Buffer Strip Project
The Lake and Valley Garden Club, Zone III
2008 Founders Fund Winner
Storm water run off had become a problem for the community of Cooperstown which lies at the south end of Otsego Lake. A torrent would wash debris all the way down Pioneer Street and right into the lake. This sediment loading of the lake contributes to a filling-in process, smothering plant beds and fish spawning sites. Even more importantly, sediment transports phosphorus and fecal coliform bacteria into the lake and deposits them on the lake bottom, where they disrupt the ecology of the entire water body.
The 2008 Founders Fund Award went to stabilize the Lakeshore Park shoreline at the foot of Pioneer Street with a Buffer Strip. A beautiful and healthy shoreline was created using perennials like Black Eyed Susans, Blue Star, Sea Oats, Shasta Daisies and Cardinal Flowers; grasses like Japanese Blood Grass, Red Leaved Miscanthus and Switchgrass; and trees and shrubs like European Black Alder, Blueberries, Dogwood, Forsythia “bronxensis” Niobe Weeping Willow and White Snowberry.
By filtering nutrient polluted storm water, eliminating erosion, deterring Canada geese and improving water quality, the Buffer Strip serves as a model for preservation of all lake and river shorelines. This initiative is maintained by the village of Cooperstown. The success of this project encouraged expansion with a handicapped accessible boardwalk, native plantings horticultural beautification and educational signage
