CHAUTAUQUA — There is optimism from county officials that the United States Army Corps of Engineers may play a future role in handling harmful algal blooms in Chautauqua Lake.

In addition to the main topic of a potential lake district, coordination with the corps was also discussed at a public forum with Don McCord, county director of planning and community development, and Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, at the Turner Community Center on Tuesday.

Chagnon, who is also the Chautauqua Lake Protection And Rehabilitation Agency chairman, offered an explanation of how this relationship came to be and may work in the future.

“We have come to realize that Chautauqua Lake is a resource that needs to be maintained and needs to be protected,” Chagnon said. “Ten years ago we were not talking about harmful algal blooms, we were talking about weeds, macrophytes. The game has definitely changed. Weeds are a nuisance, harmful algal blooms are a health hazzard.”

Three years ago Chagnon made a visit to Washington to meet with the corps about solutions for the lake.

“I mentioned dredging and they went ‘Uh huh, uh huh’. When I started talking to them about the harmful algal blooms we were experiencing, that really really got their attention,” he said.

The corps representative told Chagnon that the first thing he would need is an authorization, a process that can take up to seven years.

Six weeks later a representative sent Chagnon an email, telling him that the corps was pleased by their meeting and that the usual timetable was being sped up.

“A year and a half after we first met with them the president signed the authorization for Chautauqua Lake,” Chagnon said.

The next step after an authorization is funding.

After being unable to make contact with U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer during the authorization period, Chagnon was able to get a meeting with the senator after the authorization went through.

During that meeting, Chagnon explained the needs of the lake and the two discussed the funding process, which can take even longer than a seven-year authorization.

“He’s got the money,” Chagnon said of Schumer. “His chief of staff told me that he got $30 million for the Army Corps to begin working on harmful algal blooms throughout the country.”

Recently Schumer and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called on the corps to prioritize funding for the lake by including the Chautauqua Lake Feasibility Study in their work plan for the this year.

“Defining what the Army Corps is going to spend the money on is difficult,” McCord said. “There is a very long process of working through what they do to create a work plan, or what that expenditure will look like.”

McCord noted that nothing has crossed his desk yet regarding a work plan.

Chagnon was pleased with the shortened timetable of the process thus far.