Research Webinar: Monitoring the Road Salt Reduction Pilot Program in the Lake George Drainage Basin

In this video of a 2020 research webinar, Dr. Jim Sutherland, Scientific Advisor for The Fund for Lake George, and Chris Navitsky, Lake George Waterkeeper, describe a road salt reduction monitoring program in the Lake George basin, coordination with New York State, and how to balance water quality and human safety in winter road maintenance.

This issue has risen to prominence as the “new acid rain” since chloride concentration in Lake George was found to have increased about three-fold from 1980 to 2009, due primarily to winter road de-icing applications. During the same time period, tributaries and soils in basin watersheds with roads receiving winter road salt exhibited elevated chloride concentrations, sometimes in excess of Lake George itself.

This presentation describes work conducted as part of the environmental monitoring program to evaluate the New York State Department of Transportation Road Salt Reduction Pilot Program in the Lake George drainage basin project, which is funded by Lake Champlain Sea Grant, the FUND for Lake George, and its partners.