A Chautauqua Lake Association harvester works near the Harbor Hotel in Celoron in May, alongside a Mobitrac, pictured at left. Photo by Jay Young.

The Chautauqua Lake Watershed and Management Alliance welcomed its members and the public to its annual May member meeting last month in Bemus Point at the Lawson Center.

The agency’s 2025 annual report is now available on its website, as well as the presentation slides delivered by Executive Director Randall Perry, which details the work done by the alliance and members during the past year.

In addition to the in-lake work performed by our members, the alliance was also partnered on around $2 million in active state grant projects in 2025, recently closing the books on five of those grants. State grants primarily fund watershed work like water quality improvement projects and engineering studies. Notably the town of Chautauqua recently completed construction on over three miles of roadside swale upgrades, which will improve water quality and reduce sediment and nutrient runoff to the lake for decades to come. Chautauqua has also secured over $1 million in state grants to replace two aging culverts in the lake’s watershed. The County of Chautauqua also recently finished its work with Colliers Engineering & Design to complete an engineering study of the lower portion of Bemus Creek. This work is a first step to identify future shovel-ready projects like stream restoration, flood risk reduction, or dredging.

AJ Reyes of GEI Consultants also provided updates at the alliance’s public meeting, highlighting the work done by his team to both advise the alliance board and assist lake management organizations. Slides from Reyes’ presentation are also available on our website (under the ‘Projects’ menu), including new data from spring field tests aimed at the lake’s latest invasive species problem–starry stonewort. Reyes and his staff enter the season with a tailored scope of work, which builds off their first year serving as the Alliance’s independent lake consultant in 2025.

This will be the first summer for the recently expanded alliance board, which now includes 18 Directors designated from each lakeside town and village, the county, and each of the three service providers: the Chautauqua Lake Association, Chautauqua Lake Partnership, and the Everwild Land Trust. (Starting in May, the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy became the Everwild Land Trust. Alliance board members encourage everyone to visit their website for more information on the transition.)

A lot of work has already taken place to get the lake and its watershed ready for this year. Throughout the spring CLA was busy clearing the lake of debris to make way for safe boating before beginning its harvesting operations in May. Boat stewards have also been posted to the lake’s launches reminding us to clean, drain and dry our boats and equipment to prevent the spread of invasive species. CLA workplans and end-of-week reports are posted online.

On May 5 the CLP’s herbicide program treated 80 acres of invasive curly-leaf pondweed with Clearcast. As part of the more adaptive and collaborative 2026 management program the CLP has also secured DEC permits for broad-scale treatment of nuisance plants and algae in key navigation zones. In response to 2025 conditions the CLP, CLA, DEC, and GEI Consultants have spent significant time during the winter and spring coordinating on a new access strategy that benefits lake users while balancing ecological protections. Planning is also ongoing for the treatment of invasive Eurasian watermilfoil using ProcellaCOR. Herbicide treatment maps and other information can be found on CLP’s website.

The lake’s fisheries have already been a busy place this year, for both anglers and regulators alike. Launches have been busy across the area following the opening of walleye season on May 1, followed soon by muskie and bass. DEC staff completed the annual muskie trap netting survey in May as well, and are moving on to planned surveys of the lake’s bass and sunfish populations.

The alliance is now publishing monthly newsletters for website subscribers. You can join the mailing list by entering your email address on our homepage. For those looking for new ways to enjoy the area this summer the websites of the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau and Chautauqua Institution host event calendars and related information. Thank you to all who have helped to fund and organize lake and watershed work for this season.