Stewardship Initiative

ConesUS Lake Stewardship

What is it: A cohesive set of actions designed to educate watershed residents on the impact they have on the lake’s water quality along with best practices that have been proven to favorably impact water quality. Through these actions and programs we hope to assist and inspire all watershed residents to become proactive stewards of the future health of our lake.

Why Watershed Residents: Every resident that lives roughly between I390 and Federal Road affects the lake through their actions, whether you know it or not. Since all water from this basin eventually flows into the lake, any chemicals, fertilizers, petroleum products, waste or erosion will also end up in the lake unless each owner is aware of and adheres to best practices to minimize or eliminate such impacts.

Why should you care: The overall health of the lake not only affects the quality of the drinking water drawn from the lake, and the overall enjoyment of those using the lake, it can also significantly impact housing prices, tax bases and the ability of area businesses to draw customers if allowed to degrade.

Can we really make a difference: Recent studies have indicated that the collective impact of watershed residents is the second largest contributor to the overall health of the lake. Our impact is second only to agriculture. At this time many of our watershed farms are actively pursuing their own set of best practices and improvements. If each of us uses those best practices that are relevant to us, we can and will make a huge positive contribution to the health of our lake.

What the Conesus Lake Association has done to date:

• For the 6^th year, helped fund (thanks to your donations) and support Watercraft Steward Program at the state boat launch that since its inception has inspected almost 34k boats and educated 80k+  boaters on the dangers of Aquatic Invasive Species and the necessity to “Clean, Drain, and Dry” including inspecting almost 6400 visitors from other lakes that all carry the risk of introducing new invasive species.  Over the last 2 years over 97% of boaters have had prior contact with our stewards, 96% of boaters are now taking preventative measures, and visible contaminants have dropped from over 10% to under 1%.
• Successfully implemented a boat decontamination station to provide our Watercraft Stewards with a new line of defense.
• Provided protection at Hemlock and Canadice Lakes over the last 3 years, inspecting almost 2300 boats and educated 5200+ boaters.
• Engaged State Legislators in the Senate and Assembly to ensure a pending DEC regulation on weed mat use does not infringe our ability to use seasonal weed mats to control dockside nuisance weeds.
• Worked with the Water Authority to create a campaign and mailing to address the sewer line overflows during rain events caused by illegal connections.
• Implemented a “Zero Release” program to educate residents and local students as to the issues created by “well meaning” dumping aquarium or koi pond flora and fauna into our lake.
• Created and continue to maintain a storm drain labeling program encompassing all four towns and major perimeter roads around the lake.  Over 550+ permanent decals stating  “PLEASE DON’T POLLUTE — DRAINS TO CONESUS LAKE” have been affixed, accompanied by several thousand educational “door hangers” to nearby homes. Almost 280 drains were refreshed in 2018.
• Implemented the ‘Welcome to the Lake’ program to inform new resident of lake issues, best practices and opportunities to become involved.  Over 560 new neighbors have been approached.
• Launched the ‘Help Protect our Lake’ renter program targeting 250+ renting locations on the lake.  Renters are provided with a renter targeted brochure on how to help us protect the lake for their enjoyment.
• Launched the ‘Conesus’ Booth outreach to watershed residents, engaging residents annually at 2 key events resulting in well over 500 people ‘taking the pledge’ to protect our lake.
• Created programs to help Lakers ‘care for their waterfront as they would their lawn’ with algae collection tools, weed mats, free weed mat signs, and the “Smother – Don’t Cut your Weeds” educational outreach.
• Disseminated “Best Practices” information to all watershed residents via laminated guides, web articles, and on-going CLA Laker Articles.
• Launched the ‘Lake Friendly Vendor’ initiative to identify vendors who help us ‘do our part’.
• Tested phosphorus levels in 26 lawns around the lake supporting the use of no phosphorus fertilizers.
• Created the Conesus brand and stewardship initiative to focus awareness on the impact of individual diligence and adherence to best practices.
• Disseminated “Best Practices” information to all watershed residents via laminated guides, web articles, and on-going CLA Laker Articles.
• Launched the ‘Lake Friendly Vendor’ initiative to identify vendors who help us ‘do our part’.
• Tested phosphorus levels in 26 lawns around the lake supporting the use of no phosphorus fertilizers.
• Created the Conesus brand and stewardship initiative to focus awareness on the impact of individual diligence and adherence to best practices.
• What’s next?: Continue to design and implement programs designed to educate and encourage best practices by residents and visitors to our watershed based on current issues and opportunities.     

Best Practices to Protect Conesus Lake

What is a Best Practice?: A best practice is a technique or method that, through experience and research, has proven to reliably lead to a desired result, and achieves results superior to those achieved by other means. A commitment to using the best practices is a commitment to using all the knowledge and technology at one’s disposal to ensure success.

How are these relevant to us? : Every day our actions within the watershed of Conesus Lake have a significant impact on the overall health of the lake, either positively or negatively. We continue to strive to define and promulgate best practices pertaining to our actions: in the watershed, near the lakeside, and on the water, that will ensure we act in a manner that provides the highest certainty that we are contributing to the health, benefit and improvement of our lake. As each of us, and each of our visitors participate in varying activities from boating, to yardwork, to managing pets; each of us will need to understand the relevant best practices and apply them to our individual lives IF we are committed to protecting the lake.

In an effort to raise sensitivity about the land surrounding Conesus Lake Watershed, the Conesus Lake Association has worked in concert with town, county, and state officials to create several plans that will accomplish this. The CLA gratefully acknowledges the efforts of these individuals and entities to date and looks forward to full implementation of these studies and plans.