After another active summer full of all sorts of things going on, the town’s septic system dye testing program has been shelved once again until next year.
Thankfully, no major failures were found.
Typically there is always one or two that may need a little more investigation, but this year nothing major.
The dye testing program has been around for decades.
Our waters are cleaner today than the ’50s & ’60s, and dye testing played a major role in that. At least regarding properly installed and operating residential on-site waste water treatment systems.
However, lawn fertilizers and other chemicals not related to septic systems are starting to be a measurable concern in the waters.
As more and more “manicured” lawns pop up around the lakes, using all kinds of fertilizers, this will be the next major push to regulate.
And should be.
The quality of our waters is so important to protect. Among our natural resources, our waters are our richest asset.
The growing use of lawn fertilizers becomes problematic near any lake or body of water, and we are no different.
Even for properties not on the water, hundreds of feet away, can easily impact lake water quality.
What used to be someone’s “camp” is slowly being turned into expensive second homes with manicured lawns, gardens and other plantings in lieu of Mother Nature’s trees, ferns, grasses, bushes and other natural growth.
Shoreline vegetation is very critical; it’s the last part of a natural buffer to protect the water’s edge.
Everyone has a different opinion as to what looks good.
Usually one’s aesthetic choices relate to what they grew up with, or maybe what they have at their “other” home.
Being that over 90 percent of our shoreline residential homes are owned by people who do not live here, more than likely their definition is not what Mother Nature intended.
Certainly this is not everyone—there are many who try to leave things as natural as possible.
But there is a growing number of properties where trees, ferns, brush are all replaced with trimmed, cut, manicured and fancy looking lawns.
Growing up as a seasonal resident on a lake, Dad was never going to have a lawn, are you kidding? No way were we going to have two lawns to maintain!
Maybe just a weed-whacker to keep ditches and culverts maintained, but that was it.
The entire property was just like it was for hundreds of years, except for the shoreline at the boathouse.
That is what was instilled in Mom and Dad by their parents, and then to us kids.
Gramps made his first trip to Big Moose Lake well before 1900 and fell in love with the awesome beauty and totally natural surroundings as compared to his big home near NYC.
He never wanted to bring the city to the lake. These were two very different places, with very different environmental customs, needs or sensitivities.
Back to dye testing.
As stated, the program has been around for decades; at least on the Fulton Chain and Big Moose Lake.
The test is not perfect, it’s not conclusive, but it will find catastrophic problems.
Sometimes it even finds those not so catastrophic problems. Leaky pipes under buildings, failed septic tanks, pump stations not calibrated properly, broken pipe before the septic tank… there are many things that can impact the proper operation of the overall system.
The dye testing is part of a comprehensive water quality monitoring program.
It is also a great educational tool to remind people as to the importance of water quality.
However, dye testing only does the septic system, and cannot help mitigate fertilizer contamination caused by fancy lawns.
This year, more than ever before, this office has fielded questions from other property owners’ lake associations and even from areas out-of-town, about how the dye testing program works.
The code office would be glad to help with any advice or actual hands on work to encourage testing.
As issues may & will be found, cooperative attitudes for everyone involved must be present.
In some cases the property owners never had any idea there was a problem.
Some may know and intentionally hid the problem, but those cases are not the norm and represent a very small percentage of the total.
It’s all about OUR water quality, and the health, safety and welfare of everyone and this wonderful place we call the Adirondacks.
It has nothing to do with being year-round or seasonal residents.