We’ve been critical of the Chautauqua Lake Watershed and Management Alliance in the past, but we’re heartened by something that came to light this week.

The alliance has issued a grant covering potential herbicide treatment of Chautauqua Lake in 2021. The village had approved submitting its application for herbicides to the state Department of Environmental Conservation earlier in February but did not have money in its budget to pay for the treatment.

That was to be expected given the limits COVID-19 has placed on municipal revenues. Money needed to be spent on basic services, not herbicide treatments. And it was unsure if foundations or private donors would be able to pay for treatments this year either if the amount was above and beyond what the foundations had already committed to the alliance.

In the end, though, foundations and local governments shouldn’t have to spend additional money on herbicide treatments. If they are needed, the alliance is a logical funding agent.

It’s good to see that Randall Perry, in his first year as alliance executive director, has continued the practice of the last couple of years in directing an alliance grant for herbicide treatments if they are approved by the state DEC. It’s a far cry from the days when a former alliance executive director wouldn’t take a position on herbicide use in the lake at all.

In our view, the allocation is a piece of good news as county officials begin work on a new Memorandum of Agreement regarding Chautauqua Lake. The first two years have been rocky ones for the first effort at an MOA. Ellery officials didn’t feel comfortable signing on to the MOA, and town officials remain uncomfortable with the way the alliance decides how lake projects are funded. Other towns expressed displeasure last year with the MOA and how certain clauses in the agreement had been enforced — or not enforced. The old saying is that money talks, and the alliance’s $90,000 funding commitment speaks loudly.

As we have said time and again, the best path forward for Chautauqua Lake is one that includes all lake management tools being used ranging from natural methods to herbicides where various approaches work the best. None of the lake organizations are going to get all that they want — but they should all get something they want.