The July Cornell began cooling with Cayuga Lake

On July 11, 2000, Cornell reported that its new lake-cooling system was running at about a quarter of full capacity. It was producing 5,000 tons of cooling; an increase to 16,000 within a month was still an expectation. Construction had begun in March 1999. Cornell's Lake Source Cooling project enters pilot test phase.

The lake water did not have to circulate through classrooms. Heat exchangers passed the cooling between separate lake-water and campus-water circuits, according to the announcement. Cornell's Lake Source Cooling project enters pilot test phase.

The monitoring paperwork supplies another date. A report prepared by Upstate Freshwater Institute, dated June 4, 2002, records commercial operation from July 17 through July 31, 2000 after commissioning. Its July figures therefore covered fifteen operating days. The pilot announcement and the commercial record describe different stages, not rival opening dates. Cornell's Lake Source Cooling project enters pilot test phase; Cayuga Lake Water Quality Monitoring, Related to the LSC Facility: 2001.

The footnotes also explain some of the record’s gaps. July’s reported reactive-phosphorus data came from one July 27 sample; another collected sample went unanalyzed because of a laboratory error the report says was corrected. Cayuga Lake Water Quality Monitoring, Related to the LSC Facility: 2001.

Then came a winter interruption. The report says discharge stopped for emergency repairs on December 8, 2000 and remained offline until January 29, 2001. A sample taken February 1 for that last January week would be filed with February’s figures. Reading only a monthly heading would miss part of the sequence. Cayuga Lake Water Quality Monitoring, Related to the LSC Facility: 2001.