Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News
McHENRY — The Property Owners Association of Deep Creek Lake held the second in a series of workshops on Friday to discuss five areas of concern for future well-being of the lake and surrounding areas.
The five areas of concern were developed at the first workshop, held on Dec. 3, 2010.
They are as follows:
• Economic benefits and cost.
• Commercial, agricultural and residential impacts.
• Communication and education.
• Erosion and sediment process.
• Biological environment.
For each of these five areas, a panel of experts was assembled to answer prepared questions from a moderator and also impromptu questions from participants in the audience.
In regards to the economic aspects of the lake, panel members were asked questions regarding what costs and benefits visitors might impose on the watershed and in what fashion the county and state account for those effects.
Garrett County has about 1.2 million visitors a year and the population of the county is about 30,000, according to Nicole Christian, president and CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce.
“That is a significant impact on the number of people utilizing our roads, utilizing our services here. You have to consider that when considering the overall impact on the watershed,” said Christian. “Tourism is a very important driver of our economy. I think it’s safe to say the benefits far outweigh what the costs are.”
Another benefit of the visitors, is the fact that the transient population pushes economic development bringing in better technology, better restaurants and a better cultural environment, according to Jeanne Neff, who served as the president for The Sage Colleges in Troy and Albany, N.Y., for 13 years.
In regards to economic impact, panelists were also asked what responsibilities the county should accept to ensure a constant stream of visitors.
“I really appreciate the way the county commissioners have taken an active role in understanding all of the resources in the county and in trying to understand what their role is,” said Christian.
The panelists were also asked what can the tourism industry as a force be responsible for the stewardship of the lake. Christian noted that it was important when looking at tourism to consider not only the lake but the entire lake watershed.
“When we talk about the tourism industry we are talking about a lot of stakeholders, not just the people in McHenry or the property owners around the lake or the dock owners,” said Christian. “I think it’s very important from a stewardship standpoint that we always have very open line of communication from all the stakeholders; workshops like this are very extremely important.”
Christian said it was important to protect the county’s resources, but not so much so that it stifles the tourism industry.
“It’s important to protect what we have but not by putting up a fence around it,” said Christian.
In regards to the commercial, agricultural and residential impacts of the lake, panellists were asked if commercial and residential landowners should be responsible for their impact on erosion or lake quality.
The four panelists were in agreement that they should be held responsible for their impact.
There are already restrictions in place to reduce the impact on erosion and to maintain the lake quality and they are becoming more stringent, according to John Nelson, director of planning and zoning for Garrett County.
Nelson estimated that in two years there will be stricter regulations in regards to livestock in the streams.
They were also asked if what requirements/regulations are now in place to insure that the lake is not degraded by agricultural and residential contaminants such as E. coli, geese droppings and fertilizer.
Geese droppings are not favorable for the environment and are hard on the crops, however, the birds can be hunted, according to Bill Bischoff, a local farmer.
“If you don’t like the geese droppings, talk to the DNR,” said Bischoff.
E. coli is rarely contracted from water and it is not showing up in tests done by the Health Department, according to Bischoff.
Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com.
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