Image by: Chris Corrado

Image by: Chris Corrado

About the WLA

WLA members have participated in a wide variety of activities intended for the benefit of the lake. Weed treatment, lake management, fund-raising, public service, information programs and social events have all been part of the Webster Lake Association activities.

Click here for the By-Laws

Public Service

The WLA is, essentially, a public service organization. Weed control, testing, and monitoring all help to protect a wonderful resource for everyone to use.Other WLA activities such as the WLA Newsletter, the WLA Website and the Lake Paddles include a public service component by educating the community and by encouraging enjoyment of the lake by both WLA members and non-members.WLA has helped with public service community events. Members have assisted with "Book-A-Cruise" by providing boat rides for students in the program. The WLA organized and offered the first annual Senior Lake Outing in 2014. The WLA water testing team has offered a workshop in testing techniques. The workshop was open to interested persons in the area. The WLA has also helped to organize and participate in periodic environmental cleanup activities around the lake. In the ICE-OUT Contest, the WLA partners with the Webster Education Foundation in order to support both organizations.The WLA has also sponsored or presented a number of educational and informative programs in the community. Subjects for recent presentations have included Birds of Prey, the Webster Lake Eagles, Turtles, the History of the Lake, the Last Green Valley, and the Biology of Lakes and Streams. These presentations have all been open to the public.

Invasive Plant Management

The term "Invasive Plant" is generally used here to mean non-native plants which can become dominant and interfere with the growth of native species. Visit the "Lake Management" section for more discussion.

Lake and Stream Water Quality Testing

The WLA runs a testing program for both the lake itself and the streams that run into the lake. The goal is to identify possible problems before they become too great.

Runoff and Other Environmental Issues

Two major runoff problems are the contamination of the lake through the runoff of pollutants (such as fertilizers and chemicals applied to lawns) and the runoff of silt into the lake. The WLA has worked to reduce both of these.There are other environmental issues which the WLA has worked on such as prevention of introduction of new invasive plant and animal species and the effects of development in the surrounding area.

Fundraising to Support our Programs

Activities of the WLA (such as lake and stream testing and invasive weed treatment) can be expensive. Many local businesses have generously supported our efforts. (Please see our sponsor lists and patronize our sponsors.) We are also regularly pursuing grants and donations from various agencies. Finally, we run a number of fund-raising activities throughout the year (for example, the Golf Tournament, the ICE-OUT Contest, and the Lake Gala).

WLA Status

Webster Lake Association is a 501 (c) (3) public charity.

 

To the WLA members and the Lake Community, 

I want to take this opportunity to say how grateful I am to serve as President of the Webster Lake Association. Growing up on the shores of this beautiful lake, I find this coming full circle - as the lake has been a giant part of my childhood and my life, where I have made countless, joyous memories, it is now time for me to give back to the lake with my time and energy. 

We have many wonderful members who have continuously helped the Association stay alive for over 20 years, and we are looking forward to gaining momentum in reaching more people, who might not know about us, to join. However you are interested in the lake, as a boater, property owner, visitor, environmental advocate, or a lake lover in general, we encourage you to join as a member and help us keep the third largest natural body of water in the state clean and healthy. Many other residents near/on bodies of water in the state are just catching on to the issues that ponds/lakes face, which includes invasive weed species and growth of non-native plants. We should be proud we have had leaders of this Association tackle this issue before it became extremely overwhelming. 

I am hoping to keep my motto of "work smarter not harder" come to fruition, and this includes getting software to help us keep track of data and information from our memberships and fundraisers/events to a centralized location. The software will also help replace manual processes we have at the moment (membership renewals via mail, updating membership databases). Any time someone's email changes, or mailing address changes, we have plenty of work to do to update the information across our systems. The software will help in that endeavor. 

I am excited to see what we can accomplish as a board and as an Association. Please feel free to reach out to me, or any board members, if you have  questions. 

Katie O'Leary 

WLA President