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Chautauqua County committee weighs Chautauqua Lake memorandum and a NC State plan, flags herbicide and adoption concerns
Summary
The committee authorized a two-year memorandum of understanding for Chautauqua Lake and discussed a June 2024 long-term plan for submersed aquatic vegetation prepared for the Chautauqua Lake Partnership. Members debated what ‘‘adoption’’ would mean for county obligations, DEC permitting and ecological risk from herbicide use.
The Chautauqua County Planning and Economic Development Committee voted to authorize a two‑year memorandum of understanding to continue cooperative work on Chautauqua Lake and spent substantial time reviewing a June 2024 plan prepared for the Chautauqua Lake Partnership.
County staff described the document as “the long term management plan for submersed aquatic vegetation at Chautauqua Lake, and it’s dated June 2024,” and said the plan was funded by the Alliance, several foundations and county occupancy-tax dollars and was intended to help stakeholders approach the state DEC and support permit applications.
Pierre, an Alliance board member, said the Alliance funded the Chautauqua Lake Partnership to develop the five‑year plan and that the Alliance’s role is coordination and fundraising, not direct management: “They are not a lake manager,” he told the committee.
Several committee members cautioned against treating the NC State plan as a county mandate. One county staff member asked, “If the legislature adopts a plan, well, you know, are they on the hook for funding, to hire a lake manager, to do the SEQR?” and warned that formal county adoption could trigger State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) requirements.
Raised repeatedly was the ecological trade-off between managing rooted vegetation and risking larger harmful algal blooms. As one commenter put it, “If you take out too much of the vegetation, then you can turn the lake into a algae dominated lake.” Committee members noted that DEC has in prior years issued herbicide permits and that the DEC had requested a five‑year plan to inform permit decisions.
The committee did not adopt the NC State plan as county policy at the meeting. Members asked staff to clarify what “adoption” would legally and financially require, to coordinate review with municipalities and lake stakeholders and to provide the committee with the analysis that has been prepared in response to the NC State document.
The MOU authorization was approved by voice vote; the committee did not take formal action to adopt the NC State plan.
