New Push Underway to Secure Dredging for Silver Lake

By JOE LEATHERSICH

JLEATHERSICH@BATAVIANEWS.COM

PUBLISHED: THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 AT 12:30 AM

SILVER LAKE, NY — Dredging has been discussed for a long time at Silver Lake. But now its users and residents are looking to take action.

Problem buildup

Silver Lake is one of the more popular destinations in the area with its recreational offerings and ability to provide a summer getaway for people from other parts of the state. But continued buildup of sediment is becoming a real problem.

“The dredging issue has been on the table since forever,” said Chairman Stan Klein said of the Silver Lake Watershed Commission. He added that Hurricane Agnes in 1972 caused a lot of the problems lake residents are seeing today. “That moved a lot of soil into the inlet and outlet,” Klein said. This buildup in those areas is creating a host of problems for some area residents.

“All the residents and properties in my tract are negatively impacted by persistent lake sediment,” one person wrote in a letter to local officials in December 2016. The letter is made available at silverlakeassociation-wny.org. The resident added a list of complaints about how the sediment affects their property.

The complaints included: the sediment shortens the boating season for lake residents, which hurts the tourism the community sees in the summer; it causes algae blooms that can be toxic to humans and the environment; it can damage boat motors; and it makes access to the main lake difficult for residents up in the inlet and outlet.

President Mark Emmerson of the Silver Lake Association wrote a letter in January of this year, also available through the SLA’s website, to local officials citing the tax impact the affected houses have. “Within the sediment-impacted area at the north end of Silver Lake there are approximately 50 residences located within the Town of Perry,” he wrote. 

“Based on the most recent tax data, the cumulative assessed value of the sediment-impacted properties represented by the SLA exceeds $5M and the cumulative annual taxes paid for these properties annually is over $800K.” He later added: “The sediment at the north end of Silver Lake has persisted for decades. It is increasing in area and depth; negatively affecting more of the lake each year.”

A study done by F.X. Browne in 2014 confirms many of these complaints, stating in its report that Silver Lake has excessive algae, excessive macrophytes — a plant that causes problems for boats — and dissolved oxygen depletion. It went on to say that these issues can create other problems like loss of aesthetics, decrease in recreational value and decrease in home values.

Sediment solutions

Now comes the time to figure out how to address the situation.

According to Greg McKurth, district manager of the Wyoming County Soil & Water Conservation District, part of the problem is where the inlet and outlet lie. Since they both are located at the north end, the lake doesn’t get proper circulation, causing sediment to build up and “clog” that side of the water, McKurth said. Because that’s something the lake naturally does, a long term plan needs to be developed.

Klein said that’s something municipalities have been aware of for a while now, but it’s getting to the point where they’re running out of time. “This thing has become kind of a clock-burner issue for us,” Klein said. He added that the sediment could potentially create real issues in the event of a flood.

Unfortunately, Klein said, the study done back in 2014 did not meet the standards of the Department of the Environmental Conservation. Because of that, the Village of Perry has hired Clark Patterson Lee, an engineering firm from Rochester, to develop an engineering report of the dredging and help coordinate sediment samples and analysis.

But that’s just one step in the process. Then comes the actual dredging. And to do that, there needs to be money. “The commission doesn’t have a tremendous amount of money,” Klein said, adding that everyone involved hopes to secure grant funding from the state and federal level since the project is estimated at over $1 million.

There is support with at least one local politician, too. Senator Patrick Gallivan (R-Elma) has said he hopes to secure funding for the project within the New York State Budget this year. Another problem that needs to be addressed is what will happen with the sediment once it’s dredged.

“Putting it on trucks and dragging it away is very expensive,” Klein said. “It can become more expensive depending on how the testing goes, too.” Klein added that he hopes the attention will stay on the project and the issue can be addressed sooner rather than later.