Boats and docks are returning to Chautauqua Lake in anticipation of a busy 2025 season. Photo by Randall Perry

Even though we are still a month out from Memorial Day there has been no shortage of Chautauqua Lake activity.

With snow still falling, the County hosted its second annual Chautauqua Lake Symposium last month at the Harbor Hotel in Celoron. Staff from the Department of Environmental Conservation, The Jefferson Project, North Carolina State University, and the Army Corps of Engineers were on hand to give presentations on their various projects and programs, as well as answer questions from the public. The entire event can now be found on the County’s YouTube page.

Thanks to new operational funding from the state, The Jefferson Project and its partner Chautauqua Institution were able to deploy the program’s vertical profilers to the lake much earlier than previous years. Researchers set those floating data platforms at two locations north and south of the bridge in April, and will also continue to conduct water sampling throughout the summer. The vertical profilers are one part of a sophisticated sensor network that also includes stream monitoring stations, which were brought online last year as part of a grant provided by the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation and administered by the Alliance. Data coming from these different sensors can now be accessed online at chq.jeffersonproject.live. The Jefferson Project and others will be presenting at the Institution’s Lake Conference on June 21 at 8:30 a.m. at Chautauqua Golf Club. More information on that can be found at chq.org/event/chautauqua-lake-conference-2/.

The Alliance Lake Management Committee met at the Lawson Center in Bemus this month to discuss and coordinate maintenance plans for the upcoming season. The Chautauqua Lake Association is scheduled to begin its early season debris cleanup this week. A reminder to all early-season boaters that logs and floating debris are common in the springtime, and can present hazards. Warner Dam operations were adjusted recently in order to help raise the lake level in the coming weeks as many homeowners begin to install their docks and return their boats to the water.

A new herbicide is scheduled to be applied to the lake this spring. Coordinating with towns and villages, the Chautauqua Lake Partnership has received DEC permits to use the herbicide Clearcast to address the early-growing invasive curly-leaf pondweed. CLP is also coordinating the treatment of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil, and is planning a pilot test to use algaecides on the newer invasive algae starry stonewort. More information on those programs can be found at chqlake.org/herbicide-treatments/.

CLA continues to prepare its fleet of machines for harvesting and shoreline cleanup operations, and has posted several job openings on its Facebook page for anyone who may be interested. They are once again expected to work with Town of Chautauqua Mobitracs to remove floating debris from near-shore areas throughout the recreational season. Bolstering those operations is a host of new county purchased equipment, including a new harvester and transport vessel. The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy will once again lead its invasive species early detection and rapid response program. Volunteer opportunities and more information on that will become available at chautauquawatershed.org.

The Alliance will be hosting its public Annual Meeting at The Lawson Center in Bemus on May 8 at 4:30. Following the conclusion of our 2025 board of directors election, our Executive Director Randall Perry will deliver our annual report presentation highlighting work done in 2024, and outlining future efforts. Thank you to the funders, scientists, consultants, volunteers, and Alliance member organizations working to set the lake up for success this coming year.