BEMUS POINT – The Chautauqua Lake Partnership (CLP) will be hosting a Chautauqua Lake Rally at the Village Casino on Saturday, Sept. 1 from 9 to 11 a.m.

The CLP – which is the organization that pushed for the use of herbicide applications in the lower end of Chautauqua Lake in June – will be collecting the opinions of concerned residents and anyone who wishes to attend.

“We need all Year-round and seasonal residents and lake users to participate and ‘Let Your Voice Be Heard’ as you hear about how the Chautauqua Lake Partnership is gaining ground on effective lake management,” the organization said in a recent posting on its website.

The group says the rally will provide attendees to learn about how it has worked to address invasive weeds on Chautauqua lake, including:

  • The 6 month/$250,000 Town of Ellery (Lead Agency) Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), returning herbicide treatment of invasive non-native weeds to the Chautauqua Lake toolkit after a 25-year absence;
  • The granting of permits to the Towns of Ellery, North Harmony, Busti and Ellicott and the Village of Celoron for herbicide treatment of 191 acres offshore these municipalities;
  • How lack of funding limited herbicide treatments from the 191 acres permitted to 81 acres treated offshore five Chautauqua Lake communities;
  • How these treated areas are now free of invasive weeds, that weed cutting in these areas has been unnecessary and that there is little to no shoreline accumulation along the areas’ shores, and;
  • How the 2018 herbicide treatments in Sunset, Bemus, Bly and Ashville Bays and offshore the Town of Busti have allowed property owners and lake users to enjoy invasive weed- and odor-free swimming, skiing, boating, fishing and general enjoyment of the lake.

The CLP will also give an update on its effort to counter a recent lawsuit filed by the Chautauqua Institution, which is challenging the process for how herbicide application was granted earlier this year by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

“In the lawsuit, Chautauqua Institution management is essentially saying that they know what’s best for the tens of thousands of year-round and seasonal Chautauqua County residents/taxpayers and lake users and lakeside Towns and Villages,” the group said. “Obviously, we do not support the Institution’s objectives and take exception to its unsupported views on herbicides. We know many of the Institution’s residents feel as we do.”