Hard to believe this phase of Army Corps’ work is nearly complete
Hard to believe this phase of Army Corps’ work is nearly complete
Trending
It's hard to believe it's been two years since the Army Corps of Engineers began its project on Chautauqua Lake.
While we continue to deal with many of the typical issues on the lake – algal blooms, removal of newer invasive species like starry stonewort and the water chestnut and maintenance of longstanding invasive species – the Army Corps of Engineers has spent the past nearly two years working in the background. The Army Corps' work has been so quiet that many area residents may have forgotten they were even here.
Engineers are working to address questions about excess sedimentation in the lake, nuisance vegetation and harmful algal blooms. There was a fair amount of local action in September 2024 and early in 2025. But things have been quiet since work moved away from Chautauqua County as the Army Corps of Engineers began its work evaluating management alternatives, analysis of costs and benefits and preparation of a final chief’s report for congressional review. That work is expected to be finished in 2027.
The Army Corps of Engineers' work really shifts to brass tacks over the next two years when the work shifts from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C. The time is coming, sooner than we all think, for the Army Corps' draft report to be released to the public, a plan to be endorsed and then that plan reviewed by Congress for authorization.
None of that happens, though, without the next installment of funding from Congress to actually finish the plan. So far $1.1 million has been spent – and Rep. Nick Langworthy is working to bring another $600,000 to the project to complete the study. This next round of federal funding is a necessary next step toward Chautauqua Lake's future.
We're spending a lot of money locally on Chautauqua Lake maintenance activities to keep the lake usable for recreation and to protect the lake's habitat for the fish and wildlife that depend on it for survival. That is money well spent, in our opinion. Much of that money is treating symptoms, not finding a cure for excessive vegetation and algal blooms. The Army Corps of Engineers is working on a cure – and we're finding out just how expensive that type of work is. As the Corps' study period comes to an end, the expensive part of this project really begins – paying for the actual recommended projects that could finally allow us to move past preserving Chautauqua Lake's status quo.
.