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It’s Time For A Decision On Chautauqua Lake Herbicides

Last week’s public scoping session on a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement to use herbicides on Chautauqua Lake shows there is still much division regarding how to treat the lake’s weed and algae problem.

Audience members were split on the issue along familiar lines. Both PJ Wendel, R-Lakewood and Chautauqua County Legislature chairman, and state Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, attended. Wendel told The Post-Journal that the sides need to reach a compromise while Goodell said more analysis is needed before a decision is made. Normally we would agree with both Wendel and Goodell, but it feels as if the time for consensus building is over. Lines have been drawn. We know largely who is for herbicide use and who is against. We know the reasons why they hold those positions. What is lacking is a plan of action. It is decision time.

We have been dealing with the same issues on the lake for years, which is troubling for an area that is increasingly reliant on tourism. We note a 2015 study by Dr. Lei Huang, a State University at Fredonia professor who did a marketing conversion study for the Chautauqua County Visitor’s Bureau in 2015. The study is interesting for the number of times the visitors contacted noted that cleaning up Chautauqua Lake and controlling algae on the lake were major issues the county faces as a tourism destination. More than 65 percent of those who took part in the survey said they visited the lake or waterways, 23.8 percent visited fishing areas, 21 percent visited a marina or boating service, 37.6 percent used a beach or park area. Huang’s numbers confirm what we all know — Chautauqua Lake is the featured attraction for tourism in Chautauqua County.

We hope Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s harmful algal bloom task force provides some clarity, because it seems as if we will do nothing but continue spinning our wheels if left to our own devices.

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