Cayuga Lake Watershed Management Plan
Strategic Framework
updated 21 January 2002
Introduction
Vision:
A single vision for the Cayuga Lake Watershed is impossible to define without being overly simplistic. Who doesn't want high water quality?. We all agree that clean water is essential.Other than clean water, the more difficult question is, what do we want the watershed to look like in the future and how do we get there? If the answer seems obvious, then you should volunteer toward your vision or at least contact your local board to l et them know your thoughts on cooperative water quality agreements.
We envision the people of the watershed setting goals and determining the methods for attaining those goals with the belief that people will be more likely to adopt practices that they themselves have chosen. We cannot continue without your vision.
Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection plan
As a key component of a Cayuga Lake watershed management plan, the Intermunicipal Organization (IO) has now published the first Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan. A successful watershed management plan has a number o
f strategic components as well. These include:
1. a characterization (physical, biological, and cultural) of the watershed based on existing data and knowledge. A preliminary wastershed characterization has been completed.
2. a
prioritized list of
concerns and issues as established by
the boards of Intermunicipal Organization members;
4. a
strategy
for achieving that vision and;
5. the
Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan
which is now available This document has received much public input and the first Cayuga Lake Restoration and Protection Plan is now complete. Additional input is always needed.
For more information, contact Sharon Anderson, Cayuga Lake Watershed Steward.
She can be reached at 607-532-4104,
steward@cayugawatershed.org
or
- Cayuga Lake Watershed Network
- P.O. Box 303
- Interlaken NY 14847.
- P.O. Box 303
Elements of a Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan:
Following
are the basic elements and brief descriptions of a restoration and
protection plan that, if adopted, would guide the efforts of the Cayuga Lake
Watershed Intermunicipal Organization. In order to implement each element, the
specific actions/practices that can be used for implementation of the element
are contained in the Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection
Plan (CLW RPP) itself.
The
overall RPP reflects the issues of primary concern to the people who live and
work in the Cayuga Lake watershed.
The
following issues capture the results of the extensive public outreach
associated with this project:
•
Maintain quality of the drinking water supply (lake and groundwater).
•
Enhance recreational and visual quality of Cayuga Lake and tributary streams.
•
Protect the ecological integrity of Cayuga Lake and its watershed.
Various
pollutants and land use practices threaten the future uses of the lake and
watershed for these human and ecological functions. The Preliminary Watershed
Characterization Report details the relationships between pollution types,
sources, and impacts. For example, sediment is a significant pollutant within
the watershed, that originates from multiple sources. Sediment loading has
adverse impacts on the physical habitat, clarity, and chemistry of lakes and
streams.
The
RPP will discuss priority areas and recommend measures, both regulatory and
non-regulatory, to reduce the impacts of land use within the watershed.
(1) Identify issues and establish priorities
The
first act of collaboration has been to identify the issues pertinent to the
Cayuga Lake Watershed and to establish the relative importance of those issues.
This ongoing process has included public input through various forums,
including public meetings, and from the boards of IO member municipalities.
This
is a process that must continue in order for priorities to remain current as
situations and the watershed change. Watershed partners should be included in
establishing priorities and the IO will hold public meetings and provide other
forums in order to seek input on issues of concern. Continued scientific study
of the watershed will contribute to this process.
It
will be important work with partners to identify their issues of concern, which
may include economic, social and cultural as well as public health and
environmental issues.
(2) Improve collaboration in watershed restoration and protection efforts:
Any
effort to protect and improve the watershed requires concerted effort by all
stakeholders. The IO is in a unique position to improve collaboration
watershed-wide. Each of the other elements of the strategy support and are
supported by this element. Actions might include collaborative grant writing,
joint meetings and conferences, and offers of technical and financial
assistance to collaborators, when funding is available. The participation of
watershed partners in IO efforts, including watershed municipalities, the
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the County Water
Quality Steering Committees, and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, as
well as State and Federal agencies, is vital and should be encouraged.
Specific
actions that might be taken by the IO are:
•
Reaching out to the municipalities in the watershed by offering a short
presentation to their boards.
•
Initiate a process to further engage the County Water Quality Coordinating
Committees, including brief presentations to the IO about the county water
quality strategies and current projects of the committees; identification of
common goals and efforts; and application for joint funding to conduct work
across the watershed.
•
Provide opportunities for citizens to volunteer for specific projects and on IO
committees.
•
Identify stakeholders with respect to specific priority issues, such as local
roads management, and facilitate funding applications to support joint projects.
•
Support other, complementary efforts in the watershed by, for example, letters
of support and in-kind contributions.
In
all cases, it will be important work with partners to address issues of concern
to them, which may include economic, social and cultural as well as public
health and environmental issues.
(3) Promote Watershed Education:
Successful
watershed management efforts, whether capital projects or local legislation,
require an educated and supportive public. Significant progress towards some
goals, such as properly maintained and functioning on-site wastewater treatment
systems (OWTS) or functioning streamsides, can be accomplished through publicly
initiated educational programs. In other words, education can implemented as
part of a management for controlling any of the nonpoint source issues that a
municipality may be facing. Potential audiences include municipalities, general
public, business, agriculture, schools and landowners in general.
Specific
actions that might be taken by the IO are:
•
Building education into funding applications for assistance with specific
issues, including demonstration projects.
•
Collaborating with the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, other non-profit
environmental groups, and Cornell Cooperative Extension to provide watershed
resident/homeowner education.
•
Providing education for the municipalities in the watershed by offering short,
issue-targeted presentations to their boards.
All
educational programs must strive to convey to the target audience the benefits
they will receive from efforts to protect and restore the watershed.
(4) Provide Technical Support to Collaborators
Technical
assistance to collaborators might be provided by seeking funding and developing
shared projects. The IO might initiate collaborative grant writing, arrange or
seek funding for equipment sharing or sharing of
engineering/scientific/planning expertise or develop model ordinances.
(5) Continue to Study the Watershed, Including Sampling and Monitoring, to:
• Improve
the characterization of the watershed;
• Identify
priority areas for action
• Evaluate
the impacts of watershed management actions, whenever possible;
• Identify
problems as they arise
The
Monitoring Plan developed as part of this Proposed Cayuga Lake Watershed
Restoration and Protection Plan is designed to focus on specific parameters and
areas of concern identified as part of the planning process. Data gaps have
been identified that limit our ability to draw conclusions regarding the
magnitude
and significance of specific sources of contamination. The Monitoring Plan is
designed to fill these data gaps. Data from monitoring will help the IO and
watershed partners identify areas of concern within the watershed, and
designate priority areas for application of best management practices. Finally,
the Monitoring Plan can be designed to determine the effectiveness of specific
control actions and the need for further controls to meet water quality
objectives.
The
four principles of the Monitoring Plan are:
1.
Turn Data into Information, then into Strategic Information.
2.
Incorporate a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program to document
data quality and estimate sampling and analytical sources of variability.
3.
Include "capstone indicators," organisms that, by their presence or absence,
provide information regarding the ecological status of the community.
4.
Strive to be cost effective.
Please contact Sharon Anderson, steward@cayugawatershed.org for more information.
Return to CLW IO
or email info@cayugawatershed.org
CLW IO 2004