Roaring Brook Lake Management Planning and Consulting
Situated in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley, Roaring Brook Lake is a 115-acre man-made lake with about 300 households nestled on its shores. Over the years, while Roaring Brook Lake has historically boasted good to great water quality, the lake has experienced infrequent harmful algae blooms, resulting in public beach closures and impacting lake useability for homeowners. As the center of the Roaring Brook Lake Community, and as a part of the watershed source for the City of Peekskill’s drinking water supply, protection of the lake is vital for community well-being.
The Town of Putnam Valley and the Roaring Brook Preservation Committee jointly brought GEI on board to provide lake management services and solutions for how to reduce and eventually eliminate algae blooms. As part of our efforts to determine possible causes for the algae blooms, we conducted monthly in-lake and tributary monitoring to determine pollutant sources entering the lake. We calculated the estimated annual internal load (the transfer of nutrients between the lake’s sediment and water) using collected sediment data and appropriate modeling solutions. Following the decline of herbivorous grass carp in the lake, GEI has conducted semi-annual aquatic plant surveys to monitor the recovery of native and invasive vegetation in the lake.
Throughout the project, our team engaged closely with stakeholders. We held multiple meetings, educated residents on lake ecology and best management practices, and gathered community support on lake strategies. GEI is using all the data and stakeholder buy-in to develop and implement a scientifically sound lake management strategy to holistically charter the future of Roaring Brook Lake’s health.
