Attention Community Members: Dedicated volunteers have been testing the waters of Truesdale Lake on a regular basis for over 7 years. This is done in cooperation with the NY State DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and the NYSFOLA (New York State Federation of Lake Associations). The program is called CSLAP (Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program).
Below is a letter from the manager of the NYSFOLA about some help you can provide in order to make our elected officials in Albany aware of the importance of this monitoring for our lake. Since the program is run by volunteers at the invidual lake level, the only cost to the state is the lab testing of the samples received. In this way it is very cost efficient and there is a continuous statewide record of the health of NY State’s lakes as well as our lake.
CSLAP Reports are published once a year. Here is a link to the latest Truesdale Lake report from 2005. The 2006 report should be available soon.
Our representatives in Albany are:
Senator Vincent Leibell
http://senatorvincentleibell.com/contact_info.asp
Phone: (518) 455-3111
Assemblyman Adam Bradley
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=089&submit=Go
Phone: 518-455-5397
—- letter below sent to CSLAP volunteers —-
Quote:
TO: CSLAP Volunteers
FROM: Nancy Mueller, Manager, NYSFOLA
DATE: June 5, 2007RE: CSLAP Needs You!
CSLAP Volunteers:
Due to the recent administration change in Albany, the contract for analytical services between DEC and Upstate Freshwater Institute has not yet been approved by “the powers that be.†We are shipping bottles, etc. as usual, but sampling cannot begin until the situation is resolved. (This has happened before and will happen again!)
Please do not start sampling until you hear from us that we have the ability to pay the lab!! At this time, we do not anticipate a lengthy delay.Unfortunately, the situation has now gone from bad to worse, and for the first time in over 20 years, we may not be able to run the Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program (the worst case scenario). Even in the best case, we are going to be starting later than usual.
Therefore, I am asking you to consider taking 15-20 minutes to call your state representatives in Albany [see phone numbers above]. Tell them that you represent a lake in the Citizens Statewide Lake Assessment Program which is a volunteer monitoring program run jointly by the NYS Federation of Lake Associations, Inc. and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Let them know that several hundred volunteers representing over 100 lakes and several hundred volunteers are waiting to start the season but cannot because DEC’s contract for laboratory services has not been approved by the State Comptroller’s Office. Ask them if they can help you find out the status of the contract and when sampling might be able to commence.
The more calls they get, the more likely that we will get action! You might also consider a call to the Governor’s Office, but I tried this and got forwarded and put on hold at least 5 times!!
In the meantime, I continue to pack and ship boxes and sampling equipment. We are moving forward as if our usual start dates were in place. Everyone should have bottles by mid- June, and I know that several new lakes still need sampling equipment. It’s on the way!!
Thanks for your patience and assistance. We will keep everyone posted!!!