Genesee / Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council (G/FLRPC) will be presenting the draft Oatka Creek Watershed Characterization at a public meeting on Thursday, February 9, 6:30-8:00 pm at the Pavilion Fire Department Recreation Hall located at 11302 Lake Road, Pavilion, New York.

The Watershed Characterization is the first part of a watershed plan for the Oatka Creek. It is being developed by G/FLRPC under the Intermunicipal Planning for Black and Oatka Creek Watersheds project. At this meeting the public will have an opportunity to discuss the project, provide feedback on the draft document, and provide input on watershed issues and recommendations.

Further information can be found at:
http://www.gflrpc.org/Publications/BlackOatka/PublicMeetingOatka.htm

The OCWC will be holding its 3rd annual stream cleanup at Oatka Creek Park in Monroe County during the International Coastal Cleanup sponsored by the American Littoral Society (ALS) and the Ocean Conservancy. Last September 15 great volunteers removed and cataloged 582 lbs. of trash and litter along the creek.

This year we have scheduled another cleanup at Oatka Creek Park in Wheatland for Saturday September 17 from 9:00-1:00. We will meet at the main lodge in the park. Please join us in our effort to preserve Oatka’s water quality and unique wildlife habitat. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes and clothes that can get wet and dirty. If you have waders or hip boots, bring them along. Some shoreline areas may be very weedy so long sleeves and pants will offer more protection.

For more information contact:
Maureen Leupold at maleupold@genesee.edu
(585)343-0055 x 6394

Come join the First Annual Great Genesee Gorge Clean Up on Sept. 17th from 9:AM to Noon. This unique canoe based clean up will target all the float-able trash, plastic & styrofoam right where it hides - at the River's edge and eddies.

Meet at Turning Point Park and we will shuttle you upstream to Seth Green Island near the Lower Falls to launch the canoes. You float downstream, stopping at the Island and along the shoreline cleaning up the largest wilderness area in the City of Rochester. Bring your own canoe or we will provide one to the first 20 volunteers that need one. There will be a motorized 'Garbage Scow' and a Safety Boat on the water too.

Don't paddle? We also need a number of land based clean up crews for the Park and by the Veterans Memorial Bridge. We also need some logistics helpers and a coordinator for HQ at Turning Point Park. So, pull out the old canoe, get the kids in the wagon, call your Boy, Girl, and Eagle Scout Troops, or organize your nature friends. If you have that 'green community spirit' this is the event for you. We guarantee you an enjoyable and satisfying morning, beautiful views of the Gorge Wilderness, all followed by a little Thank You Party for the volunteers at Turning Point Park.

Sign Up at Our Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/?ref=hpskip#!/event.php?eid=240751809293565

Or Contact Tom at:
tomhryvniak@gmail.com
585-290-9912

The first draft of the Oatka Creek Watershed Characterization is now available online: click here!

Greetings!

I'm happy to report that today, at Oatka Creek Park, Town of Wheatland, 15 people cleaned the stream bank and stream. We collected 13 bags of trash, 1 BIG tire with rim (138 lbs alone), a step ladder, building material and around 250 pounds of trash from an old dump right on the stream bank.

All of this totaled 582 pounds of trash. Yes - we weighed it! The park staff has already removed our "results" from the park for proper disposal. Yeah!!

Students and faculty from Genesee Community College, students from RIT and members of the Oatka Creek Watershed Committee participated.

Thanks to all who helped make this the best cleanup ever!

Maureen Leupold
Beach Captain for ICC at Oatka Creek

As part of the watershed planning process, the Oatka Creek Watershed Committee is reaching out to towns and villages within the watershed. At a series of scheduled meetings, the Committee is presenting a short PowerPoint presentation that introduces the watershed management plan document that is being developed by the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regions Planning Council (G/FLRPC). One of the goals of this outreach program is to get people excited about the Creek and thinking about watershed issues. Over the next year, there will be other opportunities for stakeholders and the public to provide input. Dave Zorn and his staff from the G/FLRPC will be soliciting comment and input at various stages during the process. We hope that you will join us in working with the G/FLRPC to develop a plan that is responsive to the particular needs of your community and will help to preserve water quality for future generations.

Here are the meetings presently planned:
Town of Warsaw, August 9, 2010
Town of Gainesville, August 9, 2010
Village of Leroy, August 25, 2010
Town of Leroy , August 26, 2010
Town of Middlebury, September 8, 2010, 8:00 PM
Town of Pavilion, September 9, 2010, 7:30 PM
Town of Bethany, September 13, 2010, 7:30 PM
Town of Stafford, September 13, 2010, 7:30 PM
Town of Covington, September 14, 2010, 7:30 PM
Village of Warsaw, September 20, 2010,7:30 PM
Village of Caledonia, October 5, 2010, 7:00 PM
Town of Wheatland, October 7, 2010, 7:00 PM
Town of Wethersfield, October 11, 2010, 7:00 PM
Village of Scottsville, October 12, 2010, 6:30 PM
Town of Perry, October 13, 2010, 7:15 PM
Town of Caledonia, October 14, 2010, 7:00 PM
Town of Orangeville, November 4, 2010, 6:30 PM
Village of Wyoming, November 9, 2010, 7:00 PM

Maureen Leupold of the Oatka Creek Watershed Committee is organizing an Oatka Creek Cleanup on September 25, 2010 at Oatka Creek Park, Union Street, Scottsville, NY from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Please join us in our effort to preserve Oatka's water quality and unique wildlife habitat. Be sure to wear sturdy shoes and clothes that can get wet and dirty. If you have waders or hip boots, bring them along. Some shoreline areas will be very weedy so long sleeves and pants will offer more protection.

We will meet at the main lodge in the park at 9:00am. Directions for the conducting the cleanup will be given. A team captain and at least one other responsible adult is required to supervise each cleanup crew. Each crew will be assigned an area to cleanup. Depending on the number of participants the cleanup may extend to other areas along the creek that are open to the public.

"Since 1986, the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral Society has coordinated New York's participation in the annual September International Coastal Cleanup. This effort has the overarching sponsorship of the Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC. The Coastal Cleanup is a worldwide event in which over 100 countries and almost all of our states participate.

"Participating in a cleanup helps people see that the choices they make directly impact the environment - recycling, advocating less use of plastic, lobbying for less packaging, reusing items instead of discarding them - all have a positive effect on the environment.

"The debris information is noted on data cards by the volunteers and returned to the Ocean Conservancy where it is analyzed and used to evaluate existing pollution abatement programs and to develop new national and international policies to control debris in order to protect the health and safety of humans and marine life. The event raises the public's consciousness of the state of our shorelines and generates important data that show trends in pollution. In 2007, 9,339 New Yorkers participated at 284 cleanup sites covering 677 miles all over our state, and documented 142,243 pounds of trash." (ALS, Background Information)

For local information Contact:
Maureen Leupold at maleupold@genesee.edu
(585)343-0055 x 6394

For State and National information, contact:
Barbara Cohen
Beach Cleanup Coordinator
American Littoral Society
(718) 471-2166
e-mail: alsbeach@aol.com
Visit us on the web at www.alsnyc.org

A stream's watershed consists of all the land that drains to that stream. The Black and Oatka Creek watersheds incorporate all or parts of thirty-one towns and villages in Orleans, Monroe, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston Counties. The Black Creek Watershed Coalition and Oatka Creek Watershed Committee consist of volunteers who have worked together to write "State of the Basin" reports, create watershed map guides, repair eroding streambanks, and to reach out to their municipal board members and neighbors.

This Symposium is a "kick off" to a watershed planning process for each watershed. The Watershed Plans will be designed to protect the water quality of Black and Oatka Creeks and to address flooding issues. The Symposium's agenda is designed to introduce the concept and benefits of watershed planning and to share information about the Black and Oatka Creek Watersheds. Speakers will present information on trout fishing, the Bergen Swamp, streambank restoration, the Agricultural Environmental Management Program and a grant from the New York State Department of State Environmental Protection Fund to create a watershed plan for each watershed.

Residents, farmers, environmentalists, conservationists, municipal and agency officials and staff and other citizens concerned with the water quality and flooding issues in the Black Creek and Oatka Creek watersheds.

The symposium - including dinner - is free of charge. It is made possible by a grant from the Finger Lakes-Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance.

Woodside Lodge, Black Creek Park, Town of Chili, Monroe County, New York

Rochelle Bell, rbell@monroecounty.org, 753-2034
George Squires, george.squires@ny.nacdnet.net, 343-2362
Rick VenVertloh, rvenvertloh@labellapc.com, 295-6226