Saratoga Lake Watershed Management Project

Steering Committee

A watershed plan cannot be developed without the support of the communities located within the watershed. To explore and develop consensus on watershed issues, a steering committee has been formed that will meet 7-9 times over the course of the project period [present - 10/1/01]. The Saratoga Lake Watershed Steering Committee (SLWSC) will focus its attention on the land use issues which might contribute to water quality degradation within the Saratoga Lake Watershed. The SLWSC will establish various subcommittees that will focus on specific lake and watershed resource issues such as recreation, aquatic plant control, non-point source pollution, point-source pollution, etc.

The individual mayors and supervisors from each of the thirteen communities located partially or wholly within the Saratoga Lake watershed area have been requested to appoint one official and one citizen representative to theSteering Committee. These include the following communities: Town of Ballston, Village of Ballston Spa, Town of Charlton, Town of Corinth, Town of Galway, Town of Greenfield, Town of Malta, Town of Milton, Town of Providence, City of Saratoga, Town of Saratoga, Town of Stillwater, and the Town of Wilton.

Additional stakeholders have been identified from SLPID, the Saratoga Lake Association, local, county and state agencies, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, environmental organizations, and fish and game organizations. The Steering Committee will meet monthly or bimonthly, as needed, to discuss the various environmental and land use issues that may be affecting the watershed's water resources. Each SLWSC meeting will focus on a specific watershed/lake topic and presentations will be made by qualified resource specialists on the individual topics to be addressed. Issues relating to the topics will then be explored in-depth and solutions will be identified by committee members.

The first meeting of the SLWSC was held on Thursday, June 1 in the Saratoga County Cooperative Extension Auditorium in Ballston Spa. This introductory meeting was designed to explore and develop a series of goals and objectives for the watershed management plan. Public attendance is welcomed at all SLWSC meetings. Future meeting dates and times can be found here.

Watershed topics to be covered by the SLWSC will be as follows: Water Quality Improvement: The Watershed Approach; Water-Based Recreation Issue; Protection of Critical Environmental Areas; Aquatic Vegetation Management Issues; Fish and Wildlife Management Issues; Point and Nonpoint Source Pollution Sources; Role of Local Governments; A Strategy for Implementing the Watershed Management Plan.