Oneida Lake Association Position on Phosphorous Levels in Oneida Lake

Adopted December 2005

The Oneida Lake Association (OLA) is a 3,000+ member lake-user organization that advocates for a healthy Oneida Lake ecosystem - including a vigorous sport fishery supported by adequate nutrients, beneficial habitat and wholesome environmental conditions.

Proper levels of phosphorous are vital to the fishery and the lake as a whole. Oneida Lake's recent total phosphorous levels (mean annual levels of 20-30 ppb during the 1990s) have proven beneficial to the health of the fishery and the lake. The weight of scientific evidence and past
experience regarding Oneida Lake and other watersheds demonstrates that lowering Oneida Lake's total phosphorus level could have serious negative consequences. Too little phosphorous equals too few fish.

OLA supports a minimum mean annual level no lower than 20 ppb of total phosphorus. The OLA also supports the establishment of a phosphorus budget for Oneida Lake; this action should be completed prior to any significant nutrient abatement to ensure that healthy nutrient levels
are maintained in Oneida Lake.

For more information on the importance of phosphorous, see page 19 of the Oneida Lake Watershed Advisory Council's 2003 "State of the Lake Report;" Edward Mills' and John Forney's article "P=Life: Phosphorous and the Oneida Lake Ecosystem," in the Spring/Summer 2002 Oneida Lake Bulletin; and Yurk, J. and J. Ney's study, "Phosphorous-Fish Community Biomass Relationships in Southern Appalachian Reservoirs: Can Lakes Be Too Clean for Fish?" in Lake and Reservoir Management, 1989.