Paradox Lake Association

Spring Greetings From Paradox!

We hope this letter finds you and your family well and adjusting to our new socially distant lifestyle!  Even here at the lake, most of us are staying home, shopping only when necessary, and enjoying the outdoors, especially when the weather cooperates.

As of the end of March, the lake is still mostly covered with ice, but the inlet and outlets are running high, and there are small signs of spring here and there.  The geese are not shy about announcing their arrival.  Tiny bits of green are starting to appear, but there is still snow in shady areas.
 

Meet A Board Member

This month, we’d like to introduce Nancy Girling, who is serving her second term on the Paradox Lake Association Board.  She serves on the Invasives Committee, the Membership Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee.  Nancy enjoys working with the other dedicated volunteers to preserve and protect Paradox Lake. Her career for the last 35 years has been in Information Technology and Academia.  She is a native of the capital district and Paradox has been her second home since she was born.  Her family owned and operated Maxwell’s Cottages for many years.  She and her husband Michael have a home on the Upper Lake in Legoys bay and reside in Pearl River New York.  They have two daughters and a son and a new born grandson!   Nancy enjoys gardening, boating, hiking and spending time with family.
 

Water Quality Update

In the Schroon Lake Watershed Management Plan Addendum published in August of 2019, Paradox Lake is classified by NY Dept of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as a AA(T) water body.  This means that it is a suitable source of drinking water – the AA part – and can support trout populations and trout spawning – the (T) part.  This means it is also safe for swimming and other recreational activities.  Our water is assessed annually by the DEC Dept of Water (DOW), using data gathered from a variety of sources, at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as public input.

The DEC has also issued their 2020 Trout Stocking report, which lays out the anticipated number of yearling and older trout to be stocked in different water bodies.  Paradox Lake is expected to receive 3980 Rainbow Trout, 8.5-9.5 inches, sometime in the spring. 

That doesn’t mean all is well, but that keeping it that way requires some vigilance and work.  Potential sources of pollution are road salt, aging or defective septic systems, use of chemicals in gardens near the lake, and motorized watercraft. Other dangers to the lake include invasive species of aquatic and lakeside plants.  By definition, invasive species are not native to the area and have no or few known dangers to their survival.  The most prevalent one in Paradox Lake is Eurasian milfoil, which we’ve been dealing with for over a decade.  A dedicated group of volunteers, currently led by Nancy Girling, have been spotting, marking (with those ubiquitous orange bottles), and pulling out these plants and are always happy to have new volunteers join them.  In the last few years the Paradox Lake Association (PLA) has hired Aqualogics, a company that uses a large underwater type of vacuum cleaner to suck up the plants uprooted by the divers that work with it.  The PLA is planning to use their services again this summer.  The expectation is that we may never eradicate the plant, but that we keep it under control so that it doesn’t take over larger areas of the lake, as has happened in other lakes.

So if you see the orange bottles out this summer, give them wide berth, and if you see the diving boat (with the red and white flag) on the water, steer clear!
 

Our best to you and your families during these challenging times.

Your PLA Board

Editor: Micki Kuttler