Paul Szmal: Joining us on the program now is the membership and fundraising committee chair of the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Organization, Mark Gibson. Good morning.
Mark Gibson: It's great to be here.
Paul Szmal: Yes. We want to jump right in and talk about membership with the Seneca Lake Pure Waters Association. How many members does the association have now?
Mark Gibson: Right now we have nearly 700 active members that are donating to our cause and volunteering, and we're always looking for more. We started our membership campaign about a month ago, sending out letters to our current and people that have donated in the past, as well as people that live around the lake and in the watershed. So you can imagine there's, you know, nearly 2,000 or a little over 2,000 people that live actually on the lake, and we'd like to get everybody that lives on the lake to become a member and donate and volunteer for helping with all we do.
Paul Szmal: And how do people become members of Seneca Lake Pure Waters?
Mark Gibson: It's easy. Go to our website, SenecaLake.org. You'll find a tab up there to click on and simply volunteer or simply donate on that tab. It's very easy. You can do it via credit card. You can also send us a check. You know, all donations, any size is appreciated. Of course, the more the better, but we just really need people to step up and help us fund all the research and everything that we do.
Paul Szmal: Now they say that membership has its privileges, to paraphrase a credit card company. What advantages do being a member of Seneca Lake Pure Waters give a homeowner or a property owner, and what do those membership funds go toward?
Mark Gibson: Well, the funds go toward all of our, all the research and activity that we do, you know, from monitoring ads to sampling streams, trying to understand the various threats that are coming into the lake via streams and in the air. PFAS, the forever chemicals, are one thing that we're looking very closely at. And we're also doing things on land with surveying, for example, surveying and looking at hemlock trees that are, have this disease called hemlock lily adelgid. Hemlocks are super important because they grow in areas that are steep. They help hold the land in, help prevent erosion, and if those die off, we're going to have even more problems with erosion. So we have an initiative going on now to find all those trees and come up with a plan to help treat them and work with landowners that own those trees.
As far as benefits, you know, you're contributing to a great cause. We have various volunteer opportunities you can take part in, and also we have a lake alert system that people can sign up for. You don't have to be a donor, but we hope that you are if you sign up for that. And with that system, we send out alerts when we find ads on the lake or other, you know, hazards that we think it's important for the public to know about.
Paul Szmal: Speaking of those volunteer opportunities, what are some of the opportunities that are available right now?
Mark Gibson: We have needs everywhere. You know, you can imagine we have needs for people to go out and monitor streams and look for habs, but we also have a couple of new initiatives going on this year, looking at lake foam. And we have a group that's going to study that. We've gotten a grant. They're going to study the lake foam. They did a study on Canandaigua last year, the last couple years, and we want to study it this year because we're seeing a lot more of that. So you can help us spot lake foam. You can help us look for cladophora in the lake. That's that green, spliny weed that's at the bottom and growing right now. But in addition to the scientific things, for example, we need people to help with our education programs. We need people to help with our events that we put on, and also people to help with fundraising and office tasks. And so if you have anything that you'd like to do, check in with us. There's a tab on our website to volunteer. There's a short form that you fill out, and we'll get back to you and figure out where we can plug you into the organization.
Paul Szmal: I want to go back to fundraising because one of your most important, if not the most important, fundraiser of the year is coming up later on in the month of July.
Mark Gibson: That's right. We have our Celebrate Seneca Soiree, we're calling it. It's going to be July 23rd, Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel. Fun event, fun evening. We've got a great band, the Decades Band. If anybody's heard them, they're from the area. They play music from all the decades. Really fun, lively group. We have food. We have wine and beer contributed by our wineries and breweries around the lake. And we also have an auction that will be going on online, as well as at the event, finishing up the event. All kinds of items donated from various business around the area, so to help us raise funds for all the work that we do.
Paul Szmal: And how can people get tickets for that summer soiree?
Mark Gibson: Same thing. Go to our website. You'll find a tab there that lets you sign up for tickets. And we'd love to have everybody come and join and join into the fun. And again, that website is SenecaLake.org.
Paul Szmal: The upcoming hab season, Harmful Algal Blooms, what are you expecting? Are we thinking that there may be an increase in the amount of habs that we spot this year?
Mark Gibson: Well, we had a terrible season last year. Hundreds of blooms. Everybody that's around the community probably is aware of that. This year, with all the rains and heavy rains that we have and a lot of nutrients flowing into the lake again, we're concerned. We're concerned that this year could be as bad as last year. It's something that we're still trying to learn about. You know, the warmth of the lake makes a difference. And the lake has warmed up, in my opinion, a little bit slower this year, although the next few days will change that. But it will all depend on, you know, the temperatures, how much wind we have. Last year we had a lot of days that were hot and without any wind. And so that lets the algal blooms start to form and, you know, form in the lake. So the wind makes a big difference in helping whether they form or not. But we hope it's not a bad year. But with all the rain and nutrients flowing in, we're concerned.
Paul Szmal: And with that concern comes some new testing for this year?
Mark Gibson: Yeah, that's right. We're doing a few things. As I mentioned, we're surveying cladophora. That tends to die off in July. And we're wanting to figure out where that is most concentrated because we feel that that may contribute to the algae blooms. When that dies off, it releases a lot of nutrients in the lake. So we're studying that and trying to understand that life cycle and how that might affect habs, as well as doing a lot more onshore, nearshore monitoring of water, the characteristics of the water around the north end of the lake, where we saw lots of blooms last year, to see if something's changed or if we're, you know, what's happening to the lake at the north end that have all those terrible blooms. So, yes, a little more monitoring this year to help add to the knowledge base and figure out, you know, what's going on with these harmful algae blooms.
Paul Szmal: And I know we mentioned the foam study that is taking place this year. This kind of data acquisition doesn't just happen in the summer, though, right? It goes year-round?
Mark Gibson: We do monitor year-round. Not as intensive, because as the water cools, you know, we don't get habs typically. But there is foam on the lake, so that will be a year-round monitoring activity to try to understand that. Foam is being formed by these blooms. When the algae dies, it creates like a sugary substance, they say, that causes the water to foam and create those foam lines that you see in the lake. And there's a whole section on our website that you can find about the foam, what's happening with foam, the research that's going on, and understanding a little bit more about that.
Paul Szmal: And to keep up on news items like that, I would recommend subscribing to the Seneca Lake Pier Waters newsletter.
Mark Gibson: Absolutely. We put one out quarterly, but in the summer we put a newsletter alert out weekly to tell everybody what's going on in the lake, what we're seeing. So if you sign up to be a donor, that's one thing that you'll get, is a newsletter from us and keep you updated on everything that's going on that we're aware of around the lake.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and to get that newsletter, by the way, go to senecalake.org backslash lakewatch. You can also find volunteer opportunities and other information on the website at senecalake.org. Mark, thanks so much for talking with us this morning. We certainly appreciate it, sir.
Mark Gibson: Thank you, Paul. I appreciate all your support and helping us get the word out on what we're doing.
