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Finger Lakes - Lake Ontario Watershed Protection Alliance
Mission
1. promoting the sharing of information, data, ideas, and resources pertaining to the management of watersheds in New York's Lake Ontario Basin;
2. fostering dynamic and collaborative watershed management programs and partnerships; and
3. emphasizing a holistic, ecosystem-based approach to water quality improvement and protection.
A major tenet of FL-LOWPA is grassroots programming. Water quality problems are defined and solutions are developed and implemented at the local level. Through participation in the Alliance, member counties develop a more regional perspective that informs local programming and encourages cooperation.
A lake is a still or standing body of water that is deep enough to prevent rooted plants from growing all the way across the bottom. The largest are sometimes called "seas" (e.g. Aral Sea, Caspian Sea), even though their waters are fresh. The oldest lakes (4 to 30 million years old) have very high species richness and endemics (e.g. Lakes Baikal, Tanganyika, Malawi, Victoria). Some lakes are saline or alkaline (e.g. the Dead Sea or Great Salt Lake, Utah). Because of the relatively low turnover of water flow, lakes can become easily polluted by fertilizers and industrial toxics. They are especially sensitive to invasive species and water losses from agricultural diversions (Aral Sea).
