| Situation Yates County is endowed
with three major Finger Lakes, excellent soils for a
growing agricultural community, and large areas of
forests and wetlands. The area's diverse rural economy
directly depends on protecting and enhancing these
natural resources. Both youth and adult programming is
offered to help individuals, families, communities and
businesses understand, appreciate and solve problems
related to the environment such as well contamination,
zebra mussels, septic systems, soil erosion, forest
management, lakeshore living, household hazardous wastes,
composting, etc. Major efforts have been initiated in
partnership with other organizations on all the major
watersheds including Keuka, Canandaigua, Seneca Lakes and
Flink Creek, to complete and implement comprehensive
watershed management plans to protect these community
assets into the next millennium.
Highlights
- The Keuka
Lake Looking Ahead Watershed Management Plan
Summary was published in cooperation with the
Keuka Lake Association and mailed to over 6,000
residents in the Keuka Lake watershed. For more
information contact www.keukalakeassoc.org
- Over 400 6th
graders from Penn Yan, Marcus Whitman and Dundee
schools participated in the 31st Annual
Conservation Field Days co-sponsored by the Soil
and Water Conservation District.
- At the Keuka
Lake Rural Landowner Workshop, over 60 people
participated in talks and field experiences
focused on forest management, shoreline
protection, wildlife enhancement, and legal
aspects of boundary posting.
- A two-day
aerial photo interpretation and land use mapping
course was developed and presented to 6th, 7th,
and 8th graders of Marcus Whitman's Eco School as
part of their Flint Creek Watershed Study.
 Water quality
research on Keuka Lake is conducted in
collaboration with Keuka Lake Association, Soil
and Water Conservation District, Brockport
University, Cornell University and the villages
of Penn Yan and Hammondsport to determine the
impacts of zebra mussels and watershed sources of
pollution.
- A three-part
seminar series on bluebirds and bird migration
was attended by the 75 people to learn about
building and maintaining cavity-nesting boxes and
nature trails in order to increase the resident
bluebird populations. The Fall Migration seminar
was co-sponsored by the Finger Lakes Land Trust.
- Over 30
people attended the Keuka Kritters seminar at
Keuka College to learn about the biology and
ecology of plants and animals in Keuka Lake. The
event was co-sponsored by Keuka College, Keuka
Lake Association and Cornell Cooperative
Extension.
- Over 100
consumer requests for information on zebra
mussels and home water treatment were handled by
the Cornell Cooperative Extension water quality
specialist in order to help solve home water
quality issues.
- The Cornell
Cooperative Extension SLAP-5 (Seneca Lake Area
Partners in Five Counties) coordinator and the
Cooperative Extension water quality specialist
worked on a number of research projects in
support of the Seneca Lake State of the Watershed
study.
Just the Facts .
. .
- Yates County
contains three Finger Lakes: Keuka, Canandaigua,
and Seneca where over 100,000 people draw clean
drinking water.
- The lakes
are an economic "engine," creating jobs
and generating over $100 million from tourism and
recreation. Over $5 million is generated per year
from fishing on Keuka Lake alone.
- Clean lakes
ensure a stabilized tax base. Shoreline
properties on Keuka have an assessed value of
$600 million and in several towns, over 70% of
the tax base is derived from shoreline
properties. Maintaining high water quality
ensures that the value of these properties are
maintained.
- Groundwater
serves all other areas of the county. Proper
water testing, treatment and conservation are
needed to use these resources wisely.
Cornell
Cooperative Extension Yates Association
Last updated: 4/5/05
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