Tag Archive for "Adirondack Watershed Institute"

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AWI is Participating in the Regional Stream Wise Program

Paul Smiths, NY – The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute is recruiting landowners with streamside property to participate in Stream Wise, a new voluntary program that promotes and recognizes good stream stewardship.

AWI received funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to serve as a local Stream Wise host organization for the region. In this role AWI works closely with landowners in the Saranac River watershed providing free stream assessments, resources, and technical assistance for property owners to help protect and restore healthy waterways.

“Healthy rivers and streams provide habitat for fish and wildlife, support clean water, offer protection against floods, and are a source of relaxation and recreation,” said Tom Collins, AWI’s education and outreach manager and Stream Wise coordinator. “Landowners who participate in Stream Wise get access to a variety of useful practices related to stream health including planting native vegetation and pollinator species, recommendations for invasive species management, creating buffers, and more.”

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

The future of Adirondack lake monitoring

The Adirondack Watershed Institute is now managing one of the Adirondack Park’s most important long-term water quality monitoring projects.

The project, known plainly as Adirondack Long Term Monitoring, collects important chemical data from 58 Adirondack water bodies, including many remote ones, and has helped document a gradual recovery from acidification across the region.

For decades the data collection was carried out by the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation, a nonprofit established by the state in 1983 and absorbed by the Ausable River Association in January, but AWI this winter won the latest contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

A look back at this summer’s Maintain the Chain clean-up event

What started as a wholesome family tradition of cleaning up the area around their Fourth Lake camp has transpired into a widespread clean up event dubbed Maintain the Chain (MTC) that focuses efforts on the Fulton Chain of Lakes. In its inaugural year as a formal event in 2021, Maintain the Chain garnered support from the Fulton Chain of Lakes Association (FCLA), towns of Webb and Inlet, and the Sixth and Seventh Lakes Improvement Association, and partnered with the Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI). The momentum continued for the 2022 event this past summer, Aug. 5-14, dates which coincided with Adirondack Water Week and the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Stephanie Tyski Joins Adirondack Watershed Institute and Lake Champlain Sea Grant as Science Fellow

Paul Smiths, NY (October 11, 2022) – The Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College and the Lake Champlain Sea Grant welcome Stephanie Tyski as the Watershed Science Communication Fellow. Earlier this year, Lake Champlain Sea Grant awarded the AWI a two-year, competitive fellowship that provides $25,000 a year toward the hire of an early career professional.

Tyski is contributing to AWI’s communication strategy for protecting clean water and healthy watersheds. AWI will support and mentor Tyski as she implements a communication project that engages the public and fosters stewardship. Lake Champlain Sea Grant will offer learning opportunities and additional training for Tyski to enhance her efforts in the Adirondack region.

Monday, August 29, 2022

Stewards on duty

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Adirondack Watershed Institute boat stewards this summer continued their education-focused mission of protecting Adirondack lakes by preventing the spread of invasive plants.

As a new law requiring boaters certify they have cleaned their boat and that it does not contain any visible plant or animal material before launching in the park goes into effect, though, staffing remains a key challenge to both the stewards and the environmental conservation officers tasked with enforcing the new law.

Saturday, July 23, 2022

Adirondack Watershed Institute wins grants to study road salt pollution and green infrastructure improvements

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PAUL SMITHS (July 21, 2022) –Officials at Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) announced it was recently awarded two research grants from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP). The first grant will help scientists and policy makers understand the extent of road salt pollution in Lake Champlain. The second grant will support AWI scientists to assess the effectiveness of recent stormwater upgrades in Lake Placid to improve water quality in Mirror Lake.

Road salt is as a significant source of pollution in the Lake Champlain Basin, which includes 11 sub-basins drained from major tributaries in New York, Vermont, and Quebec including the Saranac, Ausable, Winooski, Missisquoi, and Lamoille Rivers. With the generous support of the LCBP, AWI scientists will compile existing data from all water bodies within the Lake Champlain Basin to determine what is driving sodium and chloride levels. As a result, scientists will have a better understanding of the extent and cause of road salt pollution in the basin, which will help inform long-term practices to reduce road salt and protect the environment.

“We look forward to working with LCBP to understand long-term changes, their causes, and the trajectory of sodium and chloride concentrations in the Lake Champlain Basin,” said Dr. Brendan Wiltse, senior research scientist for AWI and Principal Investigator for both grants. “As a result, New York and Vermont decision makers will be better informed to make management decisions that benefit the environment and the public.”

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Clean boats, clean waters

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The state’s new requirement that boaters get certified that they have cleaned their boat before launching in Adirondack waters is in full effect this summer, so how it’s going?

We will be working on an update in the coming weeks and want to hear from anyone who has seen the scene at boat launches this summer: Are people complying with rules or resisting the message of stewards working to limit the spread of invasive species?

While boat stewards from the Adirondack Watershed Institute and other programs around the park are reaching as many boaters as possible, we are hearing some concerns that law enforcement doesn’t have the resources to strictly enforce the law when stewards are not present at launch sites.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Adirondack Watershed Institute’s research lab receives state certification

The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) recently announced that the New York State Department of Health awarded it certification through the Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP).

The AWI Environmental Research Lab is a state-of-the-art laboratory specifically designed for the analysis of surface and ground water in the Adirondack region. The laboratory saw major upgrades in 2010 when Paul Smith’s College built the Countess Alicia Spaulding-Paolozzi Environmental Science and Education Center.

Monday, March 7, 2022

The next major lake survey

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A group of scientists and representatives of government agencies met this summer in Saratoga Springs with an enormous mission: outline plans for a survey of hundreds of Adirondack Lakes.

The emerging plan hopes to focus on the effects of climate change on Adirondack lakes and would build on the last major survey of Adirondack lakes in the 1980s, which focused on lake acidification and served as a scientific basis for the 1990 federal Clean Air Act amendments. » Continue Reading.

Monday, December 13, 2021

Adirondack Watershed Institute expands lake monitoring program

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The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) recently announced that it has been awarded a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to expand the Adirondack Lake Assessment Program (ALAP) and further safeguard waterbodies across the Adirondack region.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Water defenders

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Last week, I visited the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College. After talking with the institute’s staff about a litany of water-related issues the organization works on, I walked around the lakefront campus with AWI’s leaders.

The college, which unsurprisingly is well-regarded for its environmental science, forestry and hotel management programs, has less than 1,000 students, what must be some of the best views of any campus in the country and 14,000 acres of Adirondack land.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Upper Saranac Monitoring Platform reports daily from the lake

The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) has launched a new interactive website to display near real-time data on water quality and weather conditions on Upper Saranac Lake.

Sunday, August 22, 2021

Adirondack Water Week celebrates our waterways

Adirondack Water Week kicks off on Sunday, August 22 and runs through Saturday, August 28 this year. The annual event is a collaborative celebration of the region’s freshwater resources and precious watersheds. Co-hosted by the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute, Northwood School, and the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program, Water Week was created to raise awareness of value of our waterways.

“We rely on our Adirondack waterways for drinking, recreation, tourism, and basic ecosystem functions”, said Dan Kelting the executive director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute. “This annual celebration is a chance for the public to reflect on the importance of freshwater, get out and enjoy our waterways, and perhaps experience something new.”

This year’s Water Week includes a self-guided Watershed Walk around Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, a river clean-up and invasives pull in the Boquet River watershed, guided paddling tours, science talks, watershed educational programs, and much more.

“Wool and Water” is a unique project that kicks off during Water Week. It blends fiber arts with scientific data. Led by AWI’s director of science and fiber artist, Michale Glennon, the project visualizes changing water conditions through knitting and crocheting. Michale’s work will be displayed at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor’s Interpretive Center starting Monday, August 23.

In addition to scheduled programs, organizers encourage the public to simply get out and enjoy their waterways during Water Week and if so inclined to tag their social media posts with #adkwaterweek.

“Go for a paddle, sit by a lake, or take a walk in your watershed”, said Zoë Smith, AWI’s deputy director. “It’s a time to appreciate the value that water brings to our everyday lives.”

All events are open to the general public and more information can be found on the Water Week calendar at adkwatershed.org/community/events.

Mirror Lake research photo provided by Ausable River Association

Friday, May 28, 2021

Adirondack boat inspection, decontamination stations open this weekend

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Stewards are ready for another busy Adirondack boating season

Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) is offering free boat inspections and decontaminations starting on Memorial Day weekend at more than 60 boat launches and road-side locations across the Adirondack region to help the public stop the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS).

AWI staff educate boaters, anglers and other visitors about aquatic invasive species and inspect and decontaminate their boats to meet the Clean, Drain, and Dry standard required by New York State.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Seeking public input on the direction of the Upper Saranac Watershed Management Plan

The second of three public meetings for the Upper Saranac watershed management planning effort is scheduled for Thursday, May 6 from 7pm-8:30pm.

The meeting is hosted by the Upper Saranac Foundation (USF) and the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI). The groups will present preliminary goals for the watershed plan and will facilitate discussions about the recommendations and the future of the watershed. The groups administered a public survey in the summer of 2020 and held the first public meeting in February of 2021.