The Finger Lakes share a climate, a state rulebook, and a lot of the same questions, but the details that matter most to owners (septic inspections, dock rules, drinking water) are set lake by lake and town by town. Our network has a dedicated site for each lake we cover, plus this regional hub.
Keuka Lake: Living on Keuka
Living on Keuka is the flagship site, covering year-round life around Keuka Lake, Penn Yan, Hammondsport, and the towns in between. Start with:
Seneca Lake: Living on Seneca
Living on Seneca covers Seneca Lake from Geneva to Watkins Glen, across four counties with different rules. Start with:
- Septic rules around Seneca Lake by county
- Drinking water on Seneca Lake
- Docks and shoreline permits on Seneca Lake
Canandaigua Lake: Living on Canandaigua
Living on Canandaigua covers Canandaigua Lake, a public drinking water supply with its own watershed rules and uniform docking law. Start with:
Southern Tier: Hornell Living
Hornell Living covers year-round life in Hornell, the Maple City, and the surrounding Southern Tier of Steuben and Allegany Counties. It’s just south of the Finger Lakes, and many of the same questions (property taxes, wells and septic, winter, insurance) come up there too. Start with:
Region-wide guides on this site
- STAR, Assessments, and Grievance Day: A Property Tax Primer for Finger Lakes Homeowners
- Septic Systems in the Finger Lakes: State Rules, Local Rules, and Help Paying for Replacement
How the lakes compare on septic rules
- Keuka: one uniform law in all eight lake municipalities, enforced by the Keuka Watershed Improvement Cooperative.
- Canandaigua: a state watershed regulation, a watershed inspection program, and town laws based on a shared model law.
- Seneca: no lake-wide law; county programs in Seneca and Schuyler Counties and town laws elsewhere.
More lakes may be added over time. Have a suggestion? Tell us.