Water Quality Partnership in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed

By Brandon Chandler, Agriculture Intern

Since the 18th century, the Skaneateles watershed, located in Syracuse, has been subject to contamination and pollution, particularly from agricultural nonpoint sources, mainly manure and fertilizer. With a high pollution count in the watershed, a solution was needed to address the non-point source pollution from farms, one that satisfied the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. As a solution, the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District formed a contract with Syracuse to fund the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Agricultural Program. While Syracuse funds the program, however, it is primarily led by the Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District, with additional support from partners in Cayuga and Onondaga County, Cornell University, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. SLWAP is a voluntary program that works with farms using whole farm planning to “reduce the risk of contamination of the lake from agricultural nonpoint sources” in the watershed.

But what is a watershed? And how does it connect to a larger body of water like Skaneateles Lake? The Cornell Cooperative Extension defines it as: "An area of land that drains all the streams and rainfall to a common outlet, like a lake or ocean. [A] watershed is sometimes used interchangeably with [a] drainage basin or catchment.” Put simply, a watershed is a region of land in which water from tributaries and rainfall all flows, or drains, into a common area, specifically a larger body of water like a lake or ocean. In Onondaga County, we can think of our “drainage basin” as the Skaneateles Lake watershed, one that is frequently subject to polluted water as previously mentioned. 

Founded in 1994, the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Agricultural Program (SLWAP) was developed as a more cost-effective solution to the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act amendments, designed to avoid purchasing an expensive filtration system. The program is based around collaboration between Syracuse, Onondaga County, and farmers living within the watershed. For farmers, collaboration with the program is through a method called the Whole Farm Plan. This method allows SLWAP to work with farmers on an individual basis, developing programs that are specifically tailored to each farm to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus pollution coming from the farm. Once a plan has been formally developed for the individual farm, SLWAP begins its implementation. SLWAP members can receive funding from the program to pay for the cost of tools and implementation or, if they have already paid, can receive matching funds from Syracuse. Some of the practices used in Whole Farm Plans include buffer strips, filter strips, cover crops, fencing, and other practices. According to SLWAP’s website: “This is primarily accomplished through erosion and sediment control Best Management Practices (BMPs) and nutrient management plans to protect more than 150 tributaries entering Skaneateles Lake.” Since its inception, SLWAP membership has only increased, and the use of best management practices has become more common in the watershed as well. SLWAP has continued outreach as well, with annual visits to the non-registered farms. They offer any assistance that the program can provide when farms are registered, in hopes of convincing them to join the program. Of the 44 confirmed farms in the Skaneateles Watershed, 38 have registered in the program, with three of the six non-participating farms implementing their own BMPs, or about an 86% participation rate. 

One important question remains: Has the program been successful in its efforts? Using a model from the Lake Champlain Basin Program, another watershed program in New York, BMPs and crop rotations will prevent roughly 19,000 tons of phosphorus from entering the lake each year, according to the watershed program’s annual report. One example mentioned was Greenfield Farms, who after adopting a whole farm plan wished to measure the phosphorus levels of their tile drainage system, a system which filters excess ground water from a designated area. The phosphorus level of their tile drainage system was measured against the phosphorus levels of a nearby wooded stream. The SLWAP annual report states: “Results have shown that between May 1 and November 1, it was observed in all but three instances, there was more Total Phosphorus in the water sampled coming out of the woods versus water coming out of the tile outlet.” Of these three anomalies, two were flagged because the data had gone missing, and the third had taken place two days after a “major rain event,” which seemingly had an impact on phosphorus levels. Taking into account the reduction of phosphorus among farms like Greenfield, it is clear that SLWAP’s work has been proved successful at the farm level. 

What does the future hold for the program given its success so far? Since 2004, the City of Syracuse has continued to receive an indefinite waiver on implementation of a new filtration system from the New York State Department of Health. As of this year, this waiver has been continued by the Department of Health. This could not have been possible without the efforts of farmers and other SLWAP partners and, as recently as 2021, the city of Syracuse and its farmers continue to commit to the program. As long as SLWAP receives continued support from farmers in the watershed, they can continue to keep Skaneateles Lake clean in the years to come.