WELCOME TO THE SILVER LAKE ASSOCIATION
WELCOME TO THE SILVER LAKE ASSOCIATION
In the effort to more readily receive grants and other funding for projects benefiting Silver Lake and its watershed; the Silver Lake Association Water Quality Committee created The Citizen Led Environmental Action Network at Silver Lake (CLEAN@Silver Lake) which is a non-profit focusing on water quality matters within the Silver Lake Watershed. SLA Water Quality team works through clean for its mission to protect our lake. See the CLEAN website for more data and WQ information.
2024 BIG NEWS!
The requests for proposals for the Development of a Local Waterfront Redevelopment Plan for Town of Castile , Town of Perry ,Village of Perry have been sent out. Download the PDF to review the full scope of the project.
Tentative Project Schedule
Request for Proposal Issued: October 20, 2023
RFP Deadline December 22, 2023 at 3 PM
Vendor Selection January 2024
Project Initiation Meeting March 2024
Draft LWRP June 2026
LWRP Adopted October 2027
Grant End :Date July 31, 2028
Go to Dredging Project (cleanatsilverlake.org) for the PDF of the proposal.
The Silver Lake temperature array has been successfully rebuilt, relocated, and reinstalled. A BIG shout out to Rob Ritz and Karl Hanafin for designing and constructing the new, more robust array. Rob and Karl also installed the new system at its new location. Data from the new array can be seen at the following website: https://karl.hanafins.com/silver-lake-thermocline-data---station-1
The temperature array is designed to accurately record depth- and time-dependent data from the lake at 15-minute time intervals throughout the year. These data are used to observe in-lake mixing events / ‘turn over’ in real time. In the warmer summer season, lake-wide mixing events are often precursors to algae blooms (nutrients from sediment in the lake sediment + delivery to the lake surface + sun light = algae growth).
Committee Meetings.
A. Silver Lake Watershed Commission (SLWC)
Ron Norton has replaced Joe Caputo as the SLA representative on this committee. There have been and will be more leadership changes with the recent Billing’s resignation and with Ernie Lawrence’s untimely passing.
B. Wyoming County Water Resource Coordinating Committee (WCWRCC) The Wyoming County Soil & Water Conservation District (WCSWCD) has helped with the Request for Proposals (RFP) for a Local Waterfront Revitalization Planning (LWRP) grant. The RFP has been shared on the SLA/CLEAN social media sites. SLAWQ submitted a Report in mid-January ’24 raising the following issues: 1) Milky-blue water near the Walker Rd. Bridge. 2) Fall yard waste.
C. Wyoming County Water Resource Agency (WCWRA) Board of Directors
Frank Bright was recently appointed to the Board of Directors.
Lake and Outlet Dredging
o Gone to permit – 1,652 pages submitted
o Army Corp of Engineers and DEC to review
o State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) review of 23 acre field – “full blown investigation”
Significant artifact find in 1978
Hoping to have answers by spring
o Environmental Bond Act could provide project funding (~$3.5 M)
o Wyoming County – Lead Agency o Public Hearings scheduled as dredging gets closer
o Window of opportunity anytime outside of Mar – Sep due to spawning Mar –Apr and summer time activities through Sep
o Dredging is planned to start by the Federal St dam o Landowner to allow some de-watering activity to occur on their property o Timeframe:
1 year to complete
Looking to expand to the wildlife refuge area (that will come later)
D. Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2)
Ron Norton and Frank Bright will represent SLA & CLEAN.
The Village of Perry (VoP) was selected to receive free technical assistance to aid in the development and implementation of a Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2) Plan. Two representatives from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have been assigned as the Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs).
The DWSP2 is a locally led, state-supported program that empowers municipalities to take action to improve and protect their public water sources and surrounding environment. Communities accepted into the program will work with technical assistance providers to develop and initiate implementation of their unique Drinking Water Source Protection Program, leading to actionable steps each municipality can take to protect their drinking water sources now and into the future.
More information on this program is available at:
https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/water-quality/dwsp2 https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/water_pdf/dwsp2draftframework.pdf
The SLAWQ team will aim to keep lake health and vitality at the center of all discussions.
Donations. CLEAN donated $500 on 03/01/2024 to the Wyoming County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD) to support the annual Trailside Envirothon at Letchworth State Park.
Yard Waste. The fall ’23 dumpsters coupled with the “Don’t Rake in the Lake” and free leaf bag giveaway campaign were successful in that they kept significant amounts of organic yard waste out of Silver Lake. The programs were not perfect and a more comprehensive, permanent solution is still necessary.
One municipality complained that improper waste was found in the dumpsters. Until a permanent solution is in place, SLAWQ suggests the ’23 plan be continued in ’24 with the following modifications:
a) Dumpsters (2) be made available at the lake from Oct 15 to Dec 1.
b) “Yard Waste Only” banners be attached to each dumpster.
c) Dumpsters be emptied/replaced as needed during the “at lake” period.
Dredging. Please see earlier in the Report under Wyoming County Water Resource Agency (WCWRA) Board of Directors.
Walker Rd Bridge. At last report the Walker Rd Bridge replacement is planned for spring ’24.
Japanese Knotweed (JK) Spraying. SLAWQ team members will survey the ’23 spraying sites and address any issues.
Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP). All ’23 CSLAP Lake Reports are delayed. Water sampling and submissions for the ’24 campaign will begin in late May ’24.
PCHS Activities. SLAWQ is delighted by Todd Shuskey’s selection as the winner of the 2024 New York State Rural Schools Association Teacher of the Year Award. Todd’s selection is in large measure a result of his work on Silver Lake and his efforts with the SLA & CLEAN. Todd will be the NY S nominee for the national Rural Teach of the Year award.
Harmful Algae Blooms (HAB). NYHABS is the official portal to all NYS HAB archives and reporting.
To view the HAB archives go to the following site: https://nysdec.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=ae91142c812a4ab997ba7 39ed9723e6e
Please stay up-to-date on HABs at Silver Lake by checking this web site as often as you wish. You can also use this site to compare Silver Lake to other NYS lakes.
To report a suspicious bloom go to the following site: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/66337b887ccd465ab7645c0a9c1bc5c0 Silver
Lake Water Level. Remember that the Village of Perry (VoP) maintains a camera at the Silver Lake Outlet dam that monitors the lake level. The link to this camera is: https://villageofperry.com/departments/water-sewer/source-of-water/lake-water-level/
Please stay up-to-date on the lake water level by regularly checking in at this site. In a normal year the water level is 97-98” in the spring and it may fluctuate throughout the seasons with rainfall, outflow, evaporation etc. The lake’s water level often drops to 80” or less in fall/winter. Please note there can be a lag of 24-36 hours during times when there are significant rains and the dam gates at Federal St. are open to see the lake and dam water levels equalize. This rebounding is normal.
U.S. National Drought Monitor. The U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) is a map released every Thursday, showing where drought is and how bad it is across the U.S. and its territories. The map uses six classifications: normal conditions, abnormally dry (D0), showing areas that may be going into or are coming out of drought, and four levels of drought: moderate (D1), severe (D2), extreme (D3) and exceptional (D4).
The link to the interactive USDM map is:
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/
Please stay up-to-date on drought levels by checking this web site as often as you wish.
Temperature Array. The Silver Lake temperature array has been working well since it was rebuilt, repositioned, and reinstalled. Data from the new array can be seen at the following web site: https://karl.hanafins.com/silver-lake-thermocline-data---station-1
DEC Big Panfish Initiative (BPI). Please stay informed by visiting the BPI web site: https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/124966.html
Watercraft Inspection Steward. The SLA has been fortunate to have an on-site steward at the State Boat Launch for the past several years. The 2023 inspection Report and 2024 Position Vacancy announcement are attached. These were posted over winter on the SLA and CLEAN social media sites. If you know of a suitable steward candidate, please have them apply ASAP.
Lake Bed Sediment Core. We hope to have Dr. Lorelei Curtin from Bucknell University share her team’s results with membership during an upcoming SLA meeting.
Improved Communications. The SLAWQ team has worked to expand and improve communication efforts with members and other stakeholders. Examples include timely postings on the SLA and CLEAN web sites and Facebook pages (shout out to Michelle Hess), several full page articles in the Perry Herald (shout out to Lee Loomis), and a new display case at the Silver Lake State Park.
Potential Planting Sites. The SLAWQ team is working with the Wyoming County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD) staff to identify a suitable ’24 planting site.
SLA / CLEAN Water Quality Golf Tournament. The 2024 Tournament is scheduled for Saturday, July 20, 2024 at the Club at Silver Lake. In the previous years we saw our first registrant in mid-April. 5 Thanks to Michelle Hess and her hard work we now have an all on-line registration and sponsorship donation system. Currently, we have 14 teams registered and there are only 8 team slots remaining. Please urge your friends and neighbors to assemble their teams and register ASAP at: https://cleanatsilverlake.org/golf-tournament
Reminder: It is never too early to collect and assemble your baskets and gifts for the 2024 SLA/CLEAN Water Quality Golf Tournament’s Gift Basket Raffle. Please reach out to Bonnie Bright (bbright4046@gmail.com) or Karen Norton (karenmort@yahoo.com), if you have questions. Items can be dropped off starting on July 1 to the Bright’s cottage (4046 Lakeside Ave).
The next SLAWQ meeting will held at 4:00 pm on Friday, May 3, 2024 via Zoom
The SLAWQ team received approval from Letchworth State Park to install a display case and informational planting site map (pictured) at the Silver Lake State Park. We hope to complete this task in Sept ’23. Potential Planting Sites for ‘23, ‘24, and ‘25. The Wyoming County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD) staff are working with landowner(s) to secure appropriate permissions.
The CLEAN and the SLA water quality team installed the new, vinyl display case and map at the Silver Lake State Boat Launch. As suggested by Doug Kelly we installed the case on the bathroom building where it will see a lot of traffic.
On Friday, September 29, 2023, a contingent of undergraduate students from Bucknell University led by Dr. Lorelei Curtin visited Silver Lake and took a continuous 18-foot-long sediment core from the south end of Silver Lake.
Dr. Curtin and her students are analyzing the sample now and they will report back to the SLA water quality team
On Friday, September 29, 2023, a contingent of undergraduate students from Bucknell University led by Dr. Lorelei Curtin visited Silver Lake and took a continuous 18-foot-long sediment core from the south end of Silver Lake.
Dr. Curtin and her students are analyzing the sample now and they will report back to the SLA water quality team on what they discover and learn. Look for more information as it becomes available.
Six (6) of eight (8) samples for the 2022 season have been taken and submitted. Sampling data from each session is now uploaded directly to a DEC-supported web site. Hard copies are still submitted along with the samples.
What is CSLAP? The Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP) is a volunteer lake monitoring program run by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the NYS Federation of Lake Associations, Inc. (NYSFOLA). It was initiated in 1985 and was modeled after successful volunteer programs in Vermont, Maine, Illinois and Minnesota. Each participating lake association is a member of NYSFOLA, a not-for-profit coalition of lake associations and others interested in lake management. NYSFOLA was founded in 1983 and presently serves over 200 lake associations as well as individual and corporate members.
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The 2022 CSLAP Report has been added below.
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