When the Darrin Fresh Water Institute’s “The State of the Lake: Thirty Years of Water Quality Monitoring on Lake George, New York, 1980-2009” was released in 2014, three threats to long-term health of Lake George were identified: road salt, invasive species and non-point source nutrient pollution.
At the Lake George Association’s 2025 Lake Summit, held May 15 at the Courtyard Marriott in Lake George Village, Dr. Brendan Wiltse, executive director of the LGA, and Dr. Kevin Rose, director of the Jefferson Project, added two more threats to the list: harmful algal blooms and, for the first time, at least formally, climate change.
Since 1980, the year researchers at Darrin Freshwater Institute began their thirty-year study of changes in the lake’s chemistry, surface temperatures have increased by more than three degrees farenheit, said Rose, an RPI professor and acting director of the Darrin Freshwater Institute.
“Climate change has become very politicized, but our long-term data show that Lake George is changing,” said Rose. “Rising temperatures lengthen the growing season for invasive species. Less ice means more light for algae. Big storm pulses flush a disproportionate amount of nutrients into the lake and increase the likelihood of harmful algal blooms.”
“Climate change is the threat multiplier,” said Brendan Wiltse, who became the LGA’s new director in January, 2025.
Among other things, “the changing winters make reducing the use of road salt more challenging,” said Wiltsie.
According to Kevin Rose, hot, dry summers may increase the salinity of Lake George, presumably because under those conditions, surface water evaporates more quickly, leaving behind a residue of concentrated salt in the tributaries and in the lake itself.
As of now, however, climate change is actually slowing the accretion of salt in the lake, Rose told the audience at the well-attended, mid-week event.
“Because it’s getting wetter in the northeast and because we have more water, the salt is being diluted. So the concentrations of salt are actually declining,” said Rose.
With more intense storms washing more nutrients, more frequently, into the lake as a result of climate change, though, algal blooms will become more common and hypoxiac zones (i.e. oxygen-deprived areas of the lakebed inhospitable to plant and animal life) may increase in size or duration.
Lake George communities and residents can help mitigate some of the consequences of climate change, Rose and Wiltse told the audience.
“We can improve the ability of the landscape to absorb these nutrients,” said Rose. “We can buffer riparian zones with vegetation, not just along the lake shore along the watershed’s network of streams, because the lake also responds to what is happening throughout the watershed.”
The Lake George Association’s Low Impact Development program, created by Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky, can help property owners and communities intercept nutrient-rich stormwater before it reaches the lake and its tributaries, said Wiltse.
“We’re also working with our municipalities to develop tax incentives for property developers who meet LID standards,” said Wiltse. Both Queensbury and Bolton have incorporated Low Impact Development principles into their new comprehensive plans, he said.
