Tuesday, October 28, 2014

OWLA meeting on Wed. November 5th

OWLA November Meeting Notice
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
7:00 pm at Springside Inn
Members and Guests Welcome
Guest Speaker Ed Wagner, Supervisor, Town of Owasco
"Update on Extending Sewer District in Owasco"
Business Meeting:
Communications Report
Membership Update
Report on Organization of Lake Sections
Water Testing and Algae Bloom Update
Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council Report
Report on Lake Levels
We value your opinions and ideas regarding OWLA
and encourage you to participate in OWLA meetings.
Please check OWLA web site for more info

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Recap: Live Q&A with Owasco Watershed Lake Association



The Citizen hosted a live question-and-answer session with Owasco Watershed Lake Association (OWLA) members on Thursday, Oct. 23,2014 at auburnpub.com/live.

Answering questions during the one hour live on-line session were: OWLA President Jim Beckwith, along with vice president Bob Brower and former president and Town of Niles Supervisor Charlie Greene.

Read the actual Re-cap notes from the session at: http://owlanews.blogspot.com/p/6-hours-ago-good-morning-welcome-to-our.html

Friday, October 17, 2014

Questions about Owasco Lake?

Do you have questions about the challenges facing water quality in Owasco Lake? If so the The Citizen will host a live question-and-answer session with Owasco Watershed Lake Association (OWLA) members at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 23,2014 at auburnpub.com/live.

Answering questions during the one hour live on-line session will be: OWLA President Jim Beckwith, along with vice president Bob Brower and former president and Town of Niles Supervisor Charlie Greene.

Learn more at:
http://auburnpub.com/news/local/the-citizen-to-host-live-q-a-with-owasco-watershed/article_f80ff5ea-73d6-5c10-81a5-4b859f2d9d32.html

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Owasco Lake Water Quality editorial

Editorial from the Auburn Citizen on Sunday, October 12th, 2014.

 I have been a member of OWLA (Owasco Watershed Lake Association) for eight years. It has been frustrating to observe the exasperation of the many hard-working people who have spearheaded it’s very important mission. It appears that their yeoman efforts are finally bearing fruit. Kudos and thanks to the Auburn Citizen for their many recent articles relating to the water quality of Owasco Lake. It is a much-deserved front-and-center issue!

 Last winter’s “factory farm” dispersion of large quantities of manure that ended up in Owasco Lake and the recent blue-green algae reports has spurred the interest of many lake denizens to step forward and engage in this grassroots effort to save our lake . The most recent OWLA meeting was highlighted with a very large crowd who expressed a very large concern relating to the ongoing problem of water quality of the lake. Eileen O’Connor, of the Cayuga County Health Department was the guest speaker, and she did a brilliant job of fending off the anger of the many people who demanded action.

 Action will only occur when the appropriate government representatives have been informed that their job future can be directly related to their legislation to curb toxic waste entering the lake and their enforcement of such legislation. There are approximately 1,000 landowners with Owasco Lake frontage, yet there are only 280 dues paying members of OWLA (http://www.owla.org/) . Clearly, to be more effective, OWLA needs a larger membership. The economic value of Owasco Lake to the surrounding communities is a value that is hard to quantify. The tourism factor will tumble; The Bass Pro Outlet might pull up stakes, etc. ad infinitum, if the lake’s water quality continues to deteriorate.  Do not be complacent regarding this powerfully important issue for Cayuga County citizens and Auburnians in particular; join OWLA ASAP and start a letter-writing crusade to elected officials.   

Sincerely yours,
Allen Morris


(see some of the articles Allen refers to here on this blog listed under "Recent news stories about Owasco Lake:")

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Information session on manure spreading on frozen ground - October 29th

A community discussion to focus on manure runoff in Cayuga County watersheds is being held later this month. This is a serious problem in not only Cayuga County, but across the entire Finger Lakes region. This is an excellent opportunity for the community to give their opinion on this growing problem.

This event is in response to several incidents that happened last winter in the Owasco Lake watershed. The meeting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES campus on Genesee Street Road in Aurelius, NY.

Details here: http://www.owla.org/manure%20Forum%20poster-1.pdf

Read more about this at:http://auburnpub.com/news/local/cayuga-county-legislators-plan-community-discussion-on-manure-runoff/article_262ecdff-637b-58ce-a1f9-2eb35dab1b7d.html

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Health Department blue-green algae warning for Owasco Lake

The Cayuga County Health Department has issued an advisory to use caution with blue-green algae blooms in Owasco Lake.

On Friday the Health Department warned the public that users of Owasco Lake should use caution around worsening algae blooms in Owasco Lake. The problem originally reported in August worsened with the recent warm weather in Septmeber.

The county health department offers the following advice:

• People and pets should not swim in surface water that is discolored or has surface scum. If contact does occur, wash with soap and water or rinse thoroughly with clean water to remove algae.

• Avoid bathing, showering, or washing dishes in untreated surface water that is experiencing an algae bloom.

• Do not let your pet drink water experiencing blue-green algae blooms.

• People are encouraged to call the Environmental Health Division at (315) 253-1405 if they suspect a blue green algae bloom.

People with questions may call the Environmental Health Division of the Cayuga County Health Department at (315) 253-1405 or log onto  the Cayuga County Health Department website www.cayugacounty.us/environmental.


Read more at:  http://auburnpub.com/news/local/cayuga-county-health-department-advises-caution-with-blue-green-algae/article_703084e8-e716-51f2-baec-c79e8b5bea50.html#utm_source=auburnpub.com&utm_campaign=hot-topics-2&utm_medium=direct

Friday, October 3, 2014

Water Quality Agency split on vote to enact stricter manure regulations


The Cayuga County Water Quality Management Agency met this past Thursday and were split on possible changes to state regulations for big farms. The agency nearly passed a resolution to recommend language changes to the state regulation concerning Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.

The resolution stems from problems in recent years with manure spread on frozen ground and the run-off in late winter early spring into Owasco Lake. This year a local farm was fined for one specific instance, but this problem has worsened in recent years with the growth of larger dairy operations around Owasco Lake.

Owasco Lake is suffering from many influences, but this is one of the more impactful threats that should be addressed quickly. If this concerns you (...and I hope it does!) - please contact one of the WQMAgency members (listed at the link below) as well as your town, county and state government leaders and demand action. 

Read more about this recent meeting at: http://auburnpub.com/news/local/cayuga-county-water-agency-split-on-possible-changes-to-regulations/article_09e61c56-f9ed-5596-862d-3214ed081f41.html

WQMA agency website link:
http://www.cayugacounty.us/DoingBusiness/WaterQualityManagementAgency.aspx

WQMA members:
http://www.cayugacounty.us/DoingBusiness/WaterQualityManagementAgency/WQMAInformation/Members.aspx