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By now you've probably heard about the Halloween storm. It was one for the records, creating major road, tree, and flooding damage. Overnight the eastern Adirondacks got somewhere between 4 and 6 inches of rain, and predictably, Paradox lake's level rose quickly, by some accounts as much as 6 feet! Residents lost power for long periods of time, many roads were washed out or flooded, leaving people stranded and unable to get out. Floating docks that were still in the water floated off and kayaks, chairs, and lots of debris were swept into the water. The water level has dropped at this point but it's still high for this time of year. In the upper lake, the inlet bay has large areas of ice but water continues to flow in strongly at the inlet. Other bays are also getting covered with ice. In the lower lake, the ice is not as widespread but definitely starting. The Schroon River at the route 74 bridge has large sheets of floating ice. While we're quite familiar with seasonal water level fluctuations at Paradox lake, when storms create rapid increases, the lake and surrounding streams suffer considerable damage. Shorelines are destabilized, erosion increases and lakefront property gets damaged. High winds doubtless magnified the impact in this storm. Stormwater runoff from intense rainstorms floods the lake with topsoil, pollutants, pesticides, fertilizers, road salt, and even sewage. Raging waters devastate the banks of tributaries, propelling silt and soils into the lake. This process, called "sedimentation," has many adverse effects on the lake and its fishery. There's little we can do when storms like this one hit, but we can help reduce the damage by making sure septic systems are up to date and cleaned out, limiting the use of road salt and fertilizers, and keeping shorelines free of debris, particularly after the summer has ended.
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