The Mossy Point Boat Launch in Ticonderoga (DEC Photo).
The Lake George Association is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $15,000 Pollution Prevention grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program for Stormwater Mitigation at Mossy Point Boat Launch on the northern end of Lake George in Ticonderoga. The project will retrofit the 3.5 acre boat launch area/ parking lot and try to capture and treat stormwater runoff that is currently entering the lake untreated using several different filtering methods including; a vegetated swale, rain gardens, infiltration beds and porous pavers. Matching funds for the project will be provided for by the LGA through the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation and by the NYSDEC.
In the summer of 2012, the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD) was asked by the Town of Ticonderoga to complete a town wide stormwater outfall assessment. Included in the assessment was the 3.5-acre Mossy Point boat launch site that is comprised of approximately 30% pavement and 70% compacted cinder stone dust. The final report identified the Mossy Point boat launch area as a priority project listing the numerous solutions to capture the flow from the site that is carrying sediments, road salt and other pollutants.
The Mossy Point Boat Launch as seen from above in Google Earth.
“We are pleased to have received funding to implement this project which includes the solutions outlined in the report as well as final design work, project oversight and the use of porous pavers,” said Randy Rath, LGA’s Project Manager. “We will work this spring and summer to survey the site, take elevations, and create the final design. Construction is tentatively scheduled for late summer/early fall. We will be working with Warren County Soil and Water and the DEC on this project moving forward, but if it wasn’t for the Town of Ticonderoga having the stormwater assessment done, we wouldn’t have been able to get this all pulled together so quickly. It is just another example that goes to show how important our partnerships really are for protecting the Lake.”
The initial concept calls for a long vegetated swale along the side of the roadway entrance to the launch that would direct runoff into a rain garden or bio-retention area. Additional rain gardens and a berm will also be used to create infiltration beds. Plantings will consist of native vegetation. The plan also includes the use of porous pavers for approximately 2000 square feet of the boat launch area. “Besides being an important stormwater mitigation project, we also hope to be able to take advantage of the public nature of the site to provide education as well, said the LGA’s outreach coordinator Emily DeBolt. “Since the project will incorporate multiple green infrastructure practices, it will be a great chance for some educational signage. This isn’t part of the grant, but we hope to be able to work on this aspect after the project is done.”