Recap of the OWLA Q&A session at auburnpub.com

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 Re-cap notes from the session below:
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Good morning! Welcome to our live Q&A with members of the Owasco Watershed Lake Association. The live Q&A will begin in less than 10 minutes.
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Leading today's discussion is The Citizen's Carrie Chantler. She will be joined by OWLA President Jim Beckwith, vice president Bob Brower and former president and Town of Niles Supervisor Charlie Greene.
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If you have questions, you may submit them at any time.
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Because of the recent facts on the rapid increase in weed growth, loss of topsoil, and the dangerous blue green algae confirmed with high toxins fo over a month in Owasco Lake, would your organization be in favor of a law setting safer limits of phosphates and nitrates that dairy and crop farming put into the soil in Owasco Lake watershed?
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Carrie Chantler


Bob Brower: The short answer is yes. OWLA has considered this question and asked that the regulations that control distribution of phosphorus for CAFOs by increasing the strength of legislation. In other words, more particularly, OWLA is seeking to ban the spreading of liquid manure on frozen ground. THere's a specific method for doing that and its the revision of CAFO permits in the state that's about to occur in the NY. It's the first half of 2015. And we're now circulating a petition to have people to join to strengthen our position. CHARLIE GREENE: ONe of the things OWLA has been doing over the last several years is we have been working closely with the farming community and the county Soil and Water District to rebegin a dialogue with the farming community and specifically regarding loss of topsoil to educate our members and encourage the farming community in their efforts to increase their use of cover crops which have two prmary benefits for the lake. One is to reduce the loss of topsoil during the non-growing season, the winter. The other is to sequester any phosphorus or nitrates that reside in the soil after crops have been harvested. And to retain those nutrients on the farm fields and limit their washing into Owasco Lake.
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Continuing. BOB BROWER: We passed laws in the 1970s when we realized how critical limiting phosphors was to managing water resources and preventing their degredation. Those laws prevent the inclusion of phosphorus in laundry detergent. Recently in recognition that there was still too much phosphorus enternig the water resources entering the Finger Lakes and other state waters we passed additional laws making it illegal to use phosphorus in lawn fertilizer with few exceptions. The research on Owasco Lake and the research of limnologists all over the world have taught us to limit phosphorus. The lake doesn't know whether it's coming from a shoreline property or farm so it seems to me we should be limiting it from all sources and that, of course, includes agriculture.
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How can farmers and residents live harmoniously when it comes to Owasco Lake?
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Carrie Chantler


CHARLIE GREENE: OWLA's position is that all residents benefit from the agricultural landscape that surrounds Owasco Lake and extends throughout the watershed. OWLA members are grateful for the stewardship efforts that most, if not almost all, members of the farming community implement on a day-to-day basis. The farming community has responded to increased environmental awareness with additional resources of both management capabilities and technology. We also recognize that all residents need healthy food and clean water. We ask the farming community and the members of the non-farming community to engage in constructive dialogue to better understand each other. And we ask the members of both communities to consider future generations, our children and our grandchildren in the business and lifestyle decisions we all make on a daily basis. BOB BROWER: This is not just a philosophical perspective. It's also a strategic reality for those of us that live in the Finger Lakes. If Owasco Lake is degraded our lives are diminished. At the same time, we jeopardize the vibrant tourism community that is such an important part of our local economy. The agricultural community and the economics associated with it is just as much a critical part of our lives. So, we have to find a way to work harmoniously. JIM BECKWITH: And it needs to be done yesterday. Because the lake will not survive further polluting.
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What steps are being taken to ensure that the drinking water is in fact safe to drink if there is blue-green algae or invasive species?
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Sarah


CHARLIE GREENE: As a voting member of the Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council, which is an intermunicipal organization comprised of elected reps from the city of Auburn, Cayuga County and towns that surround Owasco Lake as well as non-profit and local agency representatives. We discussed the blue green algae and the water supply issue on Tuesday of this week. The municipal water treatment plant that provides water for the city of Auburn as well as the treatment plant that provides water for the town of Owasco are both able we were assured by a representative from the county health department, both plants are able to filter out algae, blue green and otherwise and any toxins that remain after the filtration process are able to be rendered safe for drinking by additional treatment methods. The communication between lake residents, the county health department, the state DEC and the agricultural community is important and critical and has been robust this summer. While the drinking water supply is safe according to the county health department, we do know that recreational use of the lake during periods of algae blooms, in particular blue green algae, poses risks to people and pets. We also know that lake residents that obtain their water supply directly from the lake or from shore wells may be at risk during algae bloom periods.
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Continuing BOB BROWER: The health department represented at the last OWLA meeting by Eileen O'Connor, director of environmental health for the county health department, made two things very clear. No one should be drinking Owasco Lake water unfiltered and without disinfection. And no one should be swimming in an algae bloom or allow their pets to swim in an algae bloom. CHARLIE GREENE: To clarify, O'Connor state that lake residents should be drinking water only from municipal supplies or sanitary wells, not directly from the lake. BOB BROWER: So again, the presence of these blooms diminish the quality of our lives. I can't imagine a future in which our children and grandchildren could no longer safely swim in this lake even were we to find a safe way to treat it so that we could drink it. Right now unknown numbers of people have just stopped swimming in the lake, we hear about this continually at OWLA meetings. CHARLIE GREENE: All of us need to recognize that Owasco Lake is a reservoir for our drinking water and for our recreational enjoyment and it is the responsibility of the current generation to safeguard this blessing for future generations. We need to work together, stop blaming each other and restore Owasco Lake expeditiously.
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With all of these unresolved issues regarding the current and future state of the lake what are your expectations regarding the effect on lake property values?
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Ken Kudla


JIM BECKWITH: If the lake does not improve rapidly the values of property within the entire watershed will go down, particularly the values of lake shore property - which will significantly impact schools, county and towns.
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The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has a Practice Standard (#590) for Nutrient Management. The standard states that “Nutrients must not be surface-applied if nutrient losses offsite are likely. This precludes spreading on frozen and/or snow covered soils and when the top 2 inches of soil are saturated from the rainfall or snow melt... Applications of manure will not be made within the winter period.” It also states that the total single application of liquid manure must not exceed the soil’s infiltration or water holding capacity, must be based on crop rooting depth, and must be adjusted to avoid runoff. The NCRS is required to work with local, state and federal agencies and other partners to adopt the standard at the state level. At the state level, NRCS can make the standard more restrictive than the national standard, but they cannot make it less restrictive. Has New York State put this standard into place?
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Rosemarie Romano


CHARLIE GREENE: Yes. NYS NRCS has adopted their version of Practice #590 to accommodate small farms that spread solid manure and large farms that typically spread liquid manure. The gray area in both the national and state standards revolves around the unpredictability of changing weather patterns. For example, early in May of 2014 many of the soils in our watershed became saturated due to high volume of rainfall just at the time between spreading manure on crop ground and prior to planting. Some of these rainfall events were not predicted so that even farms that did not spread on frozen ground during the winter experienced a loss of crop nutrients when recently applied manure was washed into streams and carried into the lake. BOB BROWER: What this means in direct response to the question is that #590 is incorporated by reference in the nutrient management plans put in place all over the state, but there voluntary. And #590 is a guideline and that guideline is subject to the variability of weather. CHARLIE GREENE: The nutrient management plans are required for farms that have NYS DEC CAFO permits and on those farms observing the #590 standard is required.
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Continuing BOB BROWER: Local college students working with OWLA and computer mapping systems have been analyzing the land values in the Owasco Lake watershed for the past two years. We've learned some startling things about the tax levies that come from those land values. Those represent the local funds that could be used to support all the services that we expect, including the protection of the lake. There are about 1,000 shore line property owners, in total the land they own represents about 70 percent of the taxable land value of the watershed. So, the extent of impact from a precipitous decrease in those values would be felt by everybody.
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Has there been feedback from OWL for the County's proposed master plan for Emerson Park? Are there concerns with possible impact on lake water quality?
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Mike Greene


BROWER: The short answer is OWLA has not considered or reviewed the proposed changes in the Emerson Park's master plan in any detail. But, I think there's clear understanding that 140 acres of land directly adjacent to the lake is significant. So, I suppose that while it's at the very north end of the lake and one of the last pieces to affect the lake before it's carried into the Seneca Lake, it still should be considered. There are many, many reasons to want to be involved in the future of Emerson Park and they're certainly not limited to the lake alone.
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NOTE: That is Owasco River, NOT Seneca Lake.
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To conclude, a bit about OWLA.
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5 hours ago
CHARLIE GREENE: The current OWLA organization has been active since 1988. There was a prior watershed association in the 1970s. Our membership is comprised of rural, lake shore and city residents throughout the watershed, and we number approximately 300 members and we are absolutely dedicated to the restoring, protecting and preserving Owasco Lake and its watershed. It's definitely an uphill battle, but one we must win. SO, we have, on the ground, a restoration project in the Dutch Hollow Brook sub-basin in cooperation with the Soil and Water Conservation District and researchers from the Finger Lakes Institute and Cornell University. We know that as Dutch Hollow Brook flows toward the lake it seems to pick up more and more phosphorus so that means we have to manage a range of non-point pollution sources, that's our challenge. We're meeting that and will be, thanks to the support of Assemblyman Gary Finch and state Sens. James Seward, Michael Nozzolio and John DeFrancisco, so the research will tell us whether the steps taken do what we want them to do to improve water quality in Owasco Lake. If they work, we are promised additional help from the state Legislature.
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Is your organization or the farming community looking into the processing of biochar from manure.
My understanding is there are many benefits to this type of process and should be worth looking into..
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Frank


CHARLIE GREENE: There are several members of OWLA that have researched the benefits of biochar to help sequester nutrients in farm soils and decrease their runoff into Owasco Lake.
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Is acquiring a TMDL for "impaired" Owasco Lake a realistic possibility?
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Rick

5 hours ago
CHARLIE GREENE: The cost of obtaining a TMDL to Owasco Lake is extremely high, in the millions of dollars and is a very lengthy and difficult process. Currently, Cayuga County is managing the development of a new Owasco Watershed Management Plan. OWLA is hopeful that nine elements recommended by the US EPA will be incorporated into the watershed management plan. The county Legislature currently has this under consideration. Incorporation of the nine elements would have a similar benefit and outcome as a TMDL in a much more cost effective manner to implement because they are consensus driven rather than imposed by outside agencies. BOB BROWER: An essential component in the development of a TMDL is what's called nutrient allocation model. The model basically identifies the sources of nutrients on a watershed level. Two such models, over the last 20 years, have been done for Owasco Lake. In the 1980s, it was such a new technique that it really couldn't be used for management, but in 2009 it was done again and provides a pretty good understanding the sources of nutrients entering the lake so we have good estimates of the amount of nutrients coming from agricultural from septic systems from shore line property owners and such. And so while we may eventually have a regulated TMDL, it would cost millions, and we don't need to wait to make informed decisions, we can make informed decisions now.
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Continuing JIM BECKWITH: We need everyone's help. And when we say everyone we mean people within the watershed, within the lake area and within the entire Finger Lakes region to help us with grants, with membership, with volunteer efforts and education to restore, protect and preserve the lake. Please join us on the first Wednesday of November at 7 p.m. at Springside Inn. We as an organization have done a lot, but we have so much more to do, but it's due to the commitment, dedication and generosity of our volunteers. Check out www.owla.org and www.owascolake.org for more information about how you can become involved and general information about Owasco Lake.
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What is being done to safe guard the lake from roadside erosion along with stream bank erosion?
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Resident


CHARLIE GREENE: The Owasco Lake Watershed Management Council voted on Tuesday of this week to send a request to the state DOT to mow rather than spray for vegetation control on steep slopes, particularly adjacent to streams within the Owasco Lake watershed. In addition, OWLA supports the efforts of the watershed specialist Andrew Snell and the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District and county and town highway superintendents to increase the use of hydro-seeding as part of roadside ditch maintenance.
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Is it possible that with a growth of blue green algae, that the lake could become unfit to swim in?
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Laurie O'Connor


BROWER: It's not safe to swim in an algae bloom period, because it take species identification to know whether or not it's a blue green algae for certain. It's easy to avoid the danger if it's on the surface in the near shore areas where the most recent blooms have been documented. But we know from the summer sampling program that there are deep-water blooms. We don't know yet what species are represented in the deep-water blooms, but we do know if we continue to reduce phosphorus we continue to reduce the probability of all algae blooms, including blue green.
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What about doing storm event testing throughout the year. Identify some locations where a stream flows from non farm land into farm land and then out again with numerous public road crossing where test samples can be taken?
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Bill Hecht


Or during a storm event just drive the roads with a GPS and Google Maps and mark drain pipes, ditches and fields where there is surface runoff, sheet erosion, drain tile discharge etc.. Easy way to pinpoint point and non-point problems.
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Bill Hecht


BOB BROWER: There has been a significant amount of storm event sampling done over the years in Owasco Lake watershed. Both traditionally in the sense of thunder and rain storms, but also in snow melt offs. So we basically know what happens and the vast percentage of total loading comes from very few of these events over the course of a water year. Meaning, the influx of phosphorus and the more recent numbers suggest at the 90 percent plus levels of the total loading comes from the 12 or 13 storms or melt offs that we'll have. With a lot of volunteer help it might be possible to cover a broad area during an event, as you suggest, so come to the next OWLA meeting and talk to our monitoring committee about this idea. We would love to meet you.
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That wraps up our live Q&A today. Thanks for joining us! And thanks to OWLA for participating and answering questions for more than an hour.
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