By James R. Husnay Sr.

Being an avid recreational fisherman for more than 60 years, I read with great interest your article "Get The Phosphorus Out" in the Jan. 11 edition of The Post-Standard. I applaud the efforts of those who are concerned enough about their body of water that they're making an attempt to save the beautiful and once-pristine Cazenovia Lake before it's too late.

Although I have never fished the lake, I recall growing up in Binghamton back in the 1940s and early '50s and the many times friends and relatives ventured to Cazenovia in the summer to fish. Each and every time it seemed they would return having those ever-famous outstretched hands and arms with fish stories of the ones that got away.

The efforts being undertaken by the residents of Cazenovia to clean the lake of unwanted phosphorus shouldn't be misconstrued as it being thought of as "their" lake. Their concern should be everyone's, knowing that almost every body of water within Central New York -- from lake to stream, creek to canal, and river, too -- is becoming inundated with invasive milfoil weed, as well as other invasive species.

For 20 or more years, with the loss of jobs and industry in Central New York, I've heard and read many, many times that "The greatest resource we have in Central New York is our water and its waterways." It's been said equally as often that this readily available resource could help lead us out of some of the economic woes we've had over the years.

Yet, under the circumstances, this statement couldn't be further from the truth when this very same fresh water that is characterized as an economic lifesaver is, for some reason, continuing to be depleted and destroyed of its natural life and freshness.

There are some who use these waters who won't be bothered to hear the negative possibilities, and take on an attitude of "let well enough alone." It's their means of defending what's already taken place because fishing, for them, has never been better. The milfoil that grows so prolifically thrives on phosphorous as food; in turn, it harbors large fish because smaller species are drawn there for protection. Zebra mussels have cleansed the waters so well that fish can be attracted to a fishing lure 75 feet away.

Many never realize that these same species that help fishing have enhanced and unleashed an unnatural photosynthesis that aquatic weeds like milfoil thrive on, and it is becoming far more dangerous. The complicated and fragile ecosystem is struggling for life itself. For how long can this go on when the natural breathing system is overtaken and gone? No one knows for sure.

Meanwhile, individuals and businesses continue to pour the heavy doses of food onto their lawns. This eventually runs off into our sewer system and directly into these bodies of water, feeding those invasive plants that will, in the end, help deplete the waters of needed oxygen.

Also, homeowners use disposal units to flush unwanted left over food down the drain, where it washes away as a waste stream of food for plants like milfoil. People cut their lawns and leave huge amounts of grass clippings, filled with nutrient-laden phosphates, in the road, rather than cutting their lawns inward. Both of these wastes eventually will enter our bodies of waters untreated through our sewer systems, compounding the already threatened natural balance of life itself.

With nothing being done to stop the practices that are contaminating Cazenovia Lake with phosphates, residents know the natural beauty and the aquatic life within the lake can, in time, be destroyed. So again, I praise the efforts of the Cazenovians to save "their" lake.

I hope their efforts will, in the end, benefit those from Minoa to Minetto, from Syracuse to Spafford, giving us a guide to help us save "the greatest natural resource we have," "our" waterways, so all can enjoy them in the future.

James R. Husnay Sr. lives in Minoa.