Page 1 September 2019 KLA Newsletter PROTECTING THE QUALITY OF THE LAKE www.keukalakeassoc.org Newsletter “Listen to the Lake” September 2019 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE - Dennis Carlson Thank you to all who joined us at the KLA Annual Meeting in July. We had a solid turn-out and great speakers as usual. As would be expected, most wanted to know where the lake is headed and what actions are being taken especially as it relates HAB’s. Although the science behind HAB’s is clearly understood, the when, where KLAeidoscope OF Keuka 2020 and how is not. That is where the frustration lies and means there is no short term solution. As you will read more about in this newsletter, there are nu- merous teams staffed by volunteers, personal from the DEC, Our 2020 calendar is available at the Finger Lakes Institute, the Keuka Lake Association, Keu- local stores and wineries. It makes ka College and other Lake Groups focused on developing a great gift for those who love better understandings across the board. Please take the time Keuka Lake. to read the many articles in this edition for more detailed in- formation. Photos for submission for our 2021 calendar can be sent anytime through 2/20 to the KLA Office e- If this is not enough, with the awarding of grant funds to cov- mail. Please make sure they are er an additional 3 years of our watercraft steward program horizontal and of high resolution. (with Laura Bailey of CCE Yates leading the charge) is un- derway for years 4, 5 and 6. Initial assessment for Starry Stonewart has been completed and harvesting will be taken on later this season. Be sure to read and get an update as to how our shoreline monitoring and point source monitoring Newsletter Highlights programs are progressing. President’s Report…................................1 Water Quality Committee……………….2&3 You will also read in the membership report about the out- Golf Tournament…………………………..3 Nominating Committee…………………...3 come of the KLA Golf Tournament at Lakeside Country Club Water Quality Summit….…….…………...4 in Penn Yan. Thank you to all who played in and or orga- AIS Report…………………….……………5 nized this event. Navigation & Recreation………………..6-8 KLA Membership Report…………………9 Critter Corner……………….……………..9 This is just a brief overview of KLA areas of activity. There is KLA Member Ads………..…….......... 11-17 much more to be learned and or updated on in the articles Annual Meeting Minutes…….……....18-23 New & Returning Members......…………23 following in this Newsletter. Meeting Photos….…..……………….…..24 Business Members & Advertisers….…..25 Thank you to all KLA members for your support. Order Forms……………………..............26 KLA Directors and Officers…….............26 KLA Office & Advertising Info….…...…..27 Membership Application Form………….27 The content of the written articles in this newsletter are 2019 KLAeidoscope Photos….… ….....28 the property of the Keuka Lake Association and may not be reprinted or republished without the express written consent of The Keuka Lake Association. Page 2 September 2019 KLA Newsletter Water Quality Committee - Mark Morris See Acronyms & key players list at bottom. As most of you know, the biggest threats to Keuka Lake are HABs and invasive species. To better focus our resources, Maria Hudson and I are co-chairing the Water Quality Committee. Maria’s focus is water testing, including KLA lake testing program, the new stream testing program, and NYS DEC CSLAP. Maria with Laura Bailey’s help is also leading our effort to establish a HAB monitoring program. Laura is also coordinating the volunteer activity for this. You’ll see an article by Maria giving an overview of KLA’s 2nd Water Quality Summit held on August 12 at Keuka College. Dr. Tim Sellers, Keuka College, analyzed last year’s testing data and presented it in his “State of the Lake” report at the KLA Annual Meeting on July13 and at our Water Quality Summit in August. Sampling programs for ’19 are ongo- ing. Our CCE Invasive species (IS) advisor Laura Bailey has an article in this newsletter on the new KLA Boat Steward pro- gram, for which CCE led the effort to get the DEC funding. At the KLA Annual Meeting, she also presented the “Lake Friendly Practices Guide” that she developed Many of us attended Finger Lake Institute’s HAB Symposium with updates by DEC & others on 7/31. --9E Plan Development Chronological Status: --Watershed Management Plan=Nine Element (9E) plan --Keuka Lake had its 1st reports of HABs in 2017 --Governor Cuomo & DEC created HAB program in early 2018 and Keuka Lake was not included --KLA sought options to address our needs --We connected with Seneca Lake organizations who also received no NYS funding. --SLPWA, SWIO, KWIC & KLA jointly prepared and submitted a $360K CFA grant a request from DOS. --Got buy-in (for Keuka) and commitment for match funding from KWIC, KLA, Yates & Steuben Counties. --We established a steering team consisting of KWIC, KLA, SLPWA and SWIO with assistance from FLI. --Grant approved by NYS DOS, DEC and Gov. Cuomo-- 12/18 This funds the plan, which when complete makes us eligible to apply for EPA or DEC funds to solve the problems. Consensus view is that we must reduce nutrients going into the lake. --Seneca Lake hired a Watershed Manager (Ian Smith) --KL is using YC Soil & Water District Mgr (Colby Petersen) as our Watershed Manager (in addition to his KWIC manager role.) --Key Steps of 9E preparation process: --DOS 9E formal project Launch-4/19 --Engage Consultant-Ecologic/ Anchor QEA-7/19 -- 3 sets of Community outreach/ Communication meetings --1st meeting 4Q 2019 (Through a Project Advisory Committee.) --Quality Assessment Plan (QAP) --Updated watershed assessment (since our ‘96 plan) --Modeling --Watershed Recommendations --Implementation Strategy --Tracking & Monitoring Plan --9E Draft & Final Report (>3yrs) -- The 9E report will identify projects to correct issues identified by the plan, which will probably take several more years. This is not going to be a quick process. --KLA & KWIC key partners on the 9E Plan are YC (& Steuben) Soil & Water, CCE, Keuka College, Yates & Steuben Counties, FLI, DEC, Regional Planning Offices. KWIC (Keuka Watershed Inspection Cooperative) In addition to the new key role on the joint SL/KL 9E grant, KWIC continues to focus on waste management via septic inspections, new septic installations, and corrections with failed systems. This septic management effort has been well led by YC Soil and Water District Mgr Colby Petersen. KWiC has also been heavily involved in the Starry Stonewort harvesting grant. We surveyed the Outlet & Sugar Creek and will be harvesting SSW In the outlet in late August & an- other hand-pull in at Sugar Creek in September. Continued on page 3 Page 3 September 2019 KLA Newsletter Water Quality—cont. from pg 2 The great teamwork among our key partners on the attached Acronyms & key players list are going to enable us to be successful on these projects & activities. Acronyms & key players: KL-Keuka Lake; SL-Seneca Lake; FL-Finger Lakes SLPWA-Seneca Lake Pure Waters Assn.--Rick Weakland, Pres. SWIO-Seneca Watershed Intermunicipal Organization--Mark Venuti, Chair (Town of Geneva Supervisor), Ian Smith - Steward KWIC-Keuka Lake Improvement Cooperative-Steve Butchko, Chair (Town of Wayne Supervisor) 9E-Nine Element Plan (EPA/ DEC) CFA-Consolidated Funding Application grant run by NYS (DOS) Dept.; of State FLI-Finger Lakes Institute in Geneva--Dr. Lisa Cleckner, Director DEC HUB-Dept. of Environmental Conservation - FL watershed HUB focused on HAB’s in FL WS Mgr.-Watershed Manager S&W-County Soil & Water Dept.- KL main unit is Yates County, Colby Petersen-District Mgr CCE--YC Cornell Cooperative Extension, Yates County—Arlene Wilson-Dir, Laura Bailey, KLA Aquatic Invasive Spe- cies (AIS) Consultant KC-Keuka College - Center for Aquatic Research- Dr. Tim Sellers, Director LULA--Land Use Leadership Alliance for KL--Led by Steve Butchko with members from each KWIC towns planning or zoning. WAVE – Water Assessment by Volunteer Evaluators – run by NYS DEC (Dept. Of Environmental Conservation) CSI – Community Science Institute, water sample testing site in Ithaca ALS - ALS Environmental is the lab that DEC uses in Rochester CSLAP-Citizen Scientist Lake Assessment Program-managed by NYSFOLA (NYS Federation of Lake Assns.) & DEC NOMINATING COMMITTEE—Mark Morris Thank you to all that attended the KLA Annual Meeting in July and were able to meet the new Board Mem- bers who were installed this year. The new Board Members are: Steve Brigham from Barrington, Doug De- Franco from Pulteney, Wayne Hand from Wayne and Steve Hicks from Barrington. All have strong profes- sional backgrounds and bring years of interest and support for Keuka Lake and the Watershed. We also re-elected several members to an additional term: Tim Cutler from Jerusalem, Michele Rowcliffe from Milo, Thom Love and Maria Hudson from Pulteney, Sam Pennise from Urbana, and Nancy Feinstein and Bob Young from Wayne. We will all benefit from their contributions in fulfilling the KLA Mission. KLA/LCC Inaugural Golf Tournament a Great Success On July 15th, 116 golfers took to the beautiful Lakeside Country Club golf course for the in- augural KLA/LCC golf tournament. It was a wonderful day on the course overlooking beauti- ful Keuka Lake. Golfers enjoyed great comradery and competition as they competed in the tournament. The tournament committee would like to thank "Title Sponsor" Lance Locey and Keuka Watersports for making a beautiful pontoon boat available for a "Hole in One" on the 9th hole. Nobody won the boat, but it was great fun trying. Keuka Lake Associa- tion would like to thank all our sponsors and those who played and supported this great effort, as proceeds will continue to support our mission of preserving and pro- tecting Keuka Lake and its natural beauty for future generations.