LAKEWOOD [MEDIA RELEASE] – The past two months have been productive for the Chautauqua Lake Association, and the work is just getting started. July is expected to be even more productive with the expansion to a third site to efficiently maintain Chautauqua Lake’s ecology.
“We’re going to be running from three sites in a very ordered and efficient process,” said Douglas Conroe, CLA executive director. “Right now we’re working from two sites. We’re going to expand to a third site and run to the maximum extent that funding will allow.”
To date this season, the Lakewood and Long Point crews have removed 183 truck loads of aquatic vegetation from Chautauqua Lake, totaling more than 3 million pounds. Last week alone the CLA crews removed 500,00 pounds of vegetation from the lake. Starting their summer season two weeks early this year, the Long Point crew worked from the Village Casino along Lakeside Drive, moving south towards the Phillips Mills/Colburn area, and the Lakewood crew completed the area from Greenhurst to Fluvanna, then moved on towards Celoron. Other areas harvested throughout June by the CLA include Ashville Bay, Stow, Shore Acres, Burtis Bay, and the southern basin.
In addition to weed management, the CLA shoreline crews have assisted lakefront owners with the burden of cleaning their properties and offering weed disposal services. The shoreline crews started off June clearing woody debris from Chautauqua Lake and worked their way up the east side of the lake through Ashville Bay and Lakewood.
“The May and June work has been extremely productive,” Conroe said. “We have been able to open areas for people which have not been able to be opened before (such as canals) because we started earlier this year, but July is going to be a major operation.”
This year, CLA crews operating out of Mayville, Long Point and Lakewood will work in a circular route within the north and south basins throughout the duration of the summer. Implementing this new strategy will increase the efficiency and overall impact of the CLA lake maintenance program.
Each week a new work plan is published on the CLA website which includes a map outlining the anticipated route and location for each of the crews. To preview the weekly work plan, maps and updated work reports, please visit ChautauquaLakeAssociation.org or @ChautauquaLakeAssociation on Facebook.
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