Lake Friendly Living

What happens around your home matters…

As one of the residents who use Cayuga Lake as a primary water source or for recreation, you can make a difference in the water quality of the lake. The Cayuga Lake watershed encompasses approximately 785 square miles where storm water runoff moves into the lake and impacts its water quality. Residential properties generate part of that runoff.

What is storm water runoff?

Rain that falls on natural surfaces is infiltrated into the ground. Rain that falls on impermeable surfaces, such as roof tops, paved surfaces, etc. cannot soak into the ground and moves across these surfaces carrying sediment and pollutants with it into the lake.

Sediments can cloud water affecting lake plants, fish, and other aquatic life. Sediments can form deltas that impede navigation and lake access.  Sediments can create habitats where invasive species thrive. Pollutants include excess nutrients, bacteria, pathogens and debris that can make water unsafe for drinking and swimming and disrupt healthy aquatic life.

What Can You Do?

You can join our Lake Friendly Living program and adopt Lake Friendly Living practices!

The program is simple and focuses on three key ways to help protect Cayuga Lake.

Our program is simple.

It is designed to help you learn and apply a level of practices that best suits your situation and abilities.

1. Explore the Cayuga Lake Home Owner’s Guide (linked below)

2. Review the 12 Simple Strategies, and,

3. Choose the Best Practices you will use to make your property more lake friendly.

Take the Pledge

Please take the pledge to adopt best practices that will help reduce or eliminate pollutants and minimize runoff.

 Access Your Lake Friendly Living Resources Here

With your pledge, we encourage you to download our
Cayuga Lake Home Owner’s Guide. The guide provides you
with simple steps to practice lake friendly living.
Smart Steps for Clean Water includes even more ways to protect the Lake.

Cayuga Lake Home Owner’s Guide

Smart Steps for Clean Water

Thank you to those who have taken the pledge!

Please take the pledge and practice lake friendly living.