Watershed Supervisory Committee Advances Otsego Lake 9E Protection Initiatives

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
COOPERSTOWN

The Watershed Supervisory Committee, a joint effort of the Village of Cooperstown and the towns of Otsego, Middlefield, and Springfield, has completed drafts of the first three chapters of its Nine Element Watershed Management Plan. The inter-municipality group’s mission to protect the health of Otsego Lake and its watershed is aided by its recently hired watershed supervisor and grants.

“It’s comprehensive, and it develops best management practices that will keep the lake healthy,” said Dr. Bertine McKenna, the chair of the committee. “Then from there, we have to seek grant funding to fix some of the issues that are identified.”

The WSC’s mission is to “protect and enhance the health of Otsego Lake and its watershed.” Members, who are not paid, also provide updates to a broader Watershed Advisory Committee composed of more representatives.

Dr. Jacob Gillette, who holds a PhD in limnology, the study of inland waters, was hired by the Village of Cooperstown in September 2025 for the dual roles of watershed inspector and watershed supervisor. As supervisor, he coordinates the Watershed Management Plan and will support its implementation.

“The funding also allows us to work with some scientific advisors that are contracted” to develop a model of the lake, watershed, and how they interrelate, Gillette said of the Watershed Management Plan. “From that, we can start to make predictions.”

Those predictions will account for climate change and its impact on lake temperature and precipitation.

“The overall goal is for us to work with all the various stakeholders and the production of this model [for] different possible best management practices we can do that’ll help strengthen our efforts to protect the lake,” Gillette said.

Gillette estimated the plan will be finalized by late summer or early fall 2027, with milestones along the way.

In recent years, Otsego Lake has faced harmful algal blooms.

“We’ve had them every year since 2022, which is why this whole thing was developed,” McKenna said.

WSC members have also highlighted the impact of unencapsulated polystyrene foam, a material used in some docks and buoys. Pieces break off, which then often gather on the surface and which animals can consume. A recent newsletter from the WSC, published by environmental group Otsego 2000, called attention to New York State Senate Bills 2025-S1877 and 2025-S1129, proposed legislation that would ban the material. S1877 would ban it in floating docks and platforms, S1129 in all floating structures. The office of State Senator Peter Oberacker (R) did not respond to a request for comment on the bills.

Otsego Lake is the headwaters of the Susquehanna River. Efforts toward improving and ensuring the health of the lake have also received attention from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, an interstate coordinating body established in 1971.

“We’re working with them hand in hand, and I think it’s great,” Gillette said.

The scope of the WSC’s work is broad. Sometimes, Gillette said, it will include identifying grants for individual municipalities to pursue. At other times, it may involve public education on best practices for those living near the lake.

Gillette said the group’s “guiding philosophy” is “all carrot, no stick.”