The collaboration of several Chautauqua Lake agencies and municipalities is being appreciated.

The Chautauqua Lake & Watershed Management Alliance recognizes the efforts of its members engaged in a combined lake maintenance program in 2021 to help sustain Chautauqua Lake as an economically and environmentally healthy resource for its myriad uses and users.

Since May, alliance members have been hard at work to clean up debris and manage invasive plants and nuisance levels of other aquatic vegetation, which at times can negatively impact the usability of portions of Chautauqua Lake. The Chautauqua Lake Association (CLA), towns of Chautauqua, Busti, Ellicott and Ellery and villages of Lakewood, Celoron and Bemus Point, and the Chautauqua Lake Partnership (CLP) have employed a blended management approach, leveraging each organization’s core competencies and management priorities, collectively aimed at a well-maintained, multi-use Chautauqua Lake.

“It’s extremely important when you have a multi-user system like Chautauqua Lake,” said Randall Perry, alliance executive director, about the importance of municipalities and groups working together. “There are a lot of organizations representing a diverse array of people who are working together as one toward the common goal of a healthy Chautauqua Lake.”

The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued permits for the use of two types of registered herbicides to control populations of the invasive plants curly-leaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil in targeted areas of the littoral zone in the towns of Ellery, Ellicott and Busti, and villages of Bemus Point, Celoron and Lakewood. These municipalities, along with the CLP, worked with SOLitude Lake Management, a licensed applicator, to complete herbicide treatments in May and June to target curly-leaf pondweed and Eurasian watermilfoil, respectively.

The curly-leaf pondweed treatment utilized the herbicide Aquathol-K and encompassed about 318 acres. ProcellaCOR EC, a relatively new herbicide with very few use restrictions associated with the dosage rate applied in Chautauqua Lake, was used to treat Eurasian watermilfoil across less than 100 acres of littoral zone. This is the second year ProcellaCOR EC has been incorporated into Chautauqua Lake’s macrophyte management toolbox. According to the product label, plants treated with ProcellaCOR EC cannot be composted. As a result, the CLA will not be collecting and removing vegetation in areas treated with ProcellaCOR EC until around July 8, but plans to re-enter treated areas later in the summer as needed and in accordance with DEC and label requirements.

Perry said Aquathol-K treatment was applied May 12 and 13 and the ProcellaCOR EC was applied on June 10.

The CLA has been active elsewhere on the lake since mid-May with its spring debris cleanup and preseason curly-leaf pondweed harvesting programs, followed now by its regular season lakewide harvesting and shoreline cleanup programs, which are expected to continue through the summer. The CLA publishes weekly work reports and work plans on their website to inform the public about where they plan to work and the work that has been completed to date, which can be viewed by visiting chautauqualakeassociation.org.

The town of Chautauqua is also starting to operate four Mobitracs, amphibious lake maintenance vessels, as part of a coordinated nearshore clean up program in both the north and south basins of the lake. This is a continuation and enhancement of last year’s inaugural joint operations program between the town’s Mobitracs and CLA, which focused its efforts in the north basin of the lake.

Communication among the CLA, town of Chautauqua, CLP and other municipalities regarding the timing and location of the various chemical and physical plant management actions has been critical and has led to increased effectiveness, efficiency and safety for this coordinated multitechnique approach.

Funding for these projects was provided in part by the Lenna Foundation, Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, Holmberg Foundation, and Chautauqua County.

“The foundations and the county have been extremely generous for the last several years,” Perry said. “It allows us to set a work plan early in the year for the entire season, which is important in terms of aligning efforts to be the most effective and most efficient, and to allow the opportunity to collaborate together on lake maintenance.”