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Home My WebLink About03-19-18 WRC Final MinutesTOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL Monday, March 19, 2018 TCAT Main Conference Room Final Minutes Attendance Member Seat Member Seat Sharon Anderson A Cooperative Extension Jon Negley P Soil & Water Cons. District John Andersson P At-Large Frank Proto P At-Large Fay Benson P Agriculture Marjory Rinaldo- Lee P Environment Chris Bordlemay Padilla P Water Purveyor Linda Wagenet P At-Large Cynthia Brock P Recreation Liz Cameron P Co. Environmental Health Bill George P Associate Member Amanda Champion P County Government Roxy Johnston P Associate Member George Fowler A At-Large Jose Lozano P Associate Member Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization Darren MacDougall A Associate Member Ed Gottlieb P At-Large John Mawdsley E Associate Member Michelle Henry P EMC Representative Todd Miller E Associate Member Kristen Hychka P Municipal Government Steve Penningroth A Associate Member Emelia “Mia” Jumbo P At-Large Elaine Quaroni P Associate Member Joan Jurkowich P Co. Planning Dept. Joanne Trutko P Associate Member Darby Kiley P Municipal Government Tom Vawter A Associate Member Lynn Leopold P Municipal Government Kristin McCarthy P County Staff A quorum was present. Guests: Brian Rahm, NYS Water Resources Institute (WRI); Alison Truhlar (WRI at Cornell); Julia Champagne, Osamu Tsuda, and another student involved with the Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Watershed Summit (IO); Dooley Kiefer; Dan Carey, Board of Directors for TCSWD; John Fleming, Tompkins County Ag and Farmland Protection Board, Call to Order – Chair Darby Kiley called the meeting to order at 4:20 pm. Darby welcomed the guests in attendance, all of whom are involved with Engaged Cornell. She also shared that the IO and its partners at Cornell had received the Engaged Cornell Opportunity Grant. Given the number of new faces in the room, everyone (guests, new legislative liaison Amanda Champion, and WRC members) introduced themselves. Privilege of the Floor – None Agenda Review/Changes – None Approval of February 2018 Minutes – A motion by Barry Goodrich, seconded by Lynn Leopold, to approve the February 26, 2018, minutes was passed by the members present with one minor editorial change. [“Floating Classroom” was deleted from line 81.] Report from Central NY Harmful Algal Blooms Summit – Roxy Johnston and Jon Negley • Darby, Roxy Johnston, and Jon Negley shared their experiences attending the Harmful Algal Bloom Summit at SUNY-ESF on March 5th and 6th. Roxy’s detailed notes from the Summit were included in the March agenda packet and are available upon request. Here are some highlights from the discussion. • Roxy explained that on the first day relevant agencies gave their mission statements, which funding and lack of staff thwart their efforts to fulfill. There was also a lot of talk about what is known for certain about HABs in New York State. On the second day, the group heard from the watershed coalitions about advanced monitoring and analysis, water treatment, etc. At the end of the day, attendees broke into smaller discussion groups for 40 minutes. Roxy felt that was a lost opportunity as more time spent in those smaller groups would have helped “get to the meat of things.” • Twelve lakes throughout New York State were chosen for study and HABs action plans; each offers a different case scenario and lessons learned that could be applied across the state to other lakes. However, Roxy said in the end they didn’t cover the 12 lakes and instead the national experts who were flown in pretty much focused on their personal experiences with lakes elsewhere, which unfortunately didn’t share many characteristics with those found in New York State. • A lot of experts criticized the sampling methods and talked about automated sampling systems. Monitoring and testing need to happen continuously. To do so requires funding and a long-term commitment. • Focusing on phosphorous is not ideal as it will take decades to remove from the watershed system; nitrogen will give faster results. No great way to remove toxins; you can remove organisms with filtration. • Cynthia Brock inquired about the number of cyanobacteria species (Darby’s answer: hundreds) and about difference between contamination effects on human health via skin contact versus drinking water. Chris Bordlemay said the Environmental Protection Agency will be doing UCMR-4 (Fourth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule) tests for drinking water contaminants and HABs will be included. • In New York State, HABs are showing up year-round. Extreme weather is a perfect scenario for HABs. Frank Proto asked if anyone is studying relationship between HABs and the drought our area experienced last summer. • A lot of energy at conference was focused on the impact of agriculture. Group also talked about the effects of lawn and golf course maintenance, highway ditching, and road salt. • Jon Negley then went into more detail about what the Ag community is doing to help with HABs. He collaborates with County farmers through the voluntary-based NYS Agricultural Environmental Management program. Jon brought a sample Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan for people to look at. To be certified, these plans need to be written by a certified nutrient planner; however, there are only 30-40 of these planners throughout New York State versus 27,000 farms. He also brought a copy of the Agriculture Management Standards farmers need to follow. • Goals might not be reached until decades down the road, so Jon thinks it is important to remember all the gains that have been met in regards to more environmentally-friendly farming. The equipment, for instance, has improved dramatically. Lifelong dairy farmer Dan Carey echoed Jon’s comment, saying that huge strides have been made in the last 25-30 years through the work of the Tompkins County Soil and Water Conservation District (TCSWD) and Cornell. He thinks now the issue is finding ways to incentivize small farms to make these kinds of environmentally-friendly changes. • Winter spreading is a big concern because farmers lack sufficient manure storage and contamination can occur when transferring the manure to other locations. • Marjory Rinaldo-Lee asked if tiling came up in regards to agriculture during the ESF discussions. This topic led to John and Dan talking about buffers to help with sheet erosion. Roxy said this kind of cross- sharing of information and different experiences from farmers and other stakeholders didn’t take place at the conference and would’ve been valuable. • Darby relayed that an action plan is scheduled for release in May, followed by a public comment period. Tony Prestigiacomo from NYSDEC is considering how the WRC can be involved, and Darby plans to pass along feedback from the WRC to counterparts working on Owasco and Skaneateles Lakes and elsewhere. Committee Reports None of the chairs had anything pressing to relay so reports were skipped due to time constraints. However, Roxy did ask members to pass along any suggestions for the HABs post-conference action plan at their earliest convenience. Chair Report – Darby Kiley Committee chairs should send their annual reports to Kristin as soon as possible. Darby also reminded the group about the April 19th Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Watershed Summit, which is geared toward municipal officials and highway superintendents. The TMDL has gone out for internal review within NYSDEC. Staff Report – Joan Jurkowich No report Member Announcements ● Frank asked Darby if she planned to invite individuals from TCAD to address the WRC, per his email suggestion. She said yes, though she has speakers scheduled for the next two meetings. ● Joan is participating in the St. Baldrick’s fund-raiser for childhood cancer. To encourage generosity, she is matching funds dollar for dollar. Members are welcome to contact her if they are interested in donating. (She will also be shaving her head!) Adjournment Chair Darby Kiley adjourned the meeting at 5:50 pm. These draft minutes will be formally considered by the WRC at its next monthly meeting, and corrections or notations will be incorporated at that time. Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department. Approved by Water Resources Council: April 16, 2018