Hobart and William Smith Colleges

The FLI is part of a team composed of the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council and Southern Tier Central Regional Planning and Development Board that is updating the Seneca Lake Watershed Management Plan.

In the summer of 2011, Research scientists at the Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart and William Smith Colleges worked on extensive sampling and data collection projects within the Seneca Lake watershed. Overseeing the study, HWS Professor Dr. John Halfman monitored water quality in Seneca Lake as well as four streams on the west side of the watershed while Dr. Meghan Brown, associate professor of biology at HWS, continued research on zooplankton ecology and invasive species in the lake. Dr. Susan Cushman, director of Introductory Biology Laboratories at HWS, collected samples from surrounding streams in order to document natural aquatic invertebrates and fish communities. Dr. Lisa Cleckner, director of the Finger Lakes Institute, analyzed fish and water samples for mercury and trace metals. The findings of this work and the implications for water quality throughout the watershed have been published in the watershed characterization report was presented and discussed at a March 5, 2011 meeting. The Project Advisory Committee & Seneca Lake Area Partners in five counties continues to create action items and an implementation strategy.