Written by Jake Welch

The Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association has formed a team consisting of board members and other highly qualified volunteers to launch the Sediment, Nutrient, and Pollution Reduction Program (SNPR). The SNPR program has a specific focus on reducing sediment and nutrients that negatively impact the water quality of Seneca Lake and its tributaries and will provide financial assistance to projects within the watershed that reduce these pollutants. Limiting other pollutants such as organic chemicals, bacteria, and heavy metals are also projects of interest.

“We can lessen nutrient loading by implementing cover crops, incentivizing farmers to use best management practices adjacent to streams, utilizing sediment retention and settling ponds, widening and stabilizing ditches near roadways as well as implementing a host of other stormwater control measures which have drastically helped elsewhere”, said Jake Welch, President of Pure Waters and Co-Chair of the new program. “Implementing such programs comes with some hefty price tags. Yet, with matching funds, we can meet that challenge head on”, he said.

The Seneca Lake watershed’s various land uses all contribute to the sediment and nutrient loading of the Lake, impacting the abundance of harmful algal blooms, nuisance weed growth, and altering the lake's available resources for aquatic life, among other things. 

The SNPR program has already begun to partner with watershed protection entities to limit pollutant loading of Seneca Lake. The program has contributed $5000 to facilitate a $30,000 engineering study of the Keuka Outlet, with a plan to reconnect nearby canal beds which serve as wetlands and redirect high volume stormwater there.

The Keuka Outlet project is led by the Seneca Watershed Intermunicipal Organization, and partners include the Friends of the Outlet, Town of Geneva, and Yates County Soil and Water Conservation District, along with the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association.  The partnership and collaboration for watershed improvement projects is crucial and the SNPR program will meet with all Soil and Water Conservation Districts to identify additional projects for funding this month.

Two generous watershed residents have donated $15,000 to the program as matching funds and will be used to match incoming SNPR donations 1:1. Donations received for SNPR program will have a direct and often immediate impact on the improvement of Seneca Lake water quality.  Please visit www.senecalake.org/donate to give to this program, where you can specify your donation as a matching gift.

Donations made in February and March will be allocated to watershed improvement projects as early as this spring, 2022.  Please consider donating and stay up to date on SNPR program by visiting www.senecalake.org/snpr.