MTC 2024 Event

The Boon & Hotaling families measured water quality along the Fulton Chain of Lakes using Secchi disks. They also cleaned up Alger Island on Fourth Lake. They collected trash, including cans, bottles, bobbers, fishing lines, containers, and an oar.

Josey, Ellie & Luis found over 600 snails in the Fulton Chain. They brought one to the MTC EcoArts Festival & discovered they were Banded Mystery Snails, a non-native species introduced in 1867 into the Hudson River. Nice job kids!

Camp Mark Seven campers participated in the MTC event for the first time this year. They spent a morning cleaning up around their camp on Fourth Lake. 

Jocelyn and Brad clean up DeCamps Island yearly for their MTC self-directed project. This year, they brought their granddaughter to join the fun! 

Karen cleaned up along Fourth Lake's shore and collected garbage and lots of glass! Thank you, Karen, for making Fourth Lake cleaner and a lot safer as well!

Jade and Bambi cleaned up along Route 28 near Sixth Lake, picking up cigarette butts, styrofoam, candy wrappers, and construction debris. 

Susan, Mary, and Habi did their yearly cleanup project from Eighth Lake to Brown’s Tract Inlet Carry, marking the end of the Fulton Chain and leading to the Raquette Chain. They found all sorts of trash, including rolls of toilet paper and fishing lines with hooks entangled in lake bottom debris.  

Nate and Charlie completed their annual Fourth Lake clean-up, celebrating with a hike near Raquette Lake. They collected candy wrappers, container lids, bottles, vaping devices, baseball hats, and propane tanks! Nice job, boys!

Brian and his family did a little snorkeling and cleaned up a lot of trash from the bottom of Seventh Lake. 

Congratulations to the Apgar, Trussell, and Mylenski families for receiving a gift of appreciation in recognition of their steadfast dedication to protecting the environment! Thank you for supporting MTC and its mission to preserve the beauty of the #ADK Park! 

Trussell, Apgar, and Mylenski family members picked up trash during a canoe/kayak trip on the Moose River, paddle boarding and kayaking on Second Lake, and exploring DeCamps Island.

The Stoler Crew picked up debris from the channel between Third and Fourth Lakes, including a few items from this summer's July 4th celebration!

Brianna completed a couple of self-directed projects for the MTC event. She picked up trash along the Bald Mountain trail & parking lot (the graffiti was a surprise) & she created a beautiful flower garden in her backyard to support our pollinators!

Chloe & Carter hiked the Brown's Tract Canoe Carry from Inlet to Eighth Lake, collecting trash along the way! MTC's true superheroes! 

Denise & her family picked up trash around Moss Lake & also near their home. Her son has become quite aware of the Leave No Trace Principles. Nice job, Denise! They also created a more wildlife & pollinator-friendly yard, adding birdhouses, water sources, & new plants. They saw lots of new birds, plenty of bees & butterflies due to their efforts.

2024 Maintain the Chain Event - Results from Secchi disk project participants.

2024 Participation

Thank you for participating in the 2024 Secchi disk project. Your measurements are valuable and are being used to increase our understanding of how water quality is changing in the lakes. We had 7 teams and 10 or so individuals participate. The number of measurements reported was 30, more than in 2022. The energetic BF team from Fourth Lake made 12 measurements from Fourth down to First Lake. WK tested Sixth and Seventh Lakes, which gave us excellent coverage of most of the Fulton Chain (See Figure 1; top, right). 

2024 Results

The 2024 Secchi disk readings ranged from a high of 5.4 meters in Seventh Lake to a low of 2.6 meters in Third Lake and are generally similar to the results reported in 2022. (See 2022 Secchi disk project report.) The locations and measured values for 2024 are shown in the online map described in Figure 1 (top, right).  

The readings reported, especially those greater than 4 meters, show that most of the lakes of the Fulton Chain are still impressively clear. As discussed in the Water Quality Committee report in the 2024 FCLA Newsletter, their trophic status, which is based in part on lake water transparency, is satisfactory. 

The 2024 measurements were used to plot Figure 2; bottom, right). Similar to 2022, the lower lakes (Third to First) show significantly lower transparencies than the upper lakes (Seventh to Fourth).

The 2022 Secchi disk project report described several factors that might be causing lower transparencies in Third to First Lakes, including 1) higher concentrations of light-scattering phytoplankton (algal) cells from increasing exposure to nutrients from sources like fertilizers and septic tanks, 2) higher concentrations of other light-scattering particles like bottom sediment resuspended along the shoreline by motor boats and wind and 3) higher concentrations of light-absorbing, dissolved organic matter from decaying plants in wetlands in the watersheds that supply each lake. The dissolved organic carbon concentrations is increasing in many lakes in the Adirondacks (a process that has been called “browning”) and some researchers have concluded it is part of the lake’s ecosystem’s response to less acidic precipitation and a warming climate. 

This year, we collected supplemental samples from each lake. We used a Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis to try to explain the variation in the measured transparencies, especially the significant step change as the water moves from Fourth to Third Lake. The results suggest that Third Lake Creek, which drains extensive wetlands in the Third Lake watershed, is a key source of organic carbon for Third Lake and is probably the principal cause of the lower Secchi disk depths in Third to First Lakes. We also obtained evidence using turbidity measurements that the amount of light-scattering particles is higher in the lower lakes. The source(s) of these particles are not known, but algal cells are likely to be important. If you would like to receive more information about this work, ask questions, or help in some way, send an email to Ray Letterman at rdletter@syr.edu. Ray and Gary Schafran, Fulton Chain of Lakes Association board members, are responsible for the Maintain the Chain Secchi disk project and the analysis of the results.