WATERWORKS New York State Federation of Lake Associations, Inc. December 2004 $1.50 per copy Harman to Join NYS Task Force Ad Hoc Committee Good news for NYSFOLA! We now have two members of Inside… the Board of Directors involved with the NYS Invasive Species Task Force. NYSFOLA Vice President Bill Harman, Director of Board of Directors p. 2 the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station in Cooperstown, was recently invited to join an aquatic ad hoc team chaired by Dr. Ed From the President p. 2 Mills of Cornell University. Road Ditches … pp. 3-5 The ad hoc team will gather information and prepare text Membership News p. 5 for a draft report that will eventually be submitted to the Governor and the New York State Legislature. The report will address the Stormwater and Fish p. 6 impacts of invasive species, identify existing control mechanisms, Finger Lakes Institute p. 7 and recommend more effective statewide control methods. The ad hoc aquatic group will focus on freshwater wetlands, streams Ask Dr. Lake pp. 8-9 rivers and lakes. CSLAPpenings p. 10 Bill joins NYSFOLA Board member Suzanne Maloney, Great Lakes Collaboration p. 11 Executive Director of the NYS Nursery and Landscape Associa- tion, who serves as the Liaison and Team Leader for the Outreach Annual Conference p. 12 Group of the Invasive Species Task Force Steering Committee. The Outreach Group is developing a survey in order to collect in- Registration Form p. 13 formation about invasive species from statewide groups with inter- 2005 Membership Form p. 14 est in the issue of both aquatic and terrestrial invasive species. Available from NYSFOLA p. 15 The NYS Invasive Species Task Force report is slated for completion by November 30th, 2005. There is obviously much Calendar of Events p. 16 work to be done, and we will continue to keep our members updat- ed on the group’s progress. NYSFOLA’s mission. is to protect the water resources of New York State by assisting local organizations and individuals through public dialogue. education, information exchange and collaborative efforts. New York State From the President...by Bob Rosati Federation of Lake Associations, Inc. Officers & Directors For many of you, your place on the lake is closed up tight for the winter. While your lake is Bob Rosati - President (607)863-4425 probably the farthest thing from your mind right now, Donald Cook - President-Elect (585)367-9393 rest assured that it is still the highest priority on the minds of NYSFOLA. George Kelley - Past President (315)852-6431 Everyone is working hard on the upcoming Willard Harman - Vice President (607)547-8778 conference at White Eagle Conference Center. We are trying to bring you the best speakers, with the Donald Keppel –Treasurer (716)769-7231 best information, on the best topics we can find. Sev- eral times each year, the Board of Directors meets at Walter Dutcher - Secretary (716)346-5882 White Eagle, to discuss topics and programs that we feel are important to you and your lake. Other Directors: Sharon Anderson (607)532-4104 Jack Baldwin (716)769-7231 Sometimes, however, we might miss certain Barbara Bunger (413)528-3145 topics or concerns that you may have. Don’t wait for Tracey Clothier (518)668-9653 the conference to let us know what information you Rena Doing (607)334-2648 need or what you would like NYSFOLA to do for you. Nick Klupacs (845)344-0526 Feel free to contact us anytime by phone, e-mail or Dean Long (518)587-8100 “real” mail to share your suggestions (or even your Suzanne Maloney (518)271-0346 complaints). We’re a stronger organization when we Theresa Mayhew (518)828-3346 hear from the membership! Kathleen McLaughlin kemclaughlin @optonline.net Rebecca Schneider (607) 255-2110 By the way, we are also working on a revi- Jan Shields (518)686-7417 sion of our web page. If there is anything you would Helen Sick (585)728-5105 like to see there, please let us know. John Slater (315)824-1649 Lew Stone (518)656-9078 As I enter my last few months as President of Philip Utter (716)741-3208 NYSFOLA, I look forward to staying involved and David Wright, Esq. [email protected] working with our next President, Don Cook, who will take over at the conference in April. Don has been a Manager dedicated Board member for a long time. He has Nancy Mueller hosted several regional conferences in the western part of the state to focus on issues of concern in that WATERWORKS area. We look forward to having him as our new Please send future articles, comments or editorials to: leader. Nancy Mueller, Manager NYS Federation of Lake Associations, Inc. P.O. Box 84 In the meantime, while you’re basking in the LaFayette, NY 13084 Florida sunshine, or shoveling lake effect snow, mark FAX/phone (800)796-FOLA your calendar for the annual conference which will [email protected] Website - www.nysfola.org be held April 29th-May 1st at White Eagle Conference Center in Hamilton. All letters to the editor represent the viewpoints of the author and may or may not reflect the opinion of the NYSFOLA membership or Board of Directors. Sincerely, Bob Rosati, President 2 Waterworks December 2004 Stormwater Runoff, Roadside Ditches, and Your Lake’s Health By Dr. Rebecca Schneider, Dept. of Natural Resources, Cornell University Three months of record breaking rainfall this summer dramatically brought home to all New Yorkers, the problems as- sociated with stormwater runoff. Storm- water runoff is the water that runs across the land surfaces and into our water bodies dur- ing and immediately following storms. The seriousness of this issue was manifested in the continuously muddy waters of lakes, in river levels frequently near or above flood levels, and by the increasing incidence of eroding banks, gullies, and mudslides. In several counties of New York’s Southern Tier and northern Pennsylvania, there were more serious impacts associated with prop- erty damage and road washouts. Development results in more impervious surfaces and increased stormwater runoff which can increase Why was there so much runoff? flooding and degrade water quality. What can we do to reduce this problem? Follow the pathway of rainwater across the porous soils with impervious rooftops, hard- landscape and the answers become appar- topped roadways, and compacted soils. On ent (see schematic). Precipitation in unde- these less penetrable surfaces, water runs veloped landscapes is naturally interrupted off readily and heads rapidly downhill. Sur- and slowed down many times along its path prisingly, recent studies indicate that only a downhill. First it is intercepted by the foliage 10-15% cover by impervious surfaces of trees and other plants. Next, it is ab- across a watershed will lead to serious prob- sorbed by the sponge-like organic matter of lems from runoff, which include: increases soils. Finally it infiltrates through soil pores in downstream flooding, erosion, degraded and flows along roots deep into the ground. water quality, and impacts to fish and other Depending on the duration and intensity of aquatic organisms. Reduced recharging of rainfall, only a small percentage of runoff groundwater also contributes to droughts actually runs overland directly into streams. during the summer months. However, where humans develop the Federal, state, and local governments land, they remove the trees and replace the are working together to reduce the condi- 3 Waterworks December 2004 tions that are contributing to stormwater run- off. These efforts are due in part to the in- creased recognition of the importance of protecting our lakes and streams for drinking water and other uses. Increased attention has also resulted from the recent enactment of the United States Environmental Protec- tion Agency’s (EPA) Phase II Stormwater Regulations, legislation that targets small communities and requires them to develop stormwater management plans over the next three years. Most of the guidelines for stormwater control focus on improved build- ing designs and construction activities. A critical factor that has been neglect- ed is the management of roadside ditches. A critical factor in reducing sediment load to Networks of ditches parallel the roads lakes is the management of roadside ditches throughout our watersheds. These ditches which can serve as a conduit for sediment and other pollutants. have been successfully created and main- tained to prevent road flooding and assist in winter snow removal, thereby reducing traf- Cornell University has begun a com- fic accidents. However, they are also a con- prehensive program to investigate the role duit for rapidly transferring water and associ- of roadside ditches in contributing to storm- ated substances off the landscape and di- water runoff problems. Results from our pi- rectly into streams. lot study already indicate that ditch networks can play a key role in stream and lake deg- radation. The pilot study was conducted on Enfield Creek Watershed, a tributary system into the Cayuga Lake inlet. This 56 square kilometer (km) watershed has 87 km of streams. However, the stream system is Sediment plume augmented by 142 km of ditches, of which 70% are linked directly to the streams! Dur- ing storms, large quantities of sediment moves through the ditches, and particularly from those ditches which were recently Tributary scraped and had exposed soils. Over the next three years, faculty working collaboratively from Cornell’s de- Arial view of the southern end of Cayuga Lake partments of Natural Resources, Biological showing mud laden stream and resulting sediment and Environmental Engineering, and Crops plume in the lake. During storms, large quantities of sediment are transported to the lake. and Soils will conduct a full-scale, integrated 4 Waterworks December 2004 research and outreach program that will quantify the role that ditches play in transporting stormwater runoff and associated materials into streams, document the importance of dif- ferent ditch management practices, and communicate recommendations to town plan- ners, highway departments, and other professionals interested in controlling stormwater runoff.