Sign our petition for support of Owasco Lake

OWLA needs your help!
The OWLA Board of Directors has put together a petition asking the Town of Owasco and the City of Auburn to support the Watershed Inspector positions and the more water testing.

Details of the petition:

"We, the undersigned, who use Owasco Lake for our drinking water and recreational use, petition the City of Auburn, Town of Owasco, and Cayuga County, to work together to protect and restore our lake.  We want ongoing comprehensive and effective coordination and adequate and sustainable funding to support Owasco Lake Watershed public policies and land use management practices, including: 1. an expanded watershed inspection program; 2.  restart of our year-round professional water testing and analysis program; 3. prompt enforcement  and stoppage of all man-made sources of pollution entering Owasco Lake and its tributaries; 4. restoration of Owasco Flats to its original filtering function; and 5.review, update, and full implementation of the 10 year old region-wide Owasco Lake Watershed Management Plan.”

Please come to our next Board meeting on Wednesday August 4th at 7pm at the Sprinside Inn or contact a OWLA board member to get a copy of the petition to sign.

Boater Safety Class

There is a Boater Safety Class coming up on Saturday July 31st. The Cayuga County Sheriff's Department will be holding the class from 8am to 4pm at the Summerhill Town offices on Route 90.  The classes are free and you MUST pre-register. For more information or to register call 315-294-8145.

Owasco Lake Day #3 - A Great Success!

Owasco Lake Day was another resounding success!

OWLA President Joe Wasileski might have said it best:

"We hit a HOME RUN!!! Owasco Lake Day on our WORLD CLASS LAKE  was totally AWESOME !! WE put on a show!!!    Lots of Attention for our cause.  Thanks to EVERYBODY, and I mean EVERYBODY!! who helped make the event so SPECIAL!!   You all are GREAT!! "

Some follow up notes:

John Halfman of the Finger Lakes Institute wanted to make available some of the recent data that he was referencing during his Lake Day presentation. You can find this material at the links below:

1-       My recent report on the Owasco Lake & Watershed data collected since 2007 to satisfy the funding from OWL and the Town of Fleming.  I gave Dr Joe a printed copy of an earlier version.  This version has a few more minor edits (and I’m sure still has a few mistakes).  

a.       It is also available on my website:  http://people.hws.edu/halfman/Owasco/2010%20Halfman%20Owasco%20Watershed%20Update.pdf

2-       I also placed a pdf version of my Owasco Lake Day, 7/1/2010 talk on my web site.  

a.       http://people.hws.edu/halfman/Owasco/Halfman%20OwascoLake%207-1-10.pdf

3-       A chapter for the 2007 FLI Owasco Watershed report on the benthic ecology of the lake.
It can also be found on my website: http://people.hws.edu/halfman/Data/OwascoReports/Owasco%20Benthic%20Organisms%202007%20Study.pdf
"It’s a bit late but better late than never.  It’s probably out of date, as I’m sure quagga mussels have invaded your lake.  One more chapter, environmental history from sediment cores, is still under preparation and I’ll send it out when I can. " 

Link to Auburn Citizen article about Lake Day:
http://www.auburnpub.com/news/local/article_ffc6c552-8588-11df-91f8-001cc4c03286.html

Thanks again to all the OWLA volunteers and Community Leaders who helped put together Owasco Lake Day.