Cayuga Lake, Ithaca, NY is the center point of the Finger Lakes. Yet the lake is inaccessible to most Ithacans. Cornell University, founded in 1865, looks over Cayuga Lake. Students think of it as part of campus, but the shoreline is ninety percent privately owned, making shore access limited. Why is there not a public swimming area in Ithaca, when Stewart Park has so much land? Since the early 1960s, swimming has been off-limits at Stewart Park when lifeguards couldn’t see a drowning boy in the sediment-laden water. Before downtown Ithaca was built, marshes occupied the area and would catch the sediment that flowed down the lake. Because of the channelization of the creeks and destruction of the marsh, the sediment no longer had a place to settle except at the south end of the lake. Over time, this buildup has caused the creation of an extremely large seamount which is an almost one-hundred-foot cliff just under the water. Because of this, the majority of Ithacans never get to experience the crown jewel of their town.
East Shore Park, a fifteen parking space tiny oasis, is busy every day of the summer. Four large signs clearly posted saying “No Swimming” doesn’t deter anyone from climbing down the rocks and jumping in the cool water. But even East Shore is inaccessible to young children and anyone who isn’t able-bodied. If the City of Ithaca was able to redesign East Shore Park and make swimming accessible, there could be significant benefits. Families looking for a place to cool off in the summer would have somewhere close by to go, while teens and college students could enjoy the lake safely.
East Shore Park used to be a privately owned marina until Cornell University purchased the land and built the Merrill Family Sailing Center. They then agreed to a ninety-nine-year contract with the City of Ithaca to lease the north end of the land for the park to be built on. This all was created to support one of Cornell’s largest environmental projects and one of the biggest environmental initiatives ever taken on by an American university. A fifty-eight million dollar cooling plant across the street from East Shore Park intakes the cold water from deep in the lake and flows in over the cooling pipes that Cornell uses. This saves Cornell around twenty million kilowatt hours per year. Lake Source Cooling, as it’s referred to, also erases the need for hydrofluorocarbons which are used in coolant formulas and cause the breaking of the ozone layer.
Climate change has only exacerbated Cayuga Lake’s inaccessibility. All over the Finger Lakes region, the effects of climate change are visible. In the summertime, algae pollute the water for more days every successive year. According to the Finger Lakes Land Trust, all eleven Finger Lakes have recorded algae blooms since 2017. Because of these outbreaks, the few swimming areas that are open have to close due to the poisonous chemicals that the algal blooms release. In the past few years, the algae have been caused by runoff from fertilizers used on area farms. Because of the abnormally warm weather stretches, the water becomes habitable for many bacteria that are killed by colder waters. When farmers fertilize their plants with nutrient-rich supplements followed by heavy rain, the fertilizers run off into streams that eventually connect to the lake. The nutrients create breeding grounds for the cyanobacteria that causes blue-green algae.
Most of us grow up observing the lake from one hill or another. In summer, it reflects the verdant hills around it and turns dark green. In the fall, it looks almost cerulean against the foliage. In winter, it is an ice bath fit for mountain giants—cold and implacable. In spring, it softens with the change of weather. Cayuga Lake is a natural asset to our community, but because of limiting factors such as privatization and climate change, our access to the lake has been disturbed.