The Albany Times Union
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Loving Lake George to death

Despite conservation efforts, tourism and development prematurely aging the natural beauty

September 6, 2000

Richard Swire has been coming to Lake George for more than 60 years. He likes it so much that now he spends the whole year surrounded by it.

He and his wife say they are the only year-round residents on a Lake George island, specifically Three Brother Island, a small archipelago a few hundred yards off Bolton Landing. On a recent afternoon, in a house built by the Trask couple (of Yaddo fame), the 70-year-old Swire sat on a porch overlooking the lake and reeled off the many ways the Queen of the Adirondacks could be ruined forever.

Road salt and sand runoff. Eurasian watermilfoil and zebra mussels. Too many boats. Overdevelopment. Faulty septic tanks. He takes a visitor to the side of his house, where deep green algae is visible on the shallow underwater rocks, algae that wasn't there two decades ago, algae that could forever taint the clear cold waters of the Adirondacks' most visited lake.

"Of course I'm worried,'' he said as waves from passing motorboats slapped against the side of his 100-year-old house. "We want to keep it blue.''

From the deck of Swire's porch, Lake George looks as pristine as ever (the constant buzz of passing watercraft notwithstanding). Its waters are relatively clear, and an estimated half of the lakeshore residents still drink it without treating it by pumping it into their homes. The lush hillsides that rise above both sides of the long lake are almost entirely devoid of houses, and only 5 percent of the lake's watershed is developed. Nearly half a dozen mountains provide opportunities for a full wilderness experience in full view of the water, and more than 100 state-owned islands provide quiet camping for boaters.

But the future of Lake George is not as clear as its waters. And divers will tell you that those waters have gotten considerably murkier in the past few decades.

"There's been a decline in water quality,'' said Dr. Carol D. Collins, a lake expert and trustee for the Lake George Fund, a group that gives out grants to study or improve lake ecology.

"I think the lake is still healthy,'' she said. "(But) the will to protect and preserve it needs to intensify.''

Lake George is as clear as it is because of its geology. Carved by glaciers, it's a deep body of water that has no large streams emptying into it. It also has a steep and relatively limited watershed and is fed by a number of underground springs. And it's large -- 32 miles long, as much as 200 feet deep -- and completely recharges every eight years, as old water is flushed out and replaced by fresh water from rain and underwater springs.

Like all lakes, George is aging: algae is increasing, silt is building up, weeds are starting to clog the waters. All lakes age at different rates, but experts say human impact could cause Lake George, one of only a few lakes in the state to have the top "AA Quality'' rating for water purity, to age faster than nature intended.

The lake's risks come from the people who love it most. According to the Warren County Tourism Department, 3.2 million visitors came in 1998 to their side of the lake, which includes the village and town of Lake George and Bolton Landing. They stayed for an average of four days. In 1999, there were 11,061 boats registered for seasonal stays at the Lake George Park Commission, and another 5,994 that were registered for shorter visits. In 1993, there were 9,002 seasonal boats and 4,718 temporary boats.

Meanwhile, land on the lake shore has grown so popular that anyone hoping to buy a parcel for $150,000 is practically laughed out of the realty office. In places like Assembly Point, no less than two mansion-size homes are being built. One waterside home, covered in expensive cut granite, is a 10,000-square-foot addition to a 5,000-square-foot home. The house, under construction for two years, is currently assessed at $2.5 million.

"I've been doing this since 1978,'' said Realtor Sharon Davies, "and this is the best (market) we've ever seen.''

On the southern end of the lake, Realtors say there's almost no more vacant space left to build. On the northern end, locals worry about second homes moving in.

The Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks recently examined building permits in all towns on the lake and determined that 1,130 new structures had gone up in the watershed in the last 10 years.

"The hunger up and down the East Coast for a piece of Lake George is tremendous,'' said Executive Director Peter Bauer. "The question is where the next 1,130 buildings are going to go.''

Sandy Rist, who owns a local construction company, said he'll be happy to build a house for you, if you don't mind waiting a year for him to finish all the jobs he's got under way.

"As a builder, I probably shouldn't say there's too much building on Lake George. But it's the truth,'' he said. "Whether that's alarming or not, I don't know. It's still a beautiful lake.''

Increased development means more pavement, meaning more runoff of storm water and less absorption of road salt and other contaminants into the soil. Thousands of tons of road salt get dumped by road crews in the Lake George Basin, most of which is later washed into the lake.

Less absorption of storm water means more erosion in streambeds. Sediment-filled streams around the lake have created more than a half-dozen large deltas that extend out into the lake, cutting off some property owners from their boats because the water is too shallow.

Human waste is also a threat. While new homes are required to include the installation of modern septic systems, there are enough older and dysfunctional systems out there for waste to leach, or dissolve, into the lake, which provides nutrients for the algae that is slowly tainting the lake's water.

Humans -- those with boats -- are also blamed for introducing the lake's two worst enemies into the waters: Eurasian watermilfoil and zebra mussels. Experts assume they arrived by hitchhiking on board a boat that was dropped in Lake George shortly after being in a contaminated lake.

The dreaded milfoil began to appear more than 15 years ago. A thick freshwater weed that grows in shallow areas and loves to tangle both boat and swimmer, it has now been spotted in more than 140 spots up and down the lake. Volunteers have been hand-harvesting the weed or trying to kill it by covering it with plastic sheets held down by rocks and iron bars.

Then there's the zebra mussel, a prodigious mollusk that can clog water intake pipes and ruin beaches when its smelly body and sharp shell washes ashore. It was originally believed that Lake George waters did not contain enough calcium for the mussel to survive. But on Dec. 18, divers found six of them. Over the next few months, 19,138 zebra mussels were removed from nearby waters.

Scientists later determined the water here was rich in calcium, probably due to road salts and other particles found in storm water runoff. A few other high-calcium sites have also been found around the lake, although the zebra mussel danger seems contained for now.

Despite all these risks, a lot is being done to keep the lake pure.

For starters, a yearslong lawsuit filed by a local taxpayers' group that blocked a sewer project was dismissed not long ago. This paves the way for Warren County to build a new sewer system in Hague and to expand existing systems in Lake George Village and Bolton Landing. Another, proposed in Queensbury, is still in the courts. A sewer system means less reliance on septic tanks, which means less runoff of leaching nutrients into the water.

In addition, the Lake George Park Commission now requires all new homes be built to prevent runoff from escaping the property. Techniques include contouring the land to force water to pool on the lawn instead of pouring downhill or, if necessary, installing a dry well to collect the runoff.

Those who wish to install a longer dock also face an uphill battle to prove that it's necessary. And a LGPC committee is currently working on a new master plan for the lake, expected to be complete by the end of the year.

At the same time, the Lake George Basin Land Conservancy has been slowly purchasing land to prevent its development. They recently purchased, for $650,000, a 223-acre parcel on Pilot Knob mountain at the southeast side of the lake.

But at the same time, other development projects are proposed for both shore and hill, assuring that land will continue to be developed.

"Everybody just wants their little piece,'' said Lyn LaMontagne, program director of the Land Conservancy. "But if everybody gets their little piece, a part of the lake is gone.''