Adirondack communities receive funding for dam repairs, water quality improvements

NYS grants invest in salt storage, green space, wastewater upgrades

By Zachary Matson

The latest round of state grants announced Monday will fund major projects across the Adirondacks, including dam repairs, salt storage sheds and upgrades to wastewater treatment facilities. 

Many of the projects support regional and watershed plans that aim to reduce nutrient runoff that ruins water quality and exacerbates harmful algal blooms or bring dams and wastewater systems closer to state standards.  

Dam projects

The town of Chester will receive $896,000 to rehab the high-hazard Loon Lake Dam, one of a handful of municipally-owned dams in the Adirondack Park in need of repair. The funding will support work to address seepage, insufficient spillway capacity and improve structural stability. 

The Upper Saranac Foundation, an association of private landowners, will see $1 million for fixes to the foundation-owned Bartlett Carry Dam. The foundation over the summer moved ahead with over $2 million in fixes to the structure, and at that time called on the state to pitch in for the project by highlighting the vast amount of state shoreline bolstered by the structure.  

“Our hope is every stakeholder steps up to the plate,” Tom Swayne, chair of the foundation, said during a visit to the dam construction site in July. State funders appear to be doing just that.

Reducing salt pollution

The grants announced Monday also include funding to support work to reduce road salt pollution, including an expanded list of eligible project types recommended by the Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force. 

The grants will fund up to $600,000 for new salt storage facilities, including in the village of Lake Placid, and the towns of Schuyler Falls, Jay, Franklin and Santa Clara. The salt storage sheds, many of which will cover long-exposed salt piles, help reduce some of the region’s most acute salt pollution.

The water quality grants, which also funded numerous salt storage sheds across the state, this year were expanded to also back equipment purchases and planning aimed at limiting municipal road salt use.

Warren County, for instance, will receive $250,000 to upgrade trucks with GPS and specialized blades to help optimize salt use. The funding will also support the county’s use of brine, which in some conditions is a more efficient use of road salt. Washington County will also see nearly $250,000 for a similar initiative. 

Wastewater treatment projects

The biggest-ticket items funded by the new grants will help upgrade wastewater treatment facilities. The village of Saranac Lake will see $9.3 million to replace critical components of its wastewater plant. Ticonderoga was granted nearly $2.4 million to improve wastewater treatment, and North Elba won $3.75 million to improve sewer mains. St. Armand will see $1 million to improve its wastewater process and another $300,000 to buy 41 acres from Paul Smith’s College that holds the town’s public water supply wells. 

Other projects

Other Adirondack projects that will see new state funding include:, 

• Warren County, $99,253, to pilot a municipal composting facility.
• Town of Bolton, $50,000, to study dredging options where Finkle Brook drains to Lake George.
• Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District, $141,200, to support a countywide erosion control project to stabilize around 15 acres of road ditches.
• Warren County, $231,300, to repair the roof and siding of the historic North Creek Rail Station Freight House in Johnsburg.  
• Town of Corinth, $556,117, to develop a park on State Route 9N, just inside the Adirondack blue line, that will include trails, green space, picnic tables, parking and outdoor lighting. 
• Town of Moriah, $50,000, for an engineering design to mitigate shoreline erosion on Bulwagga Bay. 
• Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District, $148,970, to stabilize around 20 acres of eroding roadside ditches.
• Trout Unlimited, $556,310, to replace six culverts in the town of Arietta to connect eight miles of fish habitat in the South Branch Moose River watershed.
• Town of Harrietstown, $675,000, to restore the Harrietstown Town Hall. 
• Village of Saranac Lake, $526,312, for restoration at the Paul Smith’s Electric Light and Power complex on Main Street. 
• Sagamore Institute of the Adirondacks, $237,451, to repair the Great Camp Sagamore playhouse, which is used for community events and tours.