Doc. #2007-25
CAYUGA LAKE WATERSHED NETWORK
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Tuesday, April 13, 2007
Wells College, Aurora, NY

Directors present: Doug Haith, Janet Hawkes, Ruth Richardson, Mary Seitz, Keith Tidball and Kevin Zippel
Excused directors: Brian Boerman, John Dentes, John Mawdsley, Julie Patterson, Ted Hullar
Absent directors:
Committee Chairs:
Also in attendance: Sharon Anderson, Diane Emmons

The meeting was called to order at 7:20 by Janet Hawkes, Chairperson. The minutes of the March 13, 2007 meeting were moved by K. Zippel and seconded by M. Seitz and unanimously approved.

Items from the floor:
No items from the floor.

Business:
Balanced Score Card progress report: S. Anderson reviewed updated goals for the BSC and the referral/consultations she has done since we started to keep track in October 2006. (Doc.#2007-23). The Board requests S. Anderson include in future tallies contacts made in relationship to meetings.

Matches: K. Tidball reported he met with Trout Unlimited and they are interested in getting permits for fish weirs, improving public access and stocking of the creek, in addition to being involved with organizing a citizen’s group in the Canoga Creek subwatershed.

Membership: Publication Distributions. M. Seitz requested that the Board keep track of where they leave the Watershed Network publications when they hand them out. This includes newsletters, Issues publication, Smart Steps and brochures. The goal is to track the areas we are covering and to ensure distribution of our publications throughout the watershed.

Membership recruitment: Diane will send each Board member who gave names & addresses for membership recruitment their list back with whom actually joined. These will be mailed soon. At the May Board meeting, Directors will have time to hand address envelopes and write a short note on a standard membership recruitment letter.

K. Zippel requested assistance with finding someone with recruitment skills, such as a Cornell retiree. There were suggestions of getting college students majoring in business, public relations, marketing, etc to work with the Watershed Network on recruiting new members. D. Haith is going to talk to a professor who involves students in entrepreneurial projects. J. Hawkes suggested using a peer to peer technique and pairing it with out student membership category.

K. Tidball said a colleague at Cornell, Ethan Rainwater, is working on a “Love Your Lake” campaign that we may be able to partner with. K. Tidball will make the initial contact. There may be a way to combine the kick off with the 10th anniversary of Lakefest and have the campaign run throughout the year until our official 10th anniversary (Lakefest 2008). J. Hawkes noted that the Wellness Program at Cornell might be interested in an educational program or series based on Smart Steps, that would support the Love Your Lake campaign on campus. S. Anderson to follow up with the Wellness program after K. Tidball makes contact with E. Rainwater.

Fund Raising:
J. Hawkes gave a short report on the beginning of the Watershed Network leading into discussion of a “compelling case”.

S. Anderson led the discussion of drafting a “compelling case” for fund raising. The goal is to come up with several statements that the whole Board can agree to. There was much discussion on the topic of finding the right hook for compelling case and how to convey the essence of who we are and what we do in a few words.

Comments and Suggestions:
· How to convey fundamental central core of our purpose.
· What is our purpose?
· Health of Cayuga Lake Watershed.
· Wetlands for the future.
· Revive 7th generation concept.
· Water, essential for life.
· Clean water.
· Have the focus be the Lake rather than Watershed
· Protect and Enhance Cayuga lake Watershed.
· Hard to grab people without a crisis.
· We have not articulated an immediate threat.
· It is easier to get people’s attention with a crisis or immediate threat.
· We can’t live without water.
· Different people have different perspectives on what is important to them concerning the watershed: Lake level, fisheries, lakeside septic systems, run off, development, etc.
· Protect the whole watershed or the lake, we need focus.
· Protect our water for future generations.
· Protect is the operative word we need to use.
S. Anderson is to work on this and have a draft for the Board before the next meeting.

Grants and Contracts:
Due to time constraints, in lieu of a verbal report a written report will be added as an appendix to the meeting minutes (see Appendix)

Other Business:
D. Haith reported on modeling work being completed jointly between his department at Cornell and the Watershed Network. (Doc.#2007-24). The Characterization and Restoration and Protection Plan note excess phosphorus (P) is one of the greatest threats to water quality, yet there is no good estimate of how much P is coming into the lake. It is not feasible to measure the P from all 47 tributaries and drainage areas, especially since the majority of it moves during storm events. To quantify P, stream flow needs to be measured and samples taken hourly and this should be done for multiple storms over multiple years. In lieu of this, a computer model, called Generalized Watershed Loading Function, is used to estimate P loads. The GWLF model calculates rainfall (using 30-year averages) and the potential P from every single acre of land. Slope, soil type, recharge to groundwater, the type of vegetation and land use on each acre is factored into the model. Nick Hollingshead, working with the Watershed Network on a contract basis, has created or provided much of the information needed.

The P loads generated by the model are expected to be significantly higher then those in the Characterization, which used data from Likens based on grab samples taken once a month in the 1970’s. Likens sampling missed the storm events and snowmelt and therefore the P estimates are inaccurately low. The estimates for the 47 subwatersheds should be completed by the end of 2007. There is not enough data to validate the accuracy of the model for this watershed, though that has been done for the model in other areas of the country. The margin of error is 20 to 30 percent.

The Board referred to the Issues Committee thinking through how to use the information generated by this project and how and when it should be publicized.

Committee Report Updates & Questions
Finance/Development:
Doc.#2007-17 and Doc.#2007-18
Joint Outreach & Membership Committee:
Doc.#2007-19
Issues:
Doc.#2007-20
Monitoring Committee:
Doc.#2007-21

J. Hawkes read Board Director Connie Tallcot’s resignation from the Board effective immediately. J. Hawkes will draft a letter thanking C. Tallcot for her service and she will be recognized at Lakefest.

Motion to adjourn by, adjourned at 9:15 pm

Next Board Meeting: May 8, 2007 at Old Jail in Ithaca, NY

Submitted by
Mary Seitz

APPENDIX