Category: The Environment

Construction work continues on the south parcel of the West Brook Conservation Initiative project in Lake George. Culverts and rough grading are underway on the site where Charley’s Saloon once stood. The new stormwater treatment complex and environmental park will treat millions of gallons of stormwater each year.

J. Buckley Bryan Jr., recent past president of the Lake George Association, has given a gift of $45,000 to the West Brook Conservation Initiative (WBCI) in Lake George. This gift brings Bryan’s investment in the project to $107,000, making him the second largest individual donor.

Currently under construction on the south parcel of the former Gaslight Village property, WBCI is the largest environmental project in the Lake’s history. The stormwater treatment complex and environmental park will redirect stormwater from Route 9 into settling ponds, marshlands, and a gravel wetland.

“After all our hard work it was gratifying to see physical work begin on the project this past December,” said the LGA’s Buck Bryan. “The demolition of Charley’s Saloon on the south side is complete, and now rough grading is underway,” he said.

“The inlet and outlet culverts have been installed by Kubricky Construction (working for the NYS Department of Transportation), and the land is being graded to the proper elevations for the park’s various components,” said Walt Lender, LGA executive director. “Stormwater from Route 9 will enter the first settling pond via the inlet culvert,” he said. “From there it will travel through shallow marsh wetlands where pollutants in the runoff will be naturally treated through uptake by the plants. Finally, the water will be diverted into either a deep water marsh a gravel wetland, where dense root mats, crushed stones and a microbe rich environment will improve the quality of the water before it returns to West Brook via the outlet culvert.”

Three environmental groups – the Lake George Association (LGA), the Fund for Lake George, and the Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) – have worked together to develop the project under the terms of a conservation easement they jointly hold with the village of Lake George and Warren County. Jointly, the groups need to raise an additional $1.56 million to secure ownership of the easement.

The LGLC needs to raise $2.3 million toward the purchase of the 1,436-acre Berry Pond tract, to protect West Brook’s headwaters. The final payment on principal for Berry Pond is due January 17, 2012. “This winter, snowmobilers are already enjoying the wide trails on the Berry Pond tract, that we have approved for use,” said Nancy Williams, director of the Lake George Land Conservancy.

“This project will cleanse millions of gallons of stormwater every year and provide a much needed environmental boost to Lake George, which we all know is our region’s most important environmental as well as economic asset. We salute those who have generously given back to the lake,” said Peter Bauer, executive director of the Fund for Lake George.

The NYS Department of State awarded $152,000 in grants from the Environmental Projection Fund to design the project and $1.2 million for project construction. The West Brook Conservation Initiative partners, including the LGA, the Fund for Lake George, the Lake George Land Conservancy, the village of Lake George, the NYS Department of State and the NYS Department of Transportation are members of the Lake George Watershed Coalition. Formed in 2001 under the direction of the NY Secretary of State, the coalition provides a forum for members to coordinate the complex issues affecting Lake George’s water quality. The nine municipalities and three counties around the Lake, as well as five state agencies and nine nonprofit organizations are members of the coalition.

The Lake George Park Commission released a press release this week, spotlighting the success they have had in fighting the spread of Milfoil. Here are some of the highlights:

A program to manage Eurasian Watermilfoil in Lake George, spearheaded by the Lake George Park Commission, eliminated more than 670,000 plants in 2010. 93% of the 183 sites where nuisance milfoil has ever been found in the Lake were clear of all milfoil at the conclusion of 2010.

The 2010 results are summarized in a report that has been posted to the Commission’s website www.lgpc.state.ny.us. The results indicate that the number of dense beds requiring future management has been steadily reduced in recent years. In 2010, for the first time, more bottom barriers were removed than added indicating that the program has reached a significant level of control.

The Lake George Park Commission has been the lead agency for the management effort for 25 years providing most of the funding from annual user fees paid by local boat and dock owners. Since 2006, State Senator Elizabeth Little has secured annual allocations of State funds from an invasive species program established that year. “It takes a tremendous effort to achieve a result like this,” said Senator Betty Little. “I’m pleased to have been able to play a small role in securing funding. The battle continues, but this level of success has implications beyond Lake George as other communities and organizations will no doubt look here to learn how to successfully fight invasive species that threaten water bodies throughout the state.”

Invasive species are now generally recognized as the most significant threat to the Lake. The Lake’s superior water quality, the signature characteristic for which Lake George is world renown, is in large part a function of complex biological interrelationships. Invasive species have the potential to alter these relationships, the web of life in the Lake, and thereby destroy the Lake’s most attractive qualities.

Read the press release here.

Read the entire Milfoil report here.

The English Brook delta in Lake George has grown significantly during the past decade. Seen here is an aerial picture of the delta taken by the LGA in November 2010. (Click the picture to see in full-scale.)

The Lake George Association has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to help protect the English Brook Watershed on Lake George.

The grant will partially fund the installation of a $48,400 Aqua-Swirl hydrodynamic separator on the east side of Rt. 9N at the Lochlea Estate in the town of Lake George. The system will collect previously untreated stormwater runoff from both the east and west sides of Rt. 9N, as well as the bridge between the two exits at Exit 22 on Interstate 87. The majority of the runoff in the 48-acre watershed will be captured and treated.

Other stormwater solutions requiring a larger footprint were explored but were not possible due to the shallow soil depth and high bedrock found throughout the site. The Aqua-Swirl unit has a small footprint and a suitable location was found near existing stormwater infrastructure. The project is also taking the opportunity to capture untreated stormwater runoff from the west side of the road. By installing some additional infrastructure, stormwater from both sides of the road will be directed to the new unit. The cost of the entire project is estimated at $117,000. In addition to the Lake Champlain Basin Program grant, funding for this project has been secured from the Lake George Watershed Coalition and the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation. The village of Lake George will maintain the structure and clean out the system using the LGA’s Catch Vac.

One of the eight major streams entering Lake George, English Brook has been of high concern to the Association for over a decade. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) lists the brook as sediment impaired, and its delta is one of the largest on the Lake. According to National Urban Runoff Program reports conducted during the 1980s, English Brook has high levels of total phosphorus, chlorides, total suspended sediments, lead and nitrate-nitrogen.

How does an Aqua-Swirl Hydrodynamic Separator work?

Stormwater enters an Aqua-Swirl unit through an inlet pipe, producing a circular flow that makes contaminates settle. A swirl concentrator removes the gross pollutants; a filtration chamber then removes fine sediment and waterborne pollutants. A combination of gravity and hydrodynamic forces encourages solids to drop out of the flow and migrate to the center of the chamber, where velocities will be lower. The Aqua-Swirl also retains water between storms, allowing for settling of inorganic solids when the water is not flowing.

Additional work protecting the English Brook Watershed

Significant work in the English Brook watershed has already been completed by the LGA in conjunction with Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD). In 2009, design work for a 150-foot-long sediment basin at the mouth of the brook was completed. Permits for this project have been submitted to the appropriate agencies. The basin will be about 6 feet deep with a capacity to trap over 700 cubic yards of material. Further upstream, at the Hubble Reservoir, the LGA hired Galusha Construction to remove a non-functioning sluice gate and valve that were making it difficult to maintain the site. The site was dewatered and almost 600 cubic yards of sediment were removed. The LGA acquired funding for both projects through grants from the Helen V. Froehlich Foundation and the New York State Department of State and the Environmental Protection Fund.

Once this important upland work is completed, the culminating step is to remove the sediment that has built up in the delta over the course of generations. The nutrient-rich sediment in deltas supports invasive plant growth, hampers fish spawning, and harbors nuisance waterfowl. By removing the delta, safe navigation is restored, the health of the Lake’s fisheries improves, the Lake returns to its original bottom, and property values are retained.