Colby Foundation LCBP Grant Request, Page 1
A. Summary Page
Project Name/Title: Eurasian Water Milfoil Control in the Lake Colby Watershed
Project Category: Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention
Contact Information:
Name of Contact Person: Ernest E. [Lee] Keet
Organization: Colby Foundation, a NY 501c3 corporation
Mailing Address: PO Box 934, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Phone and FAX numbers: 518-261-6608/208-275-7423
Electronic Mail Address: info@colby-foundation.org
Eligibility: Currently completed (September 18, 2015) GLFC FYl0-12, Job Code: 0100-306010, Project Code: L-2015-044. Other LCBP grants awarded to the Lake Colby Association
were successfully completed in 2007, 2010, and 2011
Amount of LCBP Request: $11,000
Organization Mission Statement: (3-5 sentences) The purpose of the Colby Foundation is to
financially support those organizations working to combat the spread of invasive aquatic
plants and maintain high standards of water quality in upper Saranac River Adirondack
watersheds, especially Lake Colby and Little Colby Pond. Sub-contracts for invasive species
management are entered into with other not-for-profit scientific organizations with expertise
in combating Eurasian Water Milfoil, Variable Leaf Milfoil, Curly Pond Weed and other
aquatic invasives, including the Paul Smith’s Adirondack Watershed Institute and other
scientific institutions serving the Adirondacks. The Colby Foundation also underwrites the
fees needed to support volunteer efforts that test water for pollutants, both inorganic and
organic, in cooperation with organizations like the Adirondack Lake Assessment Program
and the New York State Federation of Lake Associations.
Brief Project Summary: Please describe your project in 3-5 sentences. Each year the
Colby-Foundation contracts with the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smith’s College
(PSAWI) and the Lake Colby Association to provide Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM)
eradication services for the Lake Colby watershed (Lake Colby, Little Colby pond, and the
connecting waterways). The Foundation, a 501c3 not-for-profit, also reimburses documented
expenses incurred by the Lake Colby Association, a 501c4 lake association, and its support
volunteers who assist in the collection of harvested milfoil and its disposal in an approved
land fill. The 2016 project will consist of a team of divers from PSAWI who will handharvest and mat pre-mapped (by volunteers) areas of the watershed in multiple passes over a
six-week period starting in June 2016.
Project Outcome/Deliverable: Please provide one sentence describing measurable project
outcomes PSAWI has produced EWM GIS maps of the watershed as of August 2015 which
will be used as a basis for comparison with similar maps and plant counts that will be
produced in August 2016.
 I have read the QAPP guidelines and expect that this proposed task
□ will require a QAPP
 will not require a QAPP
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Colby Foundation LCBP Grant Request, Page 2
Application Questions
1. Describe your project and document the need for this work to be accomplished. If part of a larger
project, please describe in detail the portion of the project for which you are seeking LCBP
funding. Are you aware of other organizations doing similar work? If your project will take place
on private land, how will it benefit the broader community?
The Lake Colby Association (LCA), an allvolunteer 501c4 corporation, has been fighting
Eurasian Water Milfoil (EWM) on Lake Colby
for the past 14 years with notable, but
incomplete, success. LCA is funded by the
Colby Foundation, a 501c3 not-for-profit that
seeks donations and grants for invasive species
control. Since the introduction of advanced
harvesting and matting techniques in 2006,
especially the use of “hookah” (or SNUBA) rigs
(floating air compressors capable of supporting a
team of divers for long periods of time) the
number of EWM plants in the productive littoral
zones of the lakes have been steadily reduced.
With only eight private landowners in the watershed, the $20,000 average annual expenditure in
the past has been provided in the main by grants (including from the LCBP), aid from the local
municipalities, voluntary gifts from shore-owners, and occasional aid from the state. Recently,
with budget shortfalls everywhere, this minimum need has not been met. It is believed that if
reduced to below $10,000 the program could be made self-sustaining as described below.
Unfortunately, the program has never had the funding to deliver a knock-out blow and therefore
the need to find funds annually that keep the watershed at a steady level of infestation.
In 2013 the LCA proposed to the Town of Harrietstown the formation of an Aquatic Nuisance
Plant Control District and acquired the necessary signatures to bring this option to the Town
Board for a hearing and a vote. A vote is scheduled before the end of 2015. The goal, if the
district is approved, will be to involve all land owners (including the State, who is the
overwhelmingly dominant landowner) on the interconnected lakes in the support of milfoil
control programs through added taxes. Future budgets with the “Weed District” in place would
be made up of support from the Village of Saranac Lake (who own the public beach on Lake
Colby), The Town of Harrietstown (who have a park on the lake shore), Adirondack Health (who
front on the lake), and the District taxes. The pursuit of a tax district to fund weed control is still
underway.
The extremely cold winter of 2014-15 and the late ice-out provided relief to the annual funding
needed, as EWM growth was slower than in past years but nonetheless showed an increase over
2014. The 2015 harvest and matting were able to keep the plant population under reasonable
control (see chart above) at a direct expenditure of roughly $16,000 but more should have been
spent. The job now is to get to a level of expense that can be sustained by the proposed tax
district and municipal support. Since it is now not anticipated that the necessary town board
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Colby Foundation LCBP Grant Request, Page 3
actions, public hearings, and appointment of a district manager will happen until 2016, funds are
needed to at least hold to the current reduced plant population through the next growing season.
The benefits of this project are mainly for the public. Over 80% of the shoreline in the
watershed is publicly owned and the interconnected lakes are used by boaters, fishermen,
swimmers at the public beach, picnickers, etc. In the summer the DEC’s Camp Colby
Environmental Camp trains a series of young campers in one-week environmentally-strong
sessions. As noted, the lake housed both the Village of Saranac Lake’s public beach and the
Town of Harrietstown’s Latour Park.
2. Explain how your project addresses aquatic invasive species spread prevention priorities or any of
the other priorities in Opportunities for Action. Identify measurable environmental outcomes from
your project (e.g. area of water chestnut harvest, number of days of boat launch steward coverage,
number of sites surveyed for invasive species).
As one of the headwaters of the Saranac chain of lakes, the Lake Colby watershed is a key
element in the control of EWM throughout the chain. In addition, as noted above, the Colby
Watershed is a key resource for the public, with a long frontage on Route 86 that includes a
public beach, town park, public boat launch, and seasonal State-run environmental camp. As an
infested lake with a public boat launch and a canoe carry into Lower Saranac Lake, the
watershed provides opportunities for the spread of EWM to other lakes. The Lake Colby
Association has attempted to prevent such spread through education, self-published pamphlets on
how to inspect and clean boats on removal from either body of water, signage, and volunteer
inspectors. Eliminating the remaining plants that can become entangled in fishing gear, wrapped
around propeller shafts, or lifted from the water when trailers are submerged for boat launch or
removal will dramatically reduce this threat.
The earlier efforts by the Lake Colby Association demonstrated that mechanical harvesting
means can be used effectively to reduce EWM populations below levels that would result in
eutrophication, blue-green algae development, and light-starvation of native plants.
Unfortunately, limited funding prevented the next level of control from being achieved, i.e., a
plant population that can be maintained at small enough levels that the plants pose a minimal
threat to the environment, to property values, to enjoyment of the waters, all at a sustainable cost.
This project is demonstrating that continually reducing plant populations by non-chemical means
can achieve all of these goals. This is creating a model for other similar lakes and is becoming a
benchmark against alternative treatment methods with far more uncertain environmental impacts,
e.g., the use of RENOVATE or other chemicals.
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Colby Foundation LCBP Grant Request, Page 4
3. Project Objective, Task, Deliverable and Timeline Table Format
Task
#
0
Objective
Map and count EWM
plants in the watershed
1
Complete funding of
$18,000 project
2
Contract with PSAWI
to conduct matting,
hand harvesting using
SNUBA gear, and final
mapping
Complete final report
4
Task
Deliverable
Use PSAWI divers and surface
volunteers to create a starting
picture of the watershed
Seek grants and support from the
LCBP, State, Town, federal and
private grant sources
Coordinate volunteers and
equipment, provide disposal land,
agree to detailed timetable
Report
Compile project summary, plans,
articles, photographs.
Final report
Grant
approvals
Bags of
milfoil
removed, area
of beds matted
Timeline
Done
May 2016
August
2016
Sept. 2016
4. Please explain the techniques and methods you and your partners will use to complete the project
tasks. Are there feasibility issues to be worked out (permits needed, landowner permission, or
technical issues)? Please explain.
The techniques and methods are all proven and now are in use on dozens of lakes. The divers
and supervisors provided under contract by PSAWI are all well trained, insured, and provided
with up-to-date equipment for underwater projects. All of the necessary permits are in place.
The Lake Colby Association owns dozens of benthic mats that were acquired from the Upper
Saranac Lake Association at the completion of their project, all of which are stored on a
volunteer’s off-site lot, the same lot used for plant disposal under the APA permit.
5. Describe your experience with similar projects. Who will be involved in the proposed project (staff,
volunteers, board members)? Does your project involve the local community?
The Lake Colby Association, one of the Colby Foundation’s partners in this project, has been
conducting annual milfoil harvests on Lake Colby with the PSAWI since 2001. Their volunteers
are experienced in the type of work proposed for this larger project. PSAWI contracts with
dozens of lakes to perform similar services.
6. Complete a Budget Table, based on the guidelines provided in Section C, below. The total funding
request must be within the limit of the grant category. Vague or inflated budgets will not be
competitive.
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Colby Foundation LCBP Grant Request, Page 5
C. Budget Table and Justification
Planned sources of funds:
1. Lake Colby Association
2. Town of Harrietstown
3. Village of Saranac Lake
4. Colby Foundation
5. LCPB Grant
TOTAL
Expense
$ 300
$ 3,000
$ 1,000
$ 5,000
$ 11,000
$20,300
LCBP Grant
Request
Non-Federal
Matching Contribution
Totals
DIRECT Costs:
PSAWI subcontract
$11,000
LCA Volunteer expenses
Totals
$11,000
$9,000
$20,000
$300
$300
$9,300
$20,300
D. Letters of Support
Attach any required letters of participation and up to three letters of support to your application. Only the
first three letters of support included in your application will be reviewed. Please be sure that the letters
are signed by the appropriate authors. Letters of support received separately from the application will
not be included in the application review. See the Grant Guidelines for more information.
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