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Home My WebLink About02-22-16 WRC Minutes Final 1 February 22, 2016 2 Meeting Minutes 3 4 Members Attending: 5 Name Representation Lynn Leopold P Municipal Jim McGarry P EMC Liaison Jon Negley P Soil & Water Frank Proto E At-Large Elaine Quaroni P At-Large Marjorie Rinaldo-Lee P Environment Michael Thorne E At-Large Michelle Henry P Associate Member Roxy Johnston P Associate Member Jose Lozano Associate Member John Mawdsley P Associate Member Todd Miller P Associate Member Steve Penningroth P Associate Member Tom Vawter P Associate Member Linda Wagenet Associate Member Jennifer Turner P TC Planning 7 Guests: Nicole Henry, Gian Dodici, USFWS; Bert Bland, Cornell Sustainability; Nick Hollingshead, 8 Environmental GIS Specialist, Liz Moran, Ecologic LLC; Hillary Lambert, Cayuga Lake Watershed 9 Network 10 11 Chairperson Darby Kiley opened the meeting at approximately 4:16 PM. 12 13 Agenda Review and Approval of Minutes –Moved by Joan Jurkowich, seconded by Jon Negley, to 14 approve the minutes from January 25, 2016 meeting minutes were approved by unanimous vote. Final 15 WRC minutes are posted on the webpage: http://tompkinscountyny.gov/planning under Advisory Boards. 16 17 Cayuga Lake Modeling Project Update – Roxy Johnston introduced Liz Moran, of Ecologic LLC, to 18 the Council. Liz Moran opened the presentation by providing background on the Cayuga Lake Modeling 19 Project and how it relates to the Lake Source Cooling permit, and State Pollution Discharge Elimination 20 System permit (SPDES) that Cornell University received in order to operate this project. Liz went on to 21 report on the research focus on “potency” of the phosphorus in the lake and hydrodynamics and went on 22 to provide additional details related to the segmentation of the lake and classifications by the DEC for 23 best uses. 24 25 Liz went on to report on the DEC classifying Cayuga Lake with impairments by excess of phosphorus, 26 silt/sediment, and by pathogens. It was later determined that pathogens were an error and the DEC 27 delisted the lake, for pathogens. 28 29 Name Representation Sharon Anderson P Cooperative Extension John Andersson P At-Large Fay Benson A Agriculture James Balyszak P At-Large Chris Bordlemay P Water Purveyor Cynthia Brock P Recreation Ed Bugliosi E USGS ex officio Liz Cameron E T C Environmental Health Sarah Dwyer E At-Large Bill George E Municipal Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization Joan Jurkowich P TC Planning Dooley Kiefer P Associate Member Darby Kiley P Municipal TOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL 2 30 Findings on phosphorus fractions were reported, and include information on the detailed monitoring that 31 took place in 2013 citing that 97% total bioavailable phosphorus is coming from the watersheds (not point 32 sources), and that the elevated total phosphorus was associated with sediment, and does not contribute to 33 phytoplankton. Wind-driven circulation and rapid flushing was discussed, and it was noted that because 34 the water does not stay on the shelf more than one day, minimal algae growth occurs. 35 36 Members discussed the possibility that flooding and/or the shift from zebra to quagga mussels could be 37 potential causes for Cayuga Lakes increase in chlorophyll in 2006. Two-dimensional hydrodynamic 38 models will be available through an unpublished paper that will be made available on the Cayuga Lake 39 Modeling Project website in the future. A public meeting is scheduled at The Space on March 9th. 40 41 For more information on project partners, or to view the full presentation please visit: 42 http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/planning/committees/wrc/wrcagenda-minutes 43 44 Wetlands Mapping Project – Darby Kiley provided background on the Wetlands Committee’s 45 collaborative efforts with Soil and Water in 2008 to get funding as part of EPA’s Wetland Program 46 Development grants, from which the “Wetland Protection in Tompkins County – Existing Status Gaps 47 and Future Needs” study was developed. The first round of mapping was funded by the Stormwater 48 Coalition and Soil and Water using FLLOWPA funding in 2013-2014, for their pilot study mapping of 49 Dryden. The full project to complete wetlands mapping for the entire county was funded by Tompkins 50 County and the Park Foundation. 51 52 Nick Hollingshead presented the results of the study and described his methodology for mapping 53 wetlands using currently available images and data. The Wetlands Mapping presentation will be given to 54 TCCOG, Planners, and Army Corp of Engineers, and the DEC. 55 56 To view the complete presentation please visit: http://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/files/planning/water-57 resources/Tompkins_County_Wetland_Map.pdf 58 59 Chair’s Report – Darby Kiley reported that committees plan to meet over the next month, and made note 60 that comments on the Susquehanna River Basin are due on March 7. 61 62 Announcements - Roxy Johnston announced the public meeting on the Cayuga Lake Modeling Project 63 on March 9, at The Space, and reported on the presentation by Jose Lozano and Damian, on persistent 64 organics in Cayuga Lake, and the materials that pass through the waste water treatment facility, and 65 suggested a presentation at an upcoming meeting. 66 67 Education Committee – Lynn Leopold reported that the Education Committee is working on updating 68 the boating brochure, and will focus on making the content more user-friendly. 69 70 Adjournment -- The meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM. 71 72 Respectfully submitted, 73 Jennifer Turner, Administrative Assistant 74 Tompkins County Planning Department 75 Approved by Council on March 21, 2016 76 77 78 79