Posts Tagged ‘Mirror Lake’

Monday, October 31, 2022

New signs installed around Mirror Lake describe ecosystem, challenges, & protection efforts

WILMINGTON, NY — Pedestrians along popular lakeside routes in the Village of Lake Placid will find four new interpretive signs describing the Mirror Lake ecosystem, challenges to it, and protection efforts underway. The Ausable River Association (AsRA), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute partnered to design and produce the four educational signs.

The colorful and accessible signs provide information on the aquatic food web, the watershed, road salt impacts, and monitoring efforts on Mirror Lake. Jon Stetler of RPI developed the idea for the signs working with AsRA’s staff. They were designed by Andre Guilbo and produced with funds from the National Science Foundation through RPI and from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and NEIWPCC through AsRA.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, September 8, 2022

Report: No spring turnover on Mirror Lake

mirror lake

Chloride concentrations in Mirror Lake – one of the region’s most developed lakes – declined slightly last year, but the lake again failed to complete a turnover in spring 2021, according to an annual report from the Ausable River Association.

The report, released earlier this month, attributed the chloride decline to a mild winter season, improvements to the Village of Lake Placid’s stormwater runoff system and a new program to reduce private and public road salt use around the lake.

Mirror Lake is one of the lakes most impacted by salt pollution in the Adirondack Park and has been the focus of the Ausable River Association and local officials seeking to limit salt contamination. Still, researchers measured chloride concentration of 52 mg/L, much higher than chloride levels found in lakes unimpacted by salt runoff.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, January 3, 2022

Ausable River Association Announces Salt Survey for Lake Placid

mirror lake

WILMINGTON — The Ausable River Association (AsRA) will distribute a salt use survey this winter to residents, businesses, and independent contractors in Lake Placid. Developed with our partners at the Adirondack Watershed Institute, the survey is essential to determining the amount of salt entering Mirror Lake and the Chubb River. Funded by the Lake Champlain Basin Program through a multi-year technical grant, it’s another piece of our ongoing science-based effort to find a solution to road salt contamination in these waterways.

The salt survey is specific to residents and business in the Chubb River watershed. The watershed encompasses the area surrounding Lake Placid and includes the Village of Lake Placid. Completing the survey will take approximately 5-20 minutes, depending on the size of the area that you care for in your winter maintenance.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, March 26, 2021

When will Mirror Lake’s ice go out? Your best guess welcome

mirror lakeIce out time is approaching! Pick the correct ice-out date on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid and you’ll be entered to win some Explorer swag. To enter, go to this post on the Explorer’s website and place your best guess in the comments before April 3. We’ll be picking three winners after the big melt. Ice out on Mirror Lake is documented by the Ausable River Association, and we’ll be using its data for the official ice-out date. You can review the Mirror Lake ice record, which goes back to 1903, on the organization’s website. Mirror Lake sediment core sampling, photo by Brendan Wiltse

Friday, November 13, 2020

Harmful algal blooms found on Lake George, Mirror Lake

In an unfortunate coincidence that may be no coincidence at all given the warm temperatures, two of the region’s famed lakes have been partly covered by harmful algal blooms in the past several days.

The first is Lake George, which hadn’t had a confirmed algal bloom on its surface.

The second is Mirror Lake, the lake at the center of the Village of Lake Placid. This algal bloom could also be a first for that lake.

I’ve been writing about the potential for harmful algal blooms to strike Adirondack lakes over the past year, starting with a look at the worst case scenario, which is what years of runoff have done to Lake Champlain. That story include a quick primer on what we’re talking about:

» Continue Reading.


Monday, June 24, 2019

AsRA Gets $175k Grant For Road Salt Pollution

Mirror Lake Scientist provided by AsRAThis month, the Ausable River Association (AsRA) was awarded a $175,000 grant by the Lake Champlain Basin Program to advance effective, science-based approaches to reducing road salt impacts to Mirror Lake. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, April 14, 2019

2018 Mirror Lake Monitoring Report Released

Mirror Lake Report The Ausable River Association (AsRA) and Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) have released the 2018 Water Quality Report for Mirror Lake. The report shows that Mirror Lake continues to be negatively affected by road salt and that lack of mixing in the spring, first documented in 2017, remains a problem. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 8, 2019

Lake Placid Boat Launch Closure Planned

DEC logoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is closing the Lake Placid Boat Launch Site on Mirror Lake Drive on April 8, 2019, to replace the deteriorating bulkhead. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, January 24, 2019

CanAm Pond Hockey Weekend in Lake Placid

The recent cold snap made plenty of ice around the Adirondacks and there is no better place to lace up the skates than at the annual CanAm Pond Hockey tournament in Lake Placid, with its more than 20 rinks cleared across Mirror Lake.

A pond hockey game brings back the simplicity of the winter sport and no better place resonates with fans of the game like the hometown of the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The CanAm Hockey Tournament celebrates the spirit of hockey this weekend January 25-27, 2019 with age divisions as well as women’s open and co-ed open divisions.

This annual pond hockey tournament is only open to adults, but spectators of all ages can have fun watching the games. With the addition of a plowed skating loop, spectators can walk or skate around the rinks to see the action up close and personal.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, May 28, 2018

Mirror Lake Benefit Set for Thursday

mirror lakeThe Ausable River Association (AsRA) is set to host a benefit for Mirror Lake on Thursday, May 31st at The Breakfast Club in Lake Placid. Entry is $30 per person and includes two cocktails and appetizers. All net proceeds go to support the work AsRA is doing to protect Mirror Lake. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, March 31, 2018

Mirror Lake Water Quality Report Released

Mirror LakeThe Ausable River Association (AsRA) and Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) have released the 2017 Water Quality Report for Mirror Lake.

The lake serves as a focal point for the Village of Lake Placid. For the past three years, AsRA and AWI have been studying the water quality of  Mirror Lake with a goal to provide science data for decision making. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, November 26, 2017

Research: Road Salt Interrupts Turnover of Mirror Lake

road salt on mirror lake

Research and monitoring work on Mirror Lake over the past two and half years by the Ausable River Association has yielded some alarming results.

Association Science and Stewardship Director, Dr. Brendan Wiltse, recently presented his research work at the Mirror Lake Water Quality Workshop. Here are a few key findings he presented: » Continue Reading.


Thursday, October 26, 2017

Mirror Lake Water Quality Workshop November 2nd

mirror lake water quality workshopThe Ausable River Association will hold a workshop on Thursday, November 2nd from 1 to 4:30 pm at the Crowne Plaza in Lake Placid to discuss issues related to the protection of Mirror Lake.

Mirror Lake is the jewel of the Village of Lake Placid and serves as a hub for many recreational activities in the Village and the Town of North Elba. For the past three years, AsRA, in partnership with the Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI), has been studying the water quality of Mirror Lake. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Mirror Lake Water Quality Report Issued

mirror lakeThe Ausable River Association (AsRA) in partnership with Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) have released the Mirror Lake 2016 Water Quality Report. Over the last two years AsRA has worked with AWI to collect baseline information on the lake. They compiled this information, along with historical water quality data dating back to 1971.

Mirror Lake has been enrolled in a variety of water quality monitoring programs over the past 45 years. These range from citizen volunteer water quality monitoring programs to studies conducted by a variety of contractors and researchers. The purpose of this report is to summarize all the available water quality data on Mirror Lake to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the lake. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, March 9, 2017

Research On Native Adirondack Fish Species Continues

Two years ago a research team from Paul Smith’s College published a paper about the possibility that yellow perch could be native to the Adirondacks, after finding its DNA in sediment from Lower St. Regis Lake that dates back more than 2,000 years ago.

Now similar sediment core sampling is being done on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid. In late February Paul Smith’s College students under the tutelage of Paul Smith’s College Professor Curt Stager – who led the original study – teamed up with Ausable River Association Science and Stewardship Director Brendan Wiltse to take sediment samples that will be analyzed for the presence of three fish species: yellow perch, rainbow trout, and lake trout. The group also plans to extract additional samples in the future. The DNA testing will be done by the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College. » Continue Reading.



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