Posts Tagged ‘Adirondack Watershed Institute’

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Boat stewards report successful season and other invasives updates

The boating season may have unofficially ended Labor Day weekend, but New York State’s Watercraft Inspection Steward program continues at select locations. To date, this year’s boat stewards have inspected more than 330,000 boats, talked with hundreds of thousands of water recreationists, and intercepted more than 18,000 aquatic plant and animal hitchhikers (including one very important finding of the infamous invasive plant hydrilla!).

When you’re enjoying the water this fall, please continue to support our stewards’ good work and protect NY’s waters by remembering to clean, drain, and dry your watercraft.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 29, 2020

A salty subject

This past Tuesday, the Explorer hosted our first public event of the COVID era — a Zoom panel discussion with Dan Kelting, the head of the Adirondack Watershed Institute of Paul Smith’s College.

We focused on something Kelting has been studying for a decade and I’ve been reporting on all year: road salt and what it does to drinking water supplies in the Adirondacks.

Kelting dived into the issue years ago, first to roundup what was known about road salt pollution elsewhere and then to find out what it was doing to the Adirondacks. In sum, too much salt running off roads ends up in waterways. There, it harms humans by messing with heart and kidney function, destroys plumbing and upends ecosystems.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, August 22, 2020

Join a conversation about road salt, pollution

Join Explorer reporter Ry Rivard and Dan Kelting, head of the Adirondack Watershed Institute of Paul Smith’s College, to talk about one of the major sources of water pollution in our region: the road salt showing up in water supplies across the Adirondacks. Ry Rivard has been reporting on this issue for the Explorer. Dan Kelting has been studying road salt for years and tested hundreds of private wells. The event will take place online starting at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25. The conversation between Ry and Dan will last about 30 minutes, followed by your questions. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Boost your knowledge about aquatic invasives

The Adirondack Watershed Institute has partnered with the Adirondack Lakes Alliance to offer a series of educational and training programs to everyone interested in helping to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.
Offered through the Paul Smith’s College Training Institute, and timed to launch during the 2020 Invasive Species Awareness Week, June 7-13, the program focuses on how to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms in our lakes and rivers. Programs will be open and ongoing throughout the summer.
There are three ways to participate.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Survey finds boats bypassing I-87 inspection station

Adirondack Watershed Institute boat stewardBoat counters on the Northway for the Memorial Day weekend say that 89% of the trailered motorboats traveling north into the Adirondacks on Interstate 87 passed the inspection/decontamination station without stopping, according to the Adirondack Council.

It is illegal to transport invasive plants, fish or wildlife from one water body to another in New York.  The surest way to avoid contaminating one lake, pond or river with species from another is to have the boat inspected and cleaned by trained personnel.  New York has installed a network of inspection stations in and around the Adirondack Park.

Boat inspections and decontaminations are free, but the state hasn’t required boaters to stop at the inspection stations.  The Adirondack Council and others want better protection.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, February 24, 2020

Studies Examine Role of Boating In Invasives Spread

Adirondack Watershed Institute boat stewardPaul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) recently presented new research detailing the threat of aquatic invasive species in Adirondack lakes at the Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society meeting in Lake Placid.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Invasive Species Management Grant Program funded AWI to undertake two studies. » Continue Reading.


Monday, February 24, 2020

2020 Lake Stewardship Employment Opportunities

AWI Steward LocationsThe Adirondack Watershed Institute has announced they have 100+ positions available for summer 2020. They are hiring paid watershed stewards, decontamination technicians, and supervisors to help safeguard against aquatic invasive species and protect Adirondack waterways. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, November 3, 2019

Climate Change Impacting Adirondack Boreal Birds

Two new scientific studies recently released by Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (PSC AWI) and Shingle Shanty Preserve and Research Station (SSPRS) have detected continuing patterns of decline in boreal birds in the Adirondacks.

The authors examined avian community changes in lowland boreal habitats and the impacts that temperature and precipitation have on long-term occupancy patterns of boreal birds. Both peer-reviewed papers were recently published in the scientific journal PLoS One. The studies build on more than a decade of monitoring boreal bird populations in lowland boreal habitat. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, March 10, 2019

91% of Hamilton Co Lakes Studied Affected by Road Salt

Preparing to collect water quality data from Fawn Lake Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute and the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District have collaborated on a study detailing long term trends of the water quality in 21 Hamilton County lakes.

“The State of Hamilton County Lakes: A 25 Year Perspective 1993 – 2017” was developed to deliver a countywide assessment of the current and historical water quality status and in hopes of guiding future watershed management decisions. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, June 24, 2018

Adirondack Watershed Institute Gets $9.3M State Contract

Adirondack Watershed Institute steward conducting a watercraft inspectionThe Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) has been awarded a five-year, $9.3 million contract by New York State to implement the Adirondack Park Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program.

The contract calls for the AWI to implement a region-wide watercraft inspection and decontamination program to stop the introduction, spread, and transport of aquatic invasive species such as Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, and spiny waterflea. Through it, 58 stewards will be funded at dozens of locations across the park. Public-facing efforts are seen as key as recreational watercraft susceptible to spreading invasive species move about the park in the coming months. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, October 21, 2017

Major Grant Funds Watershed Institute’s Invasives Work

Adirondack Watershed Institute stewardThe Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute has received a $594,276 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its ongoing work in controlling and preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species.

The funds will go toward work carried out by AWI stewards at approximately 10 different locations, including Upper St. Regis Lake, the St. Lawrence River and the lower Raquette River Reservoirs. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, June 15, 2017

Adirondack Lake Program Marking 20 Years of Science

TAdirondack Lake Assessment he Adirondack Lake Assessment Program (ALAP) celebrates its 20th season this year of monitoring the water quality of dozens of lakes and ponds across the Adirondacks. ALAP is a partnership between Protect the Adirondacks and the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College.

Believing good public policy is dependent on accurate data and science, ALAP started in 1998 with three objectives: 1) to organize long-term water quality data on individual lakes and ponds in the Adirondack Park; 2) to provide long-term trend data on individual lakes and ponds for local residents, lake associations, property owners and local governments to help organize water quality protection efforts; and, 3) to assemble a profile of water quality conditions across the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Peter Bauer: In Lake George Election, The Lake Won

Photo by John Warren.The election last night in Lake George was a referendum on protecting the lake and the lake won. Last night, the team that was swept into office in 2011 on a platform of real change in town government built around protection of Lake George was handily re-elected.

Dennis Dickinson won as Supervisor and Marisa Muratori and Dan Hurley won for the Town Board. Dickinson and Muratori narrowly lost the Republican primary in September, but were elected on the Reform Party line. This is the second time that Muratori has been elected on a third party line. Hurley was elected as a Democrat. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, February 12, 2015

Cuomo Endorses A Park-Wide Invasive Species Plan

Andrew Cuomo in the AdirondacksThe Adirondack Park may become the first region in New York State to have its own, integrated program to halt the spread of aquatic invasive species.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has asked the state legislature to appropriate $1 million  to develop the  Adirondack-wide strategy.

According to Morris Peters, a spokesman for the Division of the Budget, the money for the new initiative will come from an increase in appropriations to the Environmental Protection Fund. » Continue Reading.


Monday, December 1, 2014

Cutting Road Salt On Adirondack Roads

Plow-600x382Standing next to a small, unnamed stream near where it empties into Mountain Pond on a cool September day, scientist Dan Kelting reads a sensor he just dipped in the water to measure electrical conductivity, which is used to gauge road-salt concentrations.

Pure water is a poor conductor of electricity, but road salt, or sodium chloride, increases conductivity. Based on the conductivity reading (285 microsiemens per centimeter), Kelting calculates that the water contains 80 milligrams of chloride per liter. This means the stream contains roughly 160 times more chloride than a similar size stream a few miles away.

Why the difference? The stream near Mountain Pond, north of Paul Smith’s College, is downstream from Route 30, a state highway that is heavily salted in the winter. The other stream, which Kelting refers to as Smitty Brook, runs through the Forest Preserve and is upstream of roads. » Continue Reading.



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