Cortland County Seeks Funding for Little York Lake Projects

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The Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is seeking federal funds from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act allocation to acquire dredging and weeds management equipment for Little York Lake preservation projects.

County SWCD manager Amanda Barber presented the district’s $710,000 proposal to the county’s Federal Aid Allocation Citizen’s Advisory Committee late last week, which would cover the costs for equipment to improve weed control, sediment reduction and establish a $100,000 fund for maintenance of said equipment. 

Photo Credit, Susie Congdon, “Little York Lake at Sunrise.”

Clean, Drain and Dry

Our Kettle Lakes will continue to focus on our "CLEAN DRAIN AND DRY," initiative thanks to the support of Cortland Soil and Water Conservation District Lake Stewards who will rotate though our lakes monitoring boats and training new lake stewards to support us in this effort.

Cheyenne and Jean from Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District sharing information with local residents, July 8, 2021

Cheyenne and Jean from Cortland County Soil and Water Conservation District sharing information with local residents, July 8, 2021

Shorescaping on Tully Lake

Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District has had a successful three year collaboration with Tully Lake to create shoreline landscaping to reduce storm run off.

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Shoreline Buffer, Reducing Storm Run Off

Article by: Teresa Link, Onondaga County SWCD Conservation District Technician In 2017, Princeton Hydro wrote a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) for Tully Lake which summarized the watershed and provided suggestions of projects to improve water quality. The Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District (the district) has been partnering with Cortland-Onondaga Federation of Kettle Lake Associations (C-OFOKLA) and the Tully Lake Property Owners Association (TLPOA) since 2018 to implement shoreline buffers, also referred to as shorescaping, which were recommended in the WIP. These shoreline buffers aim to improve water quality by slowing down and filtering water before it reaches the water body. In 2021, the District and its partners decided to implement a different type of buffer, a riparian buffer on to Tully Lake. The buffer was installed in April and consisted of 1,200 live stakes of streamco willow, pussy willow, red-osier dogwood, silky dogwood, buttonbush, and elderberry. Onondaga Earth Corps planted the live stakes with help from the District’s intern, Peter Rao