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CAYUGA LAKE WATERSHED NETWORK
Steward’s Report, April 27 2011
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network
I am taking a breather in the middle of our VERY successful (in terms of #
of cleanups) 2011 Embrace the Lake creek and lakefront cleanup campaign to
give you a brief update on a number of good things going on for the Cayuga
Lake Watershed Network. April meeting minutes will be sent out prior to our
next Board meeting on May 18.
1. Embrace the Lake: we have fully embraced/encircled the lake this year
with around 20 events. We supply gloves and bags and help find a cleanup
location -- groups troops and congregations are doing the rest! I'll do a
big report for our next newsletter issue. I worked with Dan Hill and others
at the SHARE Farm and Great Gully this past weekend. Lots more events coming
up, with a special focus on Six Mile Creek during May, and I hope a followup
event at Canoga Creek (April 30?).
2. Eco-Cruises with CLWN speakers: We are teaming with the Floating
Classroom to offer several of us as speakers on July (and later) cruises
from the Ithaca Farmers Market (and we hope, Aurora in October). We are
going to try and arrange for Cayuga Lake wines and cheeses too!! I am on the
hook for July 17 to talk about fracking wastewater's potential impacts to
our creeks and lake. John has a 'little list' of other board members and
their possible topics...!
3. Sunset on Cayuga: Thanks to Judy Pipher's tenacity and Dale's
cheerfulness, we are moving forward for a great event this October 8 at
Wells College's Sommer Center. Tickets will be $60 apiece (and available
soon for Board members) and John has a spreadsheet of fancy goodies we are
seeking for our silent auction. Details in early to mid May! We will have an
excellent summer intern Ashley Benning to help with this and other
activities. NOTE that the "Wetlands" symposium was a smashing success!
4. Judy is helping to update our website regularly http://www.cayugalake.org.
We also have a blog that Ashley has been focused on and that you can
comment on and be a fan of http://cayugalakeblog.blogspot.com . and we are
on Facebook (please friend us)!
5. We have upcoming events we could use volunteers for, such as the
Montezuma Audubon event on May 7 (I think that Rebecca Ruggles and
Judy Pipher will help with that) and the Water Week event at the Ithaca Farmers
Market on May 15 (we'll share a table with the Floating Classroom).
6. Scott Heinekamp has provided us with a sterling first draft of a
Strategic Plan, and needs your input.
He attempted to post it to this listserv recently; I did not see it; I will
re-send soon.
7. Jim Clark is nearly satisfied with his draft CLWN brochure and will be
sharing it soon for our timely comments.
It is super!! And thanks go to Jim for printing our recent events poster and
flyer - Embrace the Lake posters and the Wetlands Symposium flyer.
8. Led by Ruth Richardson, the Issues Committee is gaining momentum on its
good work to produce a Dashboard: data-based lake and watershed health
indicators for enhanced communication with the public.
9. Thanks to Amy Galford's help we are almost ready to find area donors for
support of our several mini-grant requests including an updated website,
work on septics in Ulysses, interns, and hemlock woolly adelgid education.
Additionally, Both John Mawdsley and Ruth Richardson are working on projects
that will benefit the health of the lake and its creeks.
10. I am helping Dryden's citizen group DRAC in their efforts to rein in the
potential negative impacts of gas drilling to their water resources and
town. Right now the town boards of Ithaca, Ulysses and Dryden are hoping to
soon pass zoning ordinances that will exert legal, local control over the
energy industry "invasion." CLWN's educational and water protection messages
are reaching out across the entire lake watershed and way beyond.
11. I am also working to bring in additional funding from regional and
national watershed protection/education organizations. A new newsletter in
May! Member renewal mailing soon; mid-year appeal in July. I am attending a
training meeting in Toronto in early May (Freshwater Future.org) and giving
a workshop about hydraulic fracturing impacts on water resources at the 2011
River Rally (River Network.org) in early June. For the big picture on my
work and the Network's efforts have a look at that report I sent you all in
early March, "Cayuga Lake Watershed Network Interim Report to the Park
Foundation and Network Board."
12. There are numerous other events and processes unfolding. The Finger
Lakes Regional Watershed Alliance (FLRWA), organized last year, is made up
of nine groups including ours, from each of the public Finger Lakes (article
attached). I know this just seems like another horrible acronym but this
group wants to put the power of our total 7000 members together to get
recognition of and protection or our glorious Finger Lakes region.
13. Below is an update from the new generation of US Army Corps engineers,
Josh Unghire, with whom the FLRWA met this past week to discuss a planning
project that the USACE has money for in the Finger Lakes. He was seeking
input on what we think are the main concerns for each lake. What I think
will actually come out of this is a proposal to better coordinate upstream
and downstream water level management among the lakes. There were several
lake-groups folks at the meeting who had no clue that flooding is an issue.
That's because their lakes are higher than Cayuga by up to several hundred
feet! We're flat with the downstream drainage and also we accept what comes
to us from higher up - and hence the Cayuga Lake watershed is increasingly
prone to flooding problems, especially with the wetter forecasts predicted
for NY state as the global climate warms.
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