News Story

Chautauqua Lake Watershed Management Plan

Located in the southwest corner of New York, Chautauqua Lake is a major destination for its scenery, fishing, and water-based recreation opportunities, all of which are significant contributors to the regional economy. The Chautauqua Lake Watershed is approximately 160 mi2 and includes all or portions of the Towns of Busti, Chautauqua, Ellery, Ellicott, Harmony, North Harmony, Portland, Sherman, Stockton, and the Villages of Bemus Point, Celoron, Lakewood, Mayville, and Panama.

To ensure continued sustainability and health of the lake, the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Economic Development in partnership the Chautauqua Lake Management Commission (CLMC), the Chautauqua Lake Association (CLA), and Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy (CWC), developed a watershed management plan to define realistic and achievable solutions for water quality restoration and protection. The Chautauqua Lake watershed management plan characterizes watershed resources, identifies key issues, and evaluates current practices and programs. The plan’s recommendations, arrived at through a collaborative process with extensive public involvement, provide a blueprint for short and long term action to address excessive nutrients and sedimentation that periodically result in over abundant growth of submerged aquatic vegetation, algal blooms, loss of navigable water routes, endanger drinking water supplies, and threaten the lake’s quality and recreation value.

In conjunction with this planning effort, the Chautauqua Watershed Planning for a Healthy Future video was produced to raise local awareness about watershed management issues and promote actions watershed residents and landowners can take to sustain and improve water quality.

The Chautauqua Lake Watershed Management Plan and video were prepared with an Environmental Protection Fund Local Waterfront Revitalization Program grant to the Town of Busti awarded by the NYS Department of State, and matched with local funds and in-kind services.

The Chautauqua Lake Watershed Management Plan and Video are available here.

For more information, please contact:
Don McCord or Mark Geise
Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Economic Development
200 Harrison Street, Jamestown NY 14701
Phone: (716) 661-8900

The Department of State’s guidebook for the preparation of watershed management plans can be viewed or downloaded here.


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