Syracuse.com - Exposed lake Owasco and Cayuga Lake shorelines can be deceiving

[HuntingNY-News]

Despite the exposed shoreline and what appears to be low water levels, both lakes are currently at levels which is normal for this time of year. Prior to the winter, officials announced both lakes would be taken down to combat invasive species (Asian clam and hydrilla). Mother Nature didn't cooperate.

Stephen D. Cannerelli/The Post-StandardOwasco Lake isonly about three inches below normal despite the appearance of the Emerson Park swimming area at the northern end of the lake. Shorelines are more visible this year because of the lack of snow and ice.

It’s one of those situations where you just can’t believe your eyes.

At first glance, the water levels at both Owasco and Cayuga lakes appear to be way down — possibly due to efforts by officials who announced before the winter that they wanted to kill two invasive species in those lakes by exposing them to cold and ice.

In Owasco Lake, the game plan by officials was to lower the lake an extra foot to freeze out the Asian clam, whose presence in shallow area’s of the lake’s northern end have resulted in troublesome blue-green algae on the surface. In Cayuga Lake, officials talked about lowering the lake five to six inches below the seasonal average to freeze hydrilla, an invasive plant capable of clogging up tributaries and shallow sections at the lake’s southern end.

With the exposed shorelines and mud flats on both lakes, it would seem all that’s lacking is a prolonged cold stretch to finish the job.

Wrong.

“It may sound goofy, but both lakes are about where they usually are. The lake level of Owasco Lake is currently only only three inches below normal for this time of year,” said Bruce Natalie, a Cayuga County environmental engineer, who is part of a multi-agency task force working on the Asian clam situation.

Stephen D. Cannerelli/The Post-StandardThis shot was taken in the lake's outlet, just north of the pumphouse in Emerson Park.

Natalie said his mother-in-law, who lives on the shore of Cayuga Lake, keeps telling him the lake is lower than at any time in her memory. Once again, that observation is wrong. Cayuga Lake is only about three inches lower than normal for this time of year, according to U.S. Geological Survey and state Canal Corporation data, Natalie said.

What gives?

Actually, the shoreline and mud flats that are catching the attention of passersby on both lakes are usually covered with ice and snow this time of year, Natalie said.

What about the lake levels?

Central New York has experienced a relatively dry, snow-less February. However, the large amounts of rainfall in December and January, coupled with the quick melting of what little snow did fall during those months, has resulted in lake levels of both waterways remaining up, Natalie said.

Mother Nature may have messed with the plans for this winter, but efforts to deal with the two invasive species are far from over.

“There’s a cold snap scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday and we may try one last time to lower the lake,” said Natalie about Owasco. He said that in the next couple of months the Asian Clam Task Force will study other options, including spreading mats over the clams, dredging them or somehow harvesting them.

Stephen D. Cannerelli/The Post-StandardThis shot on Owasco Lake's shoreline was taken several miles down from the northern end.

Over at Cayuga Lake, another multi-agency task force is taking a different approach. The hydrilla was first noted last August in the lake’s inlet at the southern end. An initially dose of herbicide was added to the water in October to get rid of it.

Dave Adams, an ecologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Office of Invasive Species Coordination, said lowering the lake was part of a bigger, long-term effort to get rid of the nasty plant.

In addition to what most likely will be repeated doses of herbicide over a period extending several years, a “boating stewardship program” led by the Finger Lakes Institute and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to begin this boating season at public launches on Cayuga and other Finger Lakes, plus Lake Ontario.

The focus will be educating boat owners and having persons on hand to inspect crafts as they go in and out of the water to prevent spreading of hydrilla, Asian clams and other invasive species.

“One of the messages will be to remove all plants and mud, and to drain and dry your boat before using it again,” Adams said.

There’s no easy fix, he added.

“It will take a number of years of persistent management to get this species (hydrilla) under control and to eradicate it,” he said.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog