CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY, N.Y. (WKBW) — Crews have removed nearly 23 million pounds of weeds from Chautauqua Lake this summer — twice as much as the entire previous season.
The massive weed removal effort followed what Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel called the worst weed season in recent memory for the lake's South Basin.
"I've had 80 and 90-year-olds come up to me and said we can't remember having a problem this bad," Wendel said. " So it was significant, probably one of the worst we've seen in the history that anyone can remember."
Heather Nolan-Caskey, general manager of the Chautauqua Lake Association, said the organization removed weeds covering multiple football fields' worth of lake surface.
"Everything all the way across was solid weeds," Nolan-Caskey said.
I met with homeowners in Lakewood during the summer who complained about parts of the lake being completely covered in weeds. The overgrown aquatic vegetation grew out of control and caused problems for boaters and lakefront property owners.
Looking back, Nolan-Caskey acknowledged the lake association should have acted more quickly.
"We tried to handle it right off the get-go by just relocating a few pieces of equipment," Nolan-Caskey said. "We needed to move all the equipment immediately."
As crews continue working to remove remaining weeds from the water, officials are preparing for next year. Nolan-Caskey said the association could use another truck to help haul away weeds faster.
"We don't expect that this is going to be the norm or that we're going to see it next year, but we will definitely be prepared if that is the case," Nolan-Caskey said.
Wendel presented his tentative executive budget for 2026 on Wednesday night, which includes $500,000 for all lakes in Chautauqua County. He started the lake maintenance two years ago.
He said lake associations need to do a better job responding to weed growth.
"What do we do when we see this explosion, if you will... we see this massive growth, then we start to hit it really hard with our harvesters and our transport barges and getting all that material off and out of the lake as soon as possible. That's critical," Wendel said.
The county executive emphasized the importance of maintaining the lake as an economic driver for the region.
"The money's there, you know. The hope is we don't use it all, but if we do, you know, that's a big economic engine for Chautauqua," Wendel said.
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