September 2020 WQ Committee Report
Silver Lake Association Water Quality Committee Report
(10/10/2020)
We are delighted to welcome Hanna Quigley, Rob Ritz, and Gordon Soderholm to the SLAWQ
team!
The SLAWQ team met on 10/02/2020 and discussed the following items:
2020 Planting Project. The fall 2020 planting project will be held at the Silver Lake State Park
on 10/16 (digging, staging) and 10/17 (installation). MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK!!
Start time is 9 AM on both days.
Bonnie Bright is providing lunch on both dates.
Rich Eliasz has been keeping the plants safe and watered over the last month. Rich will
deliver the plants to the planting site on the morning of 10/16. The site has already been
cleared and flagged so specific plants (also flagged) need to be placed at specific
locations.
Kelly Paganelli has arranged for fresh top soil to be delivered on site by 10/17.
Lee Loomis is delivering “Pittsford Pine” mulch on site by 10/17.
Joe Caputo is renting a self-propelled power auger and delivering it to the site on 10/16.
Joe Caputo & Ron Norton are delivering water for plants to the site on 10/17.
Jim Musclow will provide his tractor and 5 gal buckets on 10/17 to help transport mulch
and top soil.
Bob Martin is making his Gator available on 10/16 and 10/17 to transport plants and
water.
More workers are needed on both days to help: site each plant, dig plant holes, install plants,
transport top soil and mulch, back fill each plant with fresh top soil, water in each new plant,
cover and mulch each plant, and ensure each plant is flagged.
Another tractor or UTV would help too.
Helpers should wear appropriate work clothes, sturdy shoes, and gloves. It will also be helpful
to bring a shovel and/or rake.
Please contact Frank Bright (chefvb@buffalo.edu) to volunteer for either day. Even an hour of
your time can help make the job go more quickly.
Executive Excursion. On 10/09/20 with the help of Mike Bellamy the SLAWQ team hosted a
socially distanced excursion around and on Silver Lake to offer our elected officials with new
perspectives about Silver Lake. We showed off the lake’s N-end, spoke about and showed off
SLA-led projects within the watershed, and took a lake tour. Outside attendees were: Jim Brick
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(Town of Perry), Eleanor Jacobs (Village of Perry, VoP) and guest, Stan Klein (Town of Castile
Supervisor), Steve Deaton (VoP DPW), Vanessa McCormick Assemblyman David DiPietro
chief of staff and Eileen Hopkins from Senator Gallivan's office.
Federal St. Dam. No new information. Please consult previous Reports.
Perry Public Beach Project. The Beach appears to be open. Please consult previous
Reports.
Given the new plantings, SLAWQ has requested that the VoP reinstall a sediment fence or the
like to protect the lake over fall & winter. On 10/09/2020 SWBR and CAMCO concluded that
erosion controls of the type suggested by SLAWQ were not necessary at the PPB.
A side-bar conversation with Steve Deaton during the Executive Excursion on 10/09/2020
suggests that SLA/CLEAN can partner with VoP to install coir logs.
N-end Silver Lake Dredging Project. No new information. Please consult previous Reports.
The SLAWQ team will stay on this project over the winter season.
Temperature Arrays. Array 1 (located mid-lake) has been working well following redeployment.
The graphical data is available through the new SLA web site.
Array 2 to be installed at the S-end of the lake will be installed in spring 2021.
Please consult earlier SLAWQ Reports regarding how to interpret the array outputs.
Partner Projects. In collaboration with Mr. Todd Shuskey (PHS) and colleagues at SUCBrockport
(Prof. Mike Chislock, Environmental Ecology) and SUC-Geneseo (Prof. Sid Bosch,
Biology & Lake Ecology), we plan to investigate the following questions:
Q1: Has the water flow within Silver Lake changed since 1983?
A publication by Englebert & Stewart (1983) showed that water from the inlet did not mix with
the rest of the lake. If true, one could infer that inlet water does not contribute to the nutrient
loading within the rest of the lake.
We aim to confirm that this is still the case. If it is, then management strategies upstream of the
inlet would have little impact on overall lake health.
Q2: What is the actual number of tributaries that contribute to the nutrient loading at Silver
Lake?
USGS topo maps and the F.X. Browne Reports list 11 tributaries entering Silver Lake.
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Q3: Why are there phosphorous (P) “hot spots” across the lake bed?
If there are bona fide hot P hot spots, localized treatments with something like alum could be
very effective. The localized hot spots must be confirmed.
Q4: Are the weed bed densities and species composition different at the N- and S-end of the
Silver Lake, arising from nutrient loadings?
Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs). The New York Harmful Algal Bloom System (NYHABS)
remains live.
The SLAWQ team has discussed this program many times during previous SLA meetings.
The relevant URL is: https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/83310.html
Please remember that the NYHABS website represents the official notification site for HABs in
New York State. Individuals should familiarize themselves with the definitions used by NYS
DEC regarding HABs. Also, as discussed several times during previous SLA meetings,
SLAWQ will no longer send information or updates to individuals regarding HABs. We
encourage individuals to bookmark the aforementioned URL and consult this web site as often
as they feel is necessary.
Water Chestnuts. Rob Ritz continues to work with WNY PRISM on water chestnut monitoring
programs.
2020 CSLAP Campaign. SLAWQ completed the 2020 CSLAP sampling season.
The 2020 annual report will be available in spring 2021.
Water Steward. Please consult earlier SLAWQ Reports. We are awaiting final numbers from
Mallory Broda.
Golf Tournament. Scheduled for July 24, 2021. A web site will be set up for registration and
hole sponsor opportunities. SLAWQ and CLEAN are considering charging players more to
offset anticipated revenue losses from local merchants tied to COVID-19.
2021 Triathlon. Scheduled for June 6, 2021.
Next SLAWQ Zoom Meeting. The next SLAWQ meeting is scheduled for March 12, 2021 at 4
pm (via Zoom).
