Water Quality

AdkAction.org has three top priority water quality issues that we are taking action on right now:

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1. Reducing the impact of road salt on the environment without reducing safety.

In 2010, the results of an important study from the Adirondack Watershed Institute of Paul Smith's College were released. The study contains recommendations for revised road de-icing procedures on Adirondack roads that would minimize the harmful effects of road salt, ensure safe driving and provide significant cost savings to taxpayers. You may read a summary of the important findings in this study by Daniel L. Kelting, Ph.D., director of AWI, and Corey L. Laxson, Research Associate, in the press release by clicking on this link.  You may read the entire 84-page study at this link. We have provided copies of the study with its recommendations for best management practices to the New York State Department of Transportation and to local governments that provide winter road clearing services. AdkAction.org members and invited government officials may request a written copy of the report by sending an email to info@adkaction.org.

In May, 2010, a conference was convened to focus on the problem of winter road maintenance, and notably on the build up of sodium and chloride in Adirondack lakes. The conference reached strong conclusions and recommended that a state task force be convened on the topic. The leaders of both organizations met with the key DEC and DOT interfaces on Governor Paterson's staff but were rebuffed, in part due to the changing administrations.  

In June, 2011, AdkAction.org, Inc. sponsored a second conference with the Adirondack Council. At this meeting Dr. Kelting presented new research dramatically and unequivocally linking the state's use of pure salt to sodium and chloride build ups in Adirondack waterways. Dr. Kelting's presentation with accompanying illustrations can be viewed here. The conference participants reached additional conclusions and recommendations which are summarized in the meeting minutes, attached here. 

2. Controlling Eurasian Water Milfoil.

In early December 2009 a group of concerned citizens and representatives of the Adirondack Council and the Paul Smith's Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) jointly made calls on three Adirondack congressional and both state senatorial delegations. A proposal was presented (click here for a link to the summary) that would bring Eurasian Water Milfoil under control in the 43 lakes currently known to be infested within seven years at a cumulative cost of $35 million. Federal appropriation for these funds was sought to be administered through the Fish & Wildlife department and implemented by the AWI. Congressman Bill Owens secured the first $500,000 at committee level, enough for AWI to do the initial mapping, but the funding bill (and all so-called earmarks) was defeated in congress. Today, AdkAction.org, Inc. continues to press for federal funding of a milfoil initiative.

3. Measuring e-coli.

The Department of Health regularly monitors water quality at swim and other public access areas for dangerous bacteria, notably e-coli, but it is up to private land owners or lake associations to monitor private watershed areas. We have proposed that the CSLAP and ALAP lake monitoring programs be expanded to add e-coli testing to the voluntary sampling currently done by lake shore residents. There would obviously be extra charges for this service, and different logistics as e-coli sample must be tested when fresh, but if coordinated across the nearly 200 lakes in those programs, we believe it could be done at a reasonable cost using commercial package delivery overnight services. We continue to work on this objective.