The summer is wrapping up and so are the projects on the lake. Chautauqua Lake Partnership (CLP) recently helped to arrange an independent weed survey performed by the University of North Carolina (UNC). The purpose of doing the weed survey at this point is to provide it to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) in lieu of a Spring survey. The Spring surveys are difficult to do as the weather is unpredictable and, as it happened this past Spring, the surveys do not provide the actual conditions to be expected.
Three UNC masters students sampled close to 1000 points in the lake to see what weeds were present. This included the weeds natural to the lake as well as invasive weeds. This was the most extensive survey performed on the lake for DEC consideration.
The initials, informal results indicate that the upper basin of the lake has a healthy mix of weeds natural to the lake and also has the invasive weeds we all complain about. The lower basin on the other hand, has fewer types of weeds and has a lot of the invasive weeds and algae that obscures the water and prevents a clear view of the lake bottom. We will share the formal findings as we get them.
We want to thank the three students from UNC (photo below) for taking the time and doing such an extensive sampling of the lake.