Save the Date

Please mark your calendars for the 2020 State of the Lake Meeting on Thursday, May 21st at 7 pm. The meeting will be held virtually. Details to follow.

Spring is still Springing!

And we are eagerly awaiting warmer days and nights and summer fun. But in the meantime, nights are still often below freezing, days are warming up into the 40s and 50s, March and April winds have been strong  leading to lots of debris from fallen branches and trees. Ice-out was just around a week into April, at least one loon pair has returned, and other migratory birds are spotted almost daily. Spring peepers have started their serenading on the warmer nights, so summer is definitely on its way!

We still don’t know what effect the COVID-19 crisis will have on our area this summer. The impact in terms of number of cases is not as severe yet as was expected, but restrictions are still in place. Governor Cuomo initially closed down all state owned and private marinas and launches, but has now rescinded that order, so the Paradox boat launch is open.

Facebook Group As Our New Member Forum

A while ago, we mentioned we were looking for a new forum for communication among PLA members and neighbors. We were looking at Google Groups, but it turned out that that wasn’t working well with non-Google email addresses. In an effort to consolidate membership information and be as accessible as possible to the most people, we landed on Facebook Groups. We established a private group, Paradox Lake Association, and invite you all to join. In order to avoid spamming and scamming, we are keeping it private, meaning that you need to ask and be approved in order to join. Once your membership is approved, you will be able to post to the Group and select how you want to relate to the Group. You can choose to be notified when anyone posts to the group, or just when your friends post, or only receive important updates. You can also invite your Paradox friends and neighbors to join if they haven’t already joined. 

We ask that you feel free to use this group to share photos of the lake and wildlife, ask for recommendations, get help in retrieving lost objects, post Lake-relevant news, and invite members to upcoming events, etc. We only ask that you don’t advertise businesses, though you can recommend them, and that you stay away from political and religious discussions, and of course no bullying, shaming, or intolerance.

Please request to be a member by searching for Paradox Lake Association Group on Facebook and selecting “Join Group.”

Water Quality, Part 2

Last month, we talked about the excellent quality of Paradox Lake water, and about some of the factors that affect that quality. This month, we’d like to tell you a bit about what the Paradox Lake Association (PLA) does to maintain and manage the lake. 

The biggest effort involved in doing this is the removal of invasive aquatic plants, and in this effort, we hire an outside firm, Aqualogic, to map out the lake to find the plants, and then to remove them by hand harvesting and feeding them into a large underwater vacuum cleaner. This year we have contracted Aqualogic for 15 harvesting days and 1 mapping day. We have the ability to request another 5 days of harvesting if we need them, and if we raise enough money to pay for them. The current cost of our contract is roughly $15,000.  Additional days cost $900 each for 2 divers and someone on the boat.

Volunteers organized by the PLA help with both the mapping and hand harvesting operations and with providing surface support for the divers. This increases the efficiency of Aqualogics’ efforts, and helps control the cost to the PLA. 

Lake stewards monitor boats entering and leaving the Lake for any invasive plants that might be hanging on them, and educate boaters about aquatic invasives. In the past, we have staffed these positions with stewards provided by Paul Smith’s College, through the Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) and paid additional stewards to maximize coverage. Last year this program cost roughly $9,000. Based on a historical review of the activity at the boat launch there is in opportunity to reduce the hours of coverage this year during periods of low activity and ultimately reduce the cost of running this program.

Boat washing stations are becoming more prevalent in the Adirondacks, and for the last 2 summers we’ve had one on Route 74 between the Northway and the lake. The PLA and Schroon Lake Association (SLA) collectively manage and fund the station including paying for attendants and putting the station up in the spring and taking it down in the fall.

Testing water quality in the lake is another initiative that the PLA participates in. Volunteers collect water samples from each basin five times per summer and send them to Paul Smith's College for chemical analysis. This data is collected and analyzed for about 200 lakes and made available to the public. This helps local organizations determine which areas need to be addressed and provides a wealth of trend information. Find out more on this topic at https://adirondacklakeassessmentprogram.org/.

If you are interested in volunteering in any of our water quality initiatives, please visit the Paradox Lake Association website or click below.

Introducing Our Board Member, Dan Gorke

May Is Membership Month

In order to continue to support these efforts, we need to increase support for the PLA, through membership dues and donations, as well as volunteerism. Annual dues do not nearly cover the cost of the invasives removal, not to mention the boat washing station. We are concerned that COVID-19 may limit our ability to hold fund raising events and may of course, limit our members’ ability to donate as they might otherwise.  Therefore, we ask that you consider increasing your donation this year if you are able.  To renew your membership and/or donate now, click here.