MAYVILLE - Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards announced Wednesday that a second mass search for water chestnuts will be held Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Stow Park landing of the Bemus Point-Stow Ferry.
Chautauqua County hosted its first mass search for the invasive aquatic species on July 31 and the event drew nearly 40 volunteers. Participants were split up into teams to cover each of the 15 zones to search for signs of water chestnut.
"We had volunteers that came with kayaks, canoes, and motorboats and others who wadded out into the water," said Jeff Diers, Chautauqua County Watershed Coordinator. "We covered a lot of ground and at the end of the day only three rooted plants were discovered."
"This week, we are concentrating our search on the lower basin of Chautauqua Lake, which is where there have been more sightings of the water chestnut," said Edwards. "We are once again calling on residents who are interested in helping the lake to join us as we work to identify and eradicate the water chestnut from the Chautauqua Lake."
This Saturday's search will be split up into the following 11 zones: Zone 1: Shore Acres- Bridge to Englewood Development; Zone 2: Arnolds Bay-Englewood Development to Second Stream; Zone 3: Bellview-Second Stream to Bellview Point; Zone 4: Driftwood-Bellview Point to Dutch Hollow Creek; Zone 5: Fluvanna-Dutch Hollow Creek to Launch at Denslow Avenue; Zone 6: Chadakoin-Launch to Second Bend in Chadakoin/Celoron Park; Zone 7: Burtis Bay- Celoron Park to End of Lakewood Rod & Gun; Zone 8: Lakewood- Lakewood Rod & Gun to Shermans Bay; Zone 9: Shermans Bay: Shermans Bay to Ashville Bay; Zone 10: Ashville Bay- Ashville Bay to Cheney Point; Zone 11: Hadley Bay- Cheney Point to Bridge.
Volunteers should report to the Stow Ferry Park where they will be given a short presentation on the water chestnut before being assigned to a zone.
Residents interested in participating should call the watershed hotline at 363-4499, 753-4499, or 661-7499.
