MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County officials announced Monday they have partnered Princeton Hydro to monitor use of herbicides in Chautauqua Lake.
Officials said Princeton Hydro will conduct pre-treatment, during treatment, and post-treatment sampling and observation to objectively evaluate herbicide treatment.
Sample sites will be located along an estimated 12 transects within four treatment zones, four potential drift zones, and four control zones.
Princeton Hydro will also perform a review of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation-issued herbicide permits issued for this year. County officials said this includes a formal review of all permits to be incorporated into its third-party sampling and observation plan.
The company said they will develop a written compliance checklist of requirements associated with what is required to conduct the aquatic herbicide program.
“I am delighted the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance is able to already support a key tenet of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Chautauqua Lake Weed Management Consensus Strategy,” said Chautauqua County Legislator and Chair of the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance Pierre Chagnon. “By developing and contracting for this independent monitoring of the herbicide treatments we will be able to report to the community clearly and concisely on the effectiveness and the effects of the treatments.”
Princeton Hydro is also tasked with taking post-treatment samples and observations four to six weeks after herbicide treatment.
The group will prepare a final report to compile the information and summarize and interpret the field data collected in all three tasks. That information will be used by county officials to improve the herbicide treatment process next year.
Princeton Hydro is headquartered in Ringoes, New Jersey. They specialize in natural resource management, engineering services, environmental services, and pond and lake management.
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