Community invited to join
Oak Orchard Watershed planning alliance

As a way to educate the public and to also gather input, the community is invited to participate on the Oak Orchard Watershed Planning Alliance's first meeting. The watershed planning effort is the first of its kind in Orleans County.

"The goal of this first meeting is to establish a watershed alliance. The members that choose to participate in the meeting will begin to form the alliance," Nichelle Billhardt, district manager for the Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation Department said.

Additional alliance members may also be recruited later. The Oak Orchard Watershed Alliance will meet monthly and will welcome participants from all walks of life. The only thing that members of the alliance have to have in common is concern for the Oak Orchard Watershed, she explained. The very first step of the alliance would be to establish the board makeup and date and times of the monthly meetings. The second step is to begin forming a request for proposals for environmental consultants to research and author an "Oak Orchard State of the Basin Report."

The formation of this alliance is made possible through a Special Projects Grant through the Finger Lakes-Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance (otherwise known as FL-LOWPA). FL-LOWPA is a locally based water quality protection alliance made up of 25 counties in the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario Basins. The Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is a member county of this organization.

"We plan to examine natural resource issues at a watershed scale versus the village, town or county level," Billhardt said. "Improved communications between citizens, local, federal and state government agencies within the watershed will make for a more comprehensive understanding of the current water uses, future needs and what can be done to enhance the natural resource of Oak Orchard."

Billhardt said there is a general lack of knowledge about how the waters of Oak Orchard are utilized and this meeting will shed light on its usage and how it impacts the environment and agricultural land.

A watershed is a geographic area draining to a common stream, lake or river. Watersheds are delineated by topography. To determine the boundaries of a watershed, ask the question, "if a drop of rain lands at a particular location, which way will it go?"

This first meeting will gather stakeholders and teach people the importance of the watershed and how continued development of open lands increases the amount of water running off the surface land. And while most municipalities have individual watershed and development planning, there is no cohesive plan between the municipalities.

The meeting will look at how many uses there are for the watershed from the muck lands and agricultural lands relying on proper drainage, to the use of the water from Oak Orchard for hydroelectric power, to the Wildlife Refuge's use of the water. "There are a lot of uses for the watershed but no coordinated effort about its planning, " Billhardt explained. "We just need to plan to make sure we are using the resource to its best ability while still continuing to conserve where we can."

The Oak Orchard Watershed originates north of Batavia in Genesee County and flows north into Lake Ontario at Point Breeze in Orleans County. The watershed encompasses eight towns in Orleans County and two villages. Oak Orchard, Billhardt said, is by far the largest watershed in Orleans County and occupies nearly 46 percent of the county. In Genesee County, the watershed includes four towns and two villages and makes up about 19 percent of the total acreage.

The Orleans County Water Quality Coordinating Committee (WQCC) has identified the Oak Orchard Watershed as one of the primary watersheds of concern. Since the Orleans County SWCD has been appointed the lead agency for the WQCC, they are responsible for acquiring, implementing, and administering water quality grants. This Special Projects Grant is one of many received since the formation of the WQCC.

The meeting is scheduled for August 12 at 7 p.m. at the Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation Office, 446 West Avenue, Albion.

What is a watershed?

Why is watershed management important?

A watershed is a geographic area draining to a common stream, lake or river. Watersheds are delineated by topography. To determine the boundaries of a watershed ask the question: "if a drop of rain lands at a particular location, which way will it go?"

Watershed Management is an iterative process of integrated decision-making regarding uses and modifications of lands and waters within a watershed. This process provides a chance for stakeholders to balance diverse goals and uses for environmental resources, and to consider how their cumulative actions may affect long-term sustainability of these resources. The guiding principles of the process are partnerships, geographic focus, and sound management (strong science and data).

Human modifications of lands and waters directly alter delivery of water, sediments, and nutrients, and thus fundamentally alter aquatic systems. People have varying goals and values relative to uses of local land and water resources. Watershed management provides a framework for integrated decision-making, where we strive to:

1. assess the nature and status of the watershed ecosystem;

2. define short-term and long-term goals for the system;

3. determine objectives and actions needed to achieve selected goals;

4. assess both benefits and costs of each action;

5. implement desired actions;

6. evaluate the effects actions and progress toward goals; and

7. re-evaluate goals and objectives as part of an iterative process.

As a form of ecosystem management, watershed management encompasses the entire watershed system, from uplands and headwaters, to floodplain wetlands and river channels. It focuses on the processing of energy and materials (water, sediments, nutrients and toxics) down slope through this system. If principle concern is management of the basin's water budget -- that is the routing of precipitation through the pathways of evaporation, infiltration, and overland flow. This routing of groundwater and overland flow defines the delivery patterns to particular streams, lakes and wetlands and largely shapes the nature of these aquatic systems.

Watershed management requires use of the social, ecological, and economic sciences. Common goals for land and water resources must be developed among people of diverse social backgrounds and values. An understanding of the structure and function -- historical and current -- of the watershed system is required, so that the ecological effects of various alternative actions can be considered. The decision process also must weigh the economic benefits and costs of alternative actions, and blend current market dynamics with considerations of long-term sustainability of the ecosystem.

Information courtesy Nichelle Billhardt, district manager, Orleans County Soil and Water Conservation Department