Boaters Warned To Stay Clear Of Lake Monitoring Equipment

CHAUTAUQUA LAKE — Officials are warning boaters on Chautauqua Lake to stay clear of two monitoring devices on the lake.

The Jefferson Project, a state-of-the-art program for water quality and Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) research, will be deploying two vertical profilers (VP’s) on Chautauqua Lake this week.

They will remain on the lake through November. The VP’s are yellow and white platforms that will be deployed in the north and south basins of the lake to collect data on water conditions from the surface to the bottom every hour, quantify water circulation patterns, and monitor local
weather conditions.

The north basin VP will be located near the middle of the lake between Dewittville Bay and Irwin’s Bay. The second VP will be placed in the south basin between Colburns and Cheney’s Point. Once the VP’s are deployed they will begin collecting data about Chautauqua Lake, which will help to understand and address the impacts of harmful algal blooms on Chautauqua Lake.

Lake users are cautioned to be aware around the VP’s to avoid contact with the platforms and their mooring lines, which extend beyond the footprint of the barge. From dusk to dawn these VP’s will be illuminated with a white light indicating that the platforms are anchored and not underway.