Monday, January 9, 2023

Water issues I’ll be watching in 2023

West Canada Lake Wilderness in October. Photo by Zachary Matson

With the new year upon us here are a few of the big things I’ll be keeping an eye on this year.

Let me know what you will be watching for this year or any suggestions/tips for peeling back the layers on these perennial issues. I can check back on progress on this list in December.

PS: One 2023 resolution I have: Go fishing!

Photo at top: West Canada Lake Wilderness in October. Photo by Zachary Matson

This first appeared in Zach’s weekly “Adirondack Report” newsletter. Click here to sign up.

 

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Zachary Matson has been an environmental reporter for the Explorer since October 2021. He is focused on the many issues impacting water and the people, plants and wildlife that rely on it in the Adirondack Park. Zach worked at daily newspapers in Missouri, Arizona and New York for nearly a decade, most recently working as the education reporter for six years at the Daily Gazette in Schenectady.


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5 Responses

  1. Ginger Kuenzel says:

    I agree with your ‘watch’ list. I think a couple other topics to watch are the rollout of mandatory septic inspections in the Lake George basin. This could be a model for other Adirondack lakes.
    Another topic is the use of the chemical ProcellaCOR at test sites in Lake George. As you know, the LGPC was blocked last year by the court from putting this into Lake George. It’s pretty certain that the Park Commission will apply for a new permit in 2023. I’d love to see some investigation into how ProcellaCOR is working in lakes where it was applied three years ago or more since ProcellaCOR is guaranteed as working for three years/seasons. See https://sepro.com/aquatics/procellacor-ec-landing-page. Since ProcellaCOR was only approved by the EPA in 2017/2018 and in NY State in 2019, now would be the time to seek data on milfoil growth after three years.
    It is also concerning that the manufacturer indicates the plants could become resistant to the chemical. The product label states: “Weed populations may contain or develop biotypes that are resistant to ProcellaCOR EC and other Group 4 herbicides. If herbicides with the same mode of action are used repeatedly at the same site, resistant biotypes may eventually dominate the weed population and may not be controlled by these products.” See p 1 at See p. 1 of product label at https://sepro.com/Documents/ProcellaCOR_EC–Label.pdf.
    I should note that a petition launched in the spring of 2022 asking the LGPC to hold off on using ProcellaCOR in Lake George now has 4,565 signatures.

  2. Gary N Lee says:

    Was the photo from the bridge outlet of South Lake.

    • Zach Matson says:

      I can’t remember exactly, but I think it was from that part of the loop. Some very wet trail sections in that area, including one that had me venting to the dog for the next mile

  3. Ray Letterman says:

    A good reference is Cyanobacterial blooms by Huisman, J. et al in Nature Reviews Microbiology, Vol 16, August 2018, pp. 471-483. “This Review presents
    a concise assessment of available evidence for the global expansion of blooms, the traits and mechanisms underlying bloom formation, the toxins produced by
    cyanobacteria, their interactions with other species, the presumed environmental drivers of bloom development and possible measures to prevent and control cyanobacterial blooms.”
    RDL

  4. One additional issue that is percolating (in which I’m involved) is determining the extent of PFAS contamination in surface and drinking water. These ‘forever chemicals’ were added to the State’s list of toxins in ‘21. DEC is already six months late in issuing surface water limits (as mandated by law).
    We know that fire fighting foam (AFF) use has contaminated land and water around the Lake Clear airport in Harrietstown, the Salmon River near Plattsburgh’s former AFB, and Camp Drum.
    We also know that DEC and DOH have caused significant additional testing, but they continue to remain opaque about the results. For example, New York is one a very few blue states that does not share test data with the EPA, so most NY data is not included in the national PFAS database, at ECHO.epa.gov
    If you want to be involved in testing for PFAS of surface or drinking water in the St. Regis, Salmon, Chateaugay, or Saranac river watersheds, please contact me.

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