Last week, crews cleaned out the sediment that has built up in a retention basin on Hague Brook. This pond on the upper part of the brook was originally constructed by the LGA in 2006. Over 45 dump trucks full of material was removed from two different retention basins on the brook.
This past week, three sediment basins in Hague were cleaned out: two on Hague Brook, and a third at the mouth of Jenkins Brook. The project was a team effort by the Lake George Association, Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the town of Hague. Over 1100 cubic yards of material was removed from the three sites.
“These basins are instrumental to maintaining high water quality in Lake George,” said LGA executive director Walt Lender. “We began constructing the basins several years ago, and now every one to two years we go in to clean them out. The LGA provides project support and partial funding for the construction projects as well as funding to help maintain the sites,” he added.
Approximately $5,000 of the $8,000 Hague clean-outs has been funded by the LGA, with in-kind management and project oversite by the Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District, and in-kind hauling services provided by the town of Hague. “The town of Hague realizes the importance of maintaining the basins and the health of Lake George. We were happy to contribute to the project,” said Hague Town Supervisor Dan Belden.
A long-reach excavator removes sediment from a retention basin at the mouth of Jenkins Brook.
From the upper basin on Hague Brook, crews removed 530 cubic yards of material, or roughly 31 dump trucks full. On the lower basin on Hague Brook, 285 cubic yards of material was removed, equating to roughly 16 dump trucks full. At Jenkins Brook, 345 cubic yards of sediment was removed, roughly 20 dump trucks full. Morrissey Construction provided trucking services and an operator for the long reach excavator, and Services Unlimited also provided trucking services.
Beginning in the early 1990s, an active program of utilizing upland in-stream sediment basins to capture sediment began in Warren County, spearheaded by the Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District (WCSWCD). Old reservoirs were cleaned out and new in-stream sediment basins were created. By slowing stream velocity, basins allow sediment to drop out of suspension and be captured by the basin prior to reaching Lake George.