet is maintaining the wetlands around the inlet at Owasco Flats. If the inlet can't flood, the nutrients in floodwaters can't be pushed out of the main channel and the bordering wetlands can't filter floodwaters of nutrients before the nutrients enter Owasco Lake. The wetlands would remain a deterrent to the invasive species by cutting down on the nutrients in the water.
Deteriorating conditions on Owasco Lake led to a public outcry a year ago, but the lake's quality is slowly improving. “The preliminary data from this year suggests that the water quality in the lake, especially at the southern end, has improved, everything except perhaps the density of near-shore weeds,” said Dr. John Halfman, of the Finger Lakes Institute, in a news release. “The improvement that I observe from 2006 to 2007 suggests that water quality in Owasco Lake will rebound, albeit slowly, if the sources of nutrients and suspended sediments can be reduced from the runoff in normal rain years.”
With $325,000 in funding acquired last year by State Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, Halfman and researchers tested Owasco Lake and its watershed, finding sources of nutrients that caused the lake's degraded conditions through water sampling, including runoff events following storms and rain.
The lake's largest enemy is phosphorous, which limits the oxygen supply to the lake, causing an over abundance of weeds and algae.
Halfman pinpointed the village of Groton's sewage and water treatment plant as one major nutrient source last summer.
With last year's implementation of a state Department of Environmental Conservation enforcement order, the facility has reduced its phosphorous discharge, in turn, increasing the lake's quality.
Commissioner Pete Grannis of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the grants on Friday. They will be used to fight zebra mussels, water chestnuts, round goby, Eurasian watermilfoil, purple loosestrife, phragmites, and other invasive threats to New York's ecosystems.
State funds can be used to pay for up to one half of the total cost of a selected eradication project. Grants for terrestrial invasive species eradication programs will be awarded separately in early 2008.
Grant awardees will still need to get any necessary state or federal permits and complete review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act.
In Erie County, Buffalo will receive $18,036 to remove Japanese knotweed, phragmites, and purple loosestrife from Squaw Island wetlands. The town of Caroga in Fulton County will get $25,055 to get rid of 75 acres of Eurasian watermilfoil from East and West Caroga Lakes. Hamilton County's Town of Inlet gets $82,168 for 71 acres of Eurasian watermilfoil in Upper 7th Lake.
Additional grants were awarded to similar projects in a number of other counties throughout New York state.
A new Invasive Species Council, established in law by Governor Elliott Spitzer earlier this year, is spearheading the attack on invasive species statewide by carrying out the Invasive Species Task Force's recommendations, including organizing and funding regional partnerships for invasive species management, creating an invasive species research center, developing a database, and establishing an education outreach program.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext.248 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
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