New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Amanda Lefton and Department of State (DOS) Secretary of State, Walter T. Mosley today announced the joint agency approval of the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Nine Element (9E) Plan for Phosphorus. This plan enhances collaborative and wide-ranging efforts to protect water quality in Skaneateles Lake and maintain its critically important roles for recreation, fishing, tourism, and as a drinking water source for more than 150,000 New Yorkers in Syracuse, Skaneateles, Jordan, Elbridge, and DeWitt.  

“Protecting and improving water quality is a core DEC mission and we celebrate the release of this plan and the beginning of its implementation to continue and accelerate the protection of Skaneateles lake and watershed,” said DEC Commissioner Lefton. “The Skaneateles Lake Watershed Nine Element Plan builds on decades of efforts made by state and local partners to maintain excellent water quality within the lake and ensure enhanced cooperation between DEC, DOS, our state agency partners, and Skaneateles stakeholders. DEC recognizes the contribution of many local leaders in the development of this plan and their enduring commitments to safeguard this critical water supply, renowned for its exceptional quality among our treasured Finger Lakes.”  

“The Department of State is committed to maintaining and improving the existing high-quality water of Skaneateles Lake and its watershed, which is an essential element of healthy, sustainable communities and ecosystems,” said Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley. “This comprehensive watershed plan update is the outcome of decades of collaboration, planning, and implementation that creates a path forward towards improved water quality and public health that will guide communities in the Skaneateles Lake area as they protect this most precious natural asset. We are proud to collaborate with DEC through the Department’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, which awarded $235,600 in 2018, and our local partners in completing this Plan that will pay dividends for the communities, the lake, and the ecosystem for years to come.”  

State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “The Department is firmly committed to ensuring that New Yorkers have safe and reliable drinking water– a fundamental right and a cornerstone of good health. We are pleased the Nine Element Plan was approved for the Skaneateles Lake Watershed so that the more than 150,000 New Yorkers who rely on it as their drinking water source can have peace of mind that they are protected from pollution for years to come.” 

Skaneateles Lake’s approved 9E Plan recommends the implementation of many watershed-level and landscape-specific management actions to meet the Plan’s goals and targets. Achieving the Plan’s recommendations will require continued collaboration among the many partners engaged with lake and watershed management issues. Community involvement, guided by the Watershed Advisory Committee, coupled with a commitment to adaptive management to adjust to new conditions and information is essential to implement the plan recommendations. The Plan identifies metrics that will be used to track implementation of the recommended actions. Now that the community established a 9E Plan, it can build upon existing efforts to address pollutant sources and utilize additional state and federal grants to implement the plan.   

Implementation of the 9E Plan will rely upon a blend of existing funding programs, which have been successful in funding implementation projects that reduce loads from targeted sectors, and solutions based on proven science to reduce nonpoint source loads and improve water quality. The 9E plan provides detailed cost estimates and summarizes existing sources of funding available to Skaneateles Lake.   

A Nine Element Watershed Management (9E) Plan is a type of clean water plan that details a community’s water quality concerns and a strategy to address them. Watershed communities develop 9E Plans with support from local and state agencies with a watershed-based approach using monitoring and modeling to identify and quantify pollutant sources, establish goals and plans for pollutant reduction. These plans include milestones and timeframes, appropriate practices, identification of financial and technical assistance needed to implement practices, identification of stakeholder actions, tracking and evaluation of reduction criteria, and monitoring. Nine Element Plans are subject to approval by DEC. They are voluntary plans that do not impose a requirement on any party.  

Town of Skaneateles Supervisor Chris Legg said, “The final approval of the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Nine Element Plan is exciting for the Town of Skaneateles. Our 9E Plan is a partnership to best protect Skaneateles Lake, the unfiltered drinking water source for over 170,000 people. Assisted by the CNY Regional Planning and Development Board (CNYRPDB) in 2017, the Town submitted a successful grant request to the Department of State for funding of the 9E Plan. The Skaneateles Lake Association joined with matching funds. The City of Syracuse, Onondaga County Soil and Water District (OCSWD), the Village of Skaneateles, and many others supported the drafting of the 9E Plan in cooperation with the State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Town of Skaneateles looks forward to continuing our partnership with the CNY RPDB, City of Syracuse, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Cortland CSWDs, the five other municipalities in the Skaneateles Lake Watershed, NYS DEC, and many other organizations. The approved 9E Plan facilitates our continued coordinated actions on the land and the water to promote a healthy Skaneateles Lake for all.”  

Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District Executive Director Doug Kierst said, “The Skaneateles Lake Watershed 9 Element Plan for Phosphorous is another tool in the toolbox that provides SWCDs the opportunity to address local environmental concerns where they are needed. This plan will build upon the many critical water quality protection achievements that have already been made throughout the watershed, while focusing on the overall health of the watershed and ensuring the lake remains a source of high-quality water for its many uses.  

Onondaga County Soil and Water Conservation District Executive Director Mark Burger said, “The SLWAP is looking forward to continuing their “boots on the ground” approach to getting meaningful and beneficial conservation practices on the land with farmers, highway departments and interested citizens, as we have for the past 31 years.”  

Skaneateles Lake Association Executive Director Frank Moses said, "The Skaneateles Lake Association is extremely grateful for New York State, associated environmental professionals, and our lake community's effort toward the development of this exceptional clean water plan. We are eager to continue working with landowners and lake protection partners to combat increasing threats to the lake's water quality for the benefit of future generations."  

As announced in her 2024 State of the State, Governor Hochul directed key investments into the Eastern Finger Lakes, including Skaneateles Lake watershed, with $42 million in Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act and Clean Water Infrastructure funds. The commitment will help increase and accelerate best management practice implementation to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution through the Eastern Finger Lakes Coalition. An additional $1.2 million through the state Environmental Protection Fund will also support capacity building efforts in the Eastern Finger Lakes Coalition. More than $78 million in new grant opportunities for measures to reduce nutrient pollution and other water quality improvements are available now.  

Skaneateles Lake Background 

Phosphorus reaches the lake from sources within the watershed ranging from failing or inadequate septic systems to stormwater runoff from the landscape. Phosphorus is low in Skaneateles but is still one of many factors that influence algal and cyanobacteria growth. It can be controlled by changes in the way landscapes are managed, such as through the actions noted in the 9E Plan.  The 9E plan also documents the contributions from various landscape sources as well as potential future loading due to high intensity rain events expected to occur more frequently as the climate changes.  

The 9E plan aligns with other efforts in the Skaneateles Lake watershed, such as those prescribed in the 2018 Harmful Algal Bloom Action Plan. The 9E Plan also identifies the continuance of the Skaneateles Lake Watershed Agricultural Program, created as part of the City of Syracuse’s requirements established by the New York State Department of Health, as a key factor in the maintained provision of a high-quality water supply.  

The final approved plan is posted on DEC’s Clean Water Plan webpage and on DOS’s website at (https://dos.ny.gov/location/skaneateles-lake-watershed-nine-element-plan). The Plan was funded by the State's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and administered through DOS’s Local Water Revitalization Program. DEC provided financial and technical assistance, in cooperation with New York State Office of General Services, for watershed and in-lake modeling to inform the 9E Plan.  

New York's Commitment to Water Quality

New York State continues to increase its nation-leading investments in water infrastructure, with an additional $500 million allocated for clean water infrastructure in the FY26 Enacted Budget for a total of $6 billion invested in water infrastructure since 2017. The funding is in addition to other substantial water quality investments, including the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, which is advancing historic levels of funding to update aging water infrastructure and protect water quality, strengthen communities' ability to withstand severe storms and flooding, reduce air pollution and lower climate-altering emissions, restore habitats, and preserve outdoor spaces and local farms.