ADIRONDACK CONSERVATION GROUP TACKLES MAJOR THREATS TO PURITY
OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST FRESH WATER SUPPLIES
Adirondack Park Waters Flow to NYC, Midwest, Canada &
New England;
But Eight Major Environmental Threats Could Taint This Precious
Resource
* * * * *
International Paper Ticonderoga Mill Donates Paper for Publication
of Water Protection Action Guide; Nordlys Foundation of Saratoga
Funds Research & Printing
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Tuesday, April 22,
2008
ALBANY, N.Y. – The Adirondack
Council today released a 28-page action handbook on how to protect
the pure waters of New York’s 9,300-square-mile Adirondack
Park and other rural areas from threats such as acid rain, climate
change, airborne mercury, road salt contamination, invasive species,
major water diversions and over-development.
“The Adirondack Park contains more than 2,800 lakes and
ponds, and more than a thousand miles of navigable rivers, fed
by nearly 30,000 miles of brooks and streams,” said Adirondack
Council Executive Director Brian Houseal. “At this time
of year, it almost seems like there is too much water in the
Adirondacks. But when you look around at the rest of the world,
it only takes a moment to realize how fortunate we are to live
next to one of the world’s largest sources of fresh, pure
water.
“The rivers and streams
of the Adirondack Park radiate out like the spokes on a wheel,
contributing clean water to the Mohawk River and Erie Canal,
Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Champlain and New
York Harbor, via the Hudson River,” said Houseal. “Millions
of Americans rely upon the waters of the Adirondack Park. That
includes the citizens of Utica and Amsterdam, who draw all of
their drinking water from Adirondack lakes, as well as the citizens
of Poughkeepsie for whom the strong flow of the Hudson prevents
salt water from reaching their filtration plant. We who love
the Adirondacks have an obligation to protect this central resource
for the rest of our neighbors on this side of North America.”
“All of Upstate New York’s
major industries of the 19th Century, including International
Paper, relied on Adirondack rivers for their power, water, and
the transportation of goods to market -- for their very existence,”
said Donna Wadsworth, Manager of Communications and Environmental
Affairs at International Paper’s Ticonderoga plant (inside
the Park). “Without these waters, there would have been
no industrial revolution in this part of the country. Today,
the park’s hydro-power dams still produce more than 260
megawatts of electricity for the rest of the state. In the coming
centuries, these waters will continue to be the focus of tourism,
and will be a large part of the reason people come here to visit
and keep coming back.”
Houseal said that the transition
from industry to tourism in the Adirondacks allowed the Park’s
rivers to recover from early abuses and pollution, leaving the
Park with a tremendous supply of very clean water. But he also
noted a number of threats that must be addressed.
“This new publication will
be a useful tool for anyone who wants to protect a fresh water
supply in a rural area,” said Houseal of the Adirondack
Council. “Climate change and airborne mercury are problems
that affect people all over the world. Invasive species are all
too common a problem. Inadequate treatment of waste water, development
within sensitive watersheds, road salt runoff and disagreements
about how water can be diverted to new places are sparking conflicts
around the United States. We think we can help.”
Each chapter of the guidebook
explains the threats to pure water, then shows how advocacy organizations
such as the Adirondack Council can work with citizens and government
officials to correct problems and forestall impending threats.
“Each topic chapter contains
a section entitled ‘What We Can Do,’” Houseal
explained. “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you
do for a living, everyone can take action to prevent water pollution.
“The booklet, entitled Adirondack
Waters: Resource at Risk is not a recounting of our failures,
but a blueprint for future success,” he said. “It offers
advice based on one unfaltering principle that must guide all
of our actions: there is no such thing as new water.”
Copies of the publication are
available from the Adirondack Council for free, by calling
1-877-873-2240 or emailing info@adirondackcouncil.org.
An electronic version is available by clicking here.
SELECTED PARK WATER FACTS:
- The Great Sacandaga Lake, created
in 1930 to prevent the Hudson River from flooding
Watervliet, Rensselaer, Albany and Troy, is 29 miles long and
holds back an average of
283,000,000,000 (283 billion) gallons of water from the Hudson
and Sacandaga River
watersheds. It is not the Park’s largest lake.
- In 1883, New York City’s
mayor appointed a committee to investigate the construction of
a canal from the Adirondacks to the city to supply up to 300,000,000,000
(300 billion)
gallons of drinking water per day.
- The Beech-Nut baby food plant
proposed for Montgomery County (a replacement for the
Canajoharie plant) plans to purchase one million gallons of water
per day from the City of
Amsterdam, whose supply is located inside the Adirondack Park
at Ireland Vly and Steele Reservoir, Saratoga County.
- The combined volume of just
four Adirondack Park lakes (Lake George, Great Sacandaga, Tupper
Lake and Raquette Lake) exceeds 1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion)
gallons.
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