Editor’s Notes: Lake George in Decline? It’s Relative
By Anthony F. Hall
Sunday, May 27, 2012
The Adirondack Explorer magazine has a well-researched and reported article in its current issue about the politics of the Lake George Park Commission. Unfortunately, the title given to the piece – Decline of Lake George – was predictable, and predictably misleading.
We’ll wait for the release later this summer of a study by the Darrin Fresh Water Institute and The Fund for Lake George analyzing trends in water quality over the past thirty years before making such glib pronouncements ourselves. “Without that kind of information we are subject to supposition, accusation and hearsay,” says Dr. Charles Boylen of DFWI, who has directed the studies. What the studies will probably show, says Peter Bauer, the executive director of The Fund for Lake George, is that “While Lake George continues to have some of the highest water quality in New York and in the eastern US, large parts of the lake have shown trends of changing, most notably at the south end.” No doubt. But not all downward trends are irreversible. If that were the case, state and local governments, conservation organizations and private individuals would not have committed millions of dollars to restoring the wetlands at the mouth of West Brook. When completed, the project is expected to treat most of the urban runoff polluting the south basin.
The development that the article faults for “large deltas and algal blooms” took place over the course of a century, not over night, and remediation will not take place over night. (And by the way, are we the only ones who never saw “the entire southern basin of the lake blanketed in algae (that was) prevalent all over the lake,” as a source for the article claimed?) We are in complete agreement that poorly regulated development is the greatest threat to Lake George’s water quality. (Northern Lake George, where development is limited, was declared the clearest water body in New York State last summer by the New York State Federation of Lakes.) Lake George, however, is in a better position than any other lake in New York State to meet those threats. That’s not only due to the authority of the Lake George Park Commission, whose penchant for moderate rather than radical progress may be due to a lack of resources, and not to a lack of political will, as its critics claim. It’s also due to the commitment to the protection of Lake George shared by local governments, businesses and not-for-profit organizations – a coalition whose like is not seen anywhere else in the Adirondack Park. Lake George, like every oligotrophic lake, will ultimately decline and morph into a eutrophic lake. But thanks to actions taken today, it will not happen in our lifetimes or for generations to come. Compared with other lakes, the decline of Lake George is relative indeed.
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My parents built the Swamp Marina later renamed East Shores Harbor by them in the 1960s. I have spent a life time in very very large scale construction projects. I worked for many years on Pilot Knob, Diamond Point, Assembly Point , Cleverdale and Rockhurst. I worked for many of the Contractors that built the septic systems and leach fields all around Lake George. Many of which are just a few yards from the waters edge ESPECIALLY at the High Density Camps that we all know exist. I travelled to LG a couple summers ago and saw the Circus in Lake George Village and then travelled to the East Side immediately after the Floods and Hurricane Rains in the Summer of 2010. Frankly the Smell of Raw Sewage was permeating the air all over Assembly Point and Cleverdale and Pilot Knob. Sorry East Siders but when the ground is saturated all that cesspool waste is well going in the lake. Add to that all the Boating activity and you have a Lake George that may look clear BUT those algae blooms are coming from the ADJUVIATE Wastes (Fertilizers) and the Nitrate Affluents leaching to the lake from 1000s of septic tanks and leech fields. The Reality IS …. Lake George Water has been severely impacted by Human Wastes. As I walked the Streets of the Old Village I wondered what had happened to My Town. All the Native Americans are Gone and in their stead A Circus of Arcades and Junk Shops have taken over. The Gaslight was a Ghost Town and LG Village seemed to be trapped in a Nightmare of Sorts. I even caught wind of a SWINGERS FEST at the BAR ROOM (John Barleycorns) right next to the High School where Woman were invited MARRIED WOMAN but not their Husbands A SEX FEST I suppose it was Sickening. It seems that Lake George has become a place where all Morality is relative and the Harely Davidson Motorcyle has become king and Lake George has taken on a Las Vegas SARATOGA off Track Betting Atmosphere and the whole place smells of sewage when it rains to much. I was pleased with the Sheppards Park and the Mini Golf by the Pink Roof Soft Serve on the Beach Road though. My that Mini Golf’s Trees have grown It is Beautiful. OK well here’s my suggestion …. Build a Living History Museum upon the Gaslight Grounds and RETURN a New Gaslight to the Village and See if the Native Americans would help run the Evil Spirits from the Booze Soaked Town. Lake George Has Become a place were the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR is replacing God and Family and Country and well the Truth Is …. The Waters out in front of all those camps are LOADED with what leeches from the Shore into The Lake. I did find Solace I must admit near Dunham’s Bay at the Mountainside Free Library … there at least a Hint of the Grand Old Days of Lake George Remains … the key was still in the front door and my childhood memories were still alive. It was great to see Doug and Dorothy Frost at the Tom Tom Shop and yes of course Visiting Mr Dunklee at his home was so cool because he remembered me from the Old High School … God Bless Curely Allen, Ron Cole and that Warrior Spirit … But Please God … restore my Home Town to it’s Charm please God Resurrect the Gaslight Village. Yeah I know I have certainly stirred up some (YOU KNOW) Son Of The Swamp Fox …. Judson Witham