ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A conservation group says five of New York's Finger Lakes had significant outbreaks of toxic algae last year, affected by farm runoff and the warming climate.
The Finger Lakes Land Trust, in a new report, advocates spending $100 million over the next decade to buy land and conservation easements to help buffer the 11 waterways, create new wetlands, preserve farms, protect drinking water and leave shoreline undeveloped.
The algae can cause nausea and skin, eye and throat irritation in people from swimming and drinking. It also makes animals sick.
It affected parts of two smaller and shallower lakes that warm more readily _ Conesus and Honeoye _ and deeper, colder Owasco, Canandaigua and Seneca lakes.
The trust manages 20,000 acres of nature preserves in 12 counties open to the public.
