Canandaigua Lake facing threats from algae, construction
Tony DiGabriele built a house along the east shore of Canandaigua Lake almost three decades ago, but not until last month did he find — for the first time — algae and clusters of small dead fish floating in the lake water near his home.
“Where did it come from?” said DiGabriele, 77, whose grandchildren would not swim in the lake during the two weeks the problem persisted.
Kevin Olvany, who keeps a watch on the health of the lake, said that the dead fish washing up are part of their normal life cycle and, in the numbers found in the lake this year, do not signal a problem.
But a new report, which Olvany co-wrote, tells of concerns about the lake, including increased algae blooms from elevated phosphorus levels.
Although the wide-ranging report describes the overall condition of the lake as “good to excellent,” it warns that the trend toward high phosphorus levels “represents a threat to lake health” and calls for “proper land-use controls” to limit runoff containing phosphorus.
As program manager of the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Council, Olvany helps map out long-term concerns and looks for immediate problems, in what has turned out to be a busy summer for this watchdog of the lake.
The Watershed Council represents 14 municipalities directly affected by the lake and tries to promote policies and laws that protect the lake.
Two recent incidents point to a need for more extensive monitoring by the local governments and greater awareness of environmental dangers by residents living near the lake.
On June 30, during an afternoon downpour, Olvany checked on a couple of construction sites near the lake — and found a big problem at the Villas at Cheshire Glen.
About 14 acres of land had been cleared for new townhouses at this Canandaigua construction site, but the on-site retention system had not been completed. A section of the temporary fence buckled.
“I saw no one around, but there was mud going right over the silt fence,” said Olvany.
Before the outflow could be contained, as much as five tons of sediment, carried by about 80,000 gallons of water, ended up in the lake, about a half-mile away.
Three weeks earlier, in another incident, a contractor — preparing to install tracks for a tram connecting a home on steep slopes to the lakefront below — cleared space at the southeast shoreline by using a small excavator to push at least a couple of tons of shale and sediment into the lake.
Both incidents are being investigated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and add to public concern.
Persistent problems
With the beauty of the lake acting like a magnet, the estimated 1,500 lakefront parcels — along with farmland overlooking the lake — have become prime real estate. Even sloping terrain is being developed. Canandaigua Lake is a big draw in the Finger Lakes region, which attracts an estimated 15 million visitors a year to the various tourist sites, said A.J. Shear, spokesman for the Finger Lakes Visitors Connection.
But with development and increased use of the lake, pollution has become more of a problem.
Runoff from fertilizers and soil erosion has contributed to elevated phosphorus levels in the lake, which in turn have promoted algae and weed growth that result in higher bacterial counts.
The potential for contaminants entering the lake — the source of drinking water for more than 60,000 people — is heightened by the estimated 4,500 septic systems in communities surrounding the lake. If they are not properly maintained, septic systems can bleed into streams emptying into the lake, said George Barden, Canandaigua Lake watershed inspector.
Olvany, 37, who has a master’s degree from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, was hired by the Watershed Council in January 2000.
At the time, the lake was experiencing a dramatic increase in phosphorus levels linked to zebra mussels, an invasive species the size of a fingernail that entered the Great Lakes in 1988 and eventually spread to Canandaigua Lake.
Zebra mussels consume an enormous amount of algae, and when they run out of food, they die off, with these decaying organisms elevating phosphorus levels.
But zebra mussels, said Olvany, won’t consume certain types of algae, such as spirogyra, which have been found in increased quantities in the lake.
As a result, the whole food chain is out of kilter because some of the fish in the lake don’t eat the algae left by the zebra mussels and need algae consumed by them.
The lake can’t rid itself of the zebra mussels, but rather has seen boom-and-bust periods of the zebra mussels overpopulating, dying off and then resurging.
Prevention needed
The recent incidents of sediment and shale getting into the lake because of development show that not enough measures are being taken to prevent contamination of the lake.
With the Villas at Cheshire Glen site, at Middle Cheshire Road and Routes 5 and 20 in Canandaigua, Olvany found that too much land was cleared for construction before the drainage control system was in place.
As a result, a large amount of sediment flowed off the site and into the lake instead of being diverted to the on-site retention pond.
“It was the highest concentration of suspended solids that we have ever seen,” Olvany said about the subsequent test results from the lake.
Dave Allen, whose Palmyra-based company is preparing the Villas site for construction for the Greece-based developer, Wegman Companies, blamed “Mother Nature” for causing heavy rains before he had his drainage control system completed.
Now that the proper drainage system is in place, work has resumed on 132 townhouses planned for the site.
The town of Canandaigua is now working with Olvany and Barden to establish better monitoring of major development sites at the outset of construction.
In the other incident, which occurred June 11 in Middlesex, Yates County, Vincent Pigula, 58, of Perinton wanted new tracks for a tram that could carry him from his summer home down a 120-foot cliff.
Pigula’s permit said nothing about lowering a small excavator to the lakefront.
But Finger Lakes Tram, hired by Pigula, wanted the excavator at lake level to help install the tracks. Pigula said the company exercised “poor judgment” in using the excavator to push a couple of tons of loose shale and sediment at the bottom of the cliff into the lake.
Tram company owner Andrew Komarek said that his excavator needed space to maneuver, but in hindsight acknowledges he should have exercised better judgment. Complaints by neighbors led to halting the installation.
The town revoked the permit, pending review of the situation. Most of the shale appears to have been retrieved from the lake, but the sediment was dispersed by waves.
Although a Pigula memo to the Planning Board says that a mini excavator would be on site, town Code Enforcement Officer Dawn Kane said that permission was never given to lower an excavator from the cliff to the lakefront.
Olvany believes that a steep-slope ordinance that the town has been working on would help head off these kinds of situations by requiring a plan to be submitted ahead of time for development on steep slopes.
“We would ask questions,” said Olvany.
JGOODMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
What’s at stake
Water quality in Canandaigua Lake. Recent incidents and a new report show the need for more preventive steps to protect this Finger Lake.
To learn more
To obtain a copy of “Long Term Water Quality Report: Health of Canandaigua Lake and its Tributary Streams 2009,” by Bruce A. Gilman and Kevin Olvany, go to www.canandaigualake.org.
Joint effort
Two major citizens’ groups that monitor the lake — the Canandaigua Lake Association and the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Alliance — are considering a merger.
These groups and the Canandaigua Lake Watershed Council, which represents municipalities directly affected by the lake, seek a more concerted effort to address lake problems.
“We all have to recognize that we have a responsibility to manage this lake, to manage our property,” said Canandaigua Lake Association President Bob Brancato.
