Otsego County WQCC Now Back in Action

By SARAH ROBERTS
COOPERSTOWN

On January 15, members of the Otsego County Water Quality Coordinating Committee met to discuss the WQCC’s leadership model and committee organization in order to best meet its mission and objectives, as well as to identify grant opportunities and prioritize protection of waterbodies in the county.

According to the Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District, based just outside the Village of Cooperstown at 967 County Highway 33, “although only two percent of Otsego County is open water, there are numerous important bodies of water including the start of the Susquehanna River and 64,000-square-mile Chesapeake Bay Watershed.”

“The Otsego County Water Quality Coordinating Committee is a group that discusses watershed issues of Otsego County, New York and ways to address them. Many of the county agencies contribute to this mission,” said Christos Galanopoulos, Otsego County Soil and Water district manager.

The Otsego County committee is one of approximately 25 WQCCs in New York State, and was established as part of the Otsego County Soil and Water Conservation District in 1992. Membership to the WQCC is open to any person or organization with an interest in the mission of the committee. Current member organizations include the Otsego County Conservation Association, the Otsego Lake Association, the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station and the Otsego Land Trust, the Goodyear Lake Association, and the Canadarago Lake Improvement Association, among others.

In the early half of the 2010s, WQCC hosted educational presentations about the importance of protecting the Otsego Lake Watershed, which supplies drinking water to the Village of Cooperstown, as well as important information about other lakes, streams, and rivers in the county. Microplastics, the Goodyear Lake Management Plan and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s “Trees for Tribs” riparian buffer program were among the topics covered.

The WQCC also awarded grants and provided information on invasive species control and boat inspection programs, and was considered as a model by representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency for similar committees to follow.

“The Otsego County Water Quality Coordinating Committee is an organization that seeks to address and improve the watershed health and quality of [Otsego County],” said Galanopoulos. “Any citizen or organization that has a concern regarding the health and well-being of a watershed within Otsego County is encouraged to attend and contribute to the WQCC, so as to forward its mission. The primary function of the committee members is to prioritize watershed issues and gather the required resources and information to execute projects and initiatives regarding said issues.”

Past victories of the committee include the development and implementation of watershed protection plans, replacing and upgrading septic systems near or around Otsego Lake, and dredging water sources at risk of depositing unwanted sediment into the lake. Winter road maintenance, stream clean-ups, and wetland restoration and similar projects have also been initiated by the WQCC and its members.

While the WQCC never officially disbanded—no formal motion of dissolution was ever passed—the committee has reformed in light of the need “to streamline and coordinate watershed project prioritization,” according to Galanopoulos, and to determine what additional aid may be required from SWCD and its watershed partners as they re-engage with each other.

For more information on the Otsego County WQCC, contact Galanopoulos at galanopoulosc@otsegosoilandwater.com.