One week after officials stood at the shores of Owasco Lake to decry the state’s decision not to update the Rules & Regulations for the Owasco Lake Watershed, Auburn’s mayor is asking the public for help in the fight to protect the source of drinking water for over 40,000 people.
At Thursday’s city council meeting, Mayor Jimmy Giannettino asked the public to call Governor Kathy Hochul and demand she act to keep the lake and its watershed safe.
The ask is very simple; it’s two things: We want our rules & Regulations adopted and implemented as they were sent to the state, as approved by the Town of Owasco and the City of Auburn, and we want a Total Maximum Daily Load for Owasco Lake to be developed, implemented, and funded as required by federal law,” said Giannettino. ” So again, I implore the public to take a few minutes and make this phone call because [New York State is] clearly not listening to us; maybe they will listen to the masses.”
In 2020, both Auburn and Owasco voted in favor of the updates to the Rules & Regulations.
On July 22, Mayor Giannettino and Owasco Town Supervisor Ed Wagner received a letter from the New York State Department of Health (DOH), stating that “amendments are not necessary to ensure potable water quality for the foreseeable future.” This decision comes four years after a three-year-long process sought to revise the current Rules and Regulations for the watershed in the wake of increasing harmful algal blooms (HABs). The Rules & Regulations haven’t been updated since 1984.
The day after the DOH sent its letter to Auburn and Owasco’s elected leaders, two beaches on Owasco Lake had to be closed after HABs were detected on Owasco and Cayuga Lakes. Additional HABs have since been confirmed in neighboring Onondaga County and on Canandaigua and Honeoye Lakes.
The city has been pushing for a Total Maximum Daily Load – a maximum amount of pollutants allowed to enter a water body so that the water body will meet water quality standards – since 2016.
In January, Auburn, Owasco, and the Owasco Watershed Lake Association initiated a lawsuit against the state alleging the DOH has violated the constitutional rights of Auburn and Owasco residents under the Environmental Rights Amendment to the state constitution which guarantees New Yorkers the right to clean drinking water.
For those wishing to express their concerns about Owasco Lake to the governor, her office can be reached at 518-474-8390. Comments can also be made online or by sending mail to:
The Honorable Kathy Hochul
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
The Owasco Lake Watershed spans parts of Cayuga, Onondaga, and Tompkins Counties with the lake itself being the source of drinking water for the City of Auburn, the Villages of Cayuga, Port Byron, and Weedsport, and the Towns of Aurelius, Brutus, Fleming, Mentz, Montezuma, Owasco, Sennett, Springport, and Throop.
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