Researchers launch study of hundreds of Adirondack lakes

West Caroga, Garnet lakes among 10 that will receive intensive monitoring throughout  three-year period

By Zachary Matson

A consortium of scientists and other researchers are starting a three-year survey of hundreds of Adirondacks lakes and ponds, with a focus on understanding the impact of climate change.

Known as SCALE — survey of climate change and Adirondack lake ecosystems — the project received $2 million in the state budget passed earlier this month, bringing the total allocated by lawmakers to $6.5 million. 

Kevin Rose, a water scientist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and SCALE project director, said the state money should be enough to get through the three years of field work and data collection. More funds will likely be needed to complete an extensive analysis and reporting out of findings.

Intensive monitoring of 10 lakes

During a presentation on SCALE at the annual Adirondack Research Conference last week, Rose referenced the lakes that will serve as the cornerstones of the study. While as many as 300 lakes are expected to be examined as part of SCALE, 10 will receive the most intensive monitoring. Those lakes will be visited by field teams multiple times a year each of the survey’s three field seasons. Researchers will also deploy sensors on the lakes, collecting continuous temperature, oxygen and other measurements. 

Property owners near West Caroga Lake and Garnet Lake are in for a deluge of data on the water quality of their local lakes in the coming years. Here are the 10 lakes set for intensive study during SCALE: 

• Upper Ausable Lake
• Squash Pond 
• Dart Lake 
• G Lake 
• West Caroga Lake 
• Queer Lake 
• Sagamore Lake
• Little Echo Pond 
• Garnet Lake
• Arbutus Pond

Another 30 lakes will receive this intensive treatment for one year of the survey. This summer, Heart Lake, Follensby Pond, Windfall Pond, Mountain View Lake, Clear Pond and others are slated for the detailed one-year examination. 

Hundreds of lakes included in study

Hundreds of other lakes will be visited once during the three-year study. Researchers have outlined and piloted a sampling protocol that includes an extensive array of measurements on the chemistry and biology of water bodies. That data includes typical water quality measures, an approximation of species present using environmental DNA, zooplankton and phytoplankton types, food web dynamics, presence of algal blooms and cyanobacteria toxins and the status of lake acidification.

The consortium includes a team at the City University of New York that specializes in remote sensing and can use satellite data to expand the study to virtually all water bodies in the Adirondack Park. That data can be used to examine water temperature and other factors across the entire landscape, and researchers plan to use the field sampling to fine-tune models that turn the satellite data into an understanding of how Adirondack lakes are changing.  

The overall study aims to build on previous large-scale Adirondack lake surveys, as well as long-term water monitoring initiatives. The lakes selected, especially those earmarked for more intensive study, are already the subjects of extensive data records, providing future researchers a valuable resource for understanding a litany of topics. Rose said a compiled record of all historic data associated with individual lakes will be forthcoming for future research use.

A focus on the threats of a changing environment

The survey also comes as scientists reveal more about how climate change — and the region’s recovery from acidification — is affecting the health of Adirondack waterways. Scientists, for example, have documented how the combined impact of warming water and oxygen loss is squeezing suitable coldwater fish habitat. Researchers and state officials are also interested in the apparent growth of harmful algal blooms, the decline of ice cover, the role of lakes as carbon sinks and the potential mobilization of harmful compounds in warming waters.

“A new series of threats necessitates a new survey,” Rose said during his presentation. 

The field work will be managed by the Ausable Freshwater Center, which recently hired three seasonal field technicians to focus on survey work beginning this summer. With other staff at the freshwater center, a team of about seven people will conduct the field work this summer, said Phil Snyder, the SCALE project’s field manager. 

SCALE leaders are awaiting final approval by the Department of Environmental Conservation of their data management protocols. They hope to commence field work by June, expecting to visit around 75 lakes this season.

Top photo: Sagamore Lake is slated to receive intensive monitoring this summer as part of the SCALE survey. Photo by Zachary Matson