WINTER IS A GREAT TIME TO ORDER SHRUBS TO STRENGTHEN SHORELINES

(Dec. 28, 2021)--Both the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Schenectady County Soil and Water Conservation District offer low-cost shrub seedlings ideal for shoring up your shoreline.

It's the recommended way to minimize soil erosion along your shoreline . . . erosion that not only eats away your yard, but also adds muck to the lake bottom and undesirable nutrients that fuel blooms of blue-green algae.

Click on this link to learn more about the DEC shrub sales program. 

The Schenectady County SWCD brochure  will be posted here as soon as the 2022 list is available.

FIRST-EVER DUANE LAKE WINTER SOLSTICE SOUP STROLL BEATS THE CHILL

 

(Dec. 18, 2021)---The weather was chilly and dank.  The weight of a pandemic hung over a Covid-weary neighborhood, but the Duane Lake Association maneuvered around them both with a Winter Solstice Soup Stroll.

    Since we couldn't safely bring everyone indoors for a Roving Feast, as had been done every winter for the past many years, this outdoor event seemed like a good alternative, and perhaps as many as thirty people turned out, eager to once again meet and greet their neighbors and enjoy hot dogs over an open fire, soups, s'mores, and cozy-warm brandy.

    Thanks to hosts Ann and Dave Vincent, Jerry Evans, Chris and Art Miller, and Mary and Kim Roberts, with an extra special thanks to Kim Roberts for organizing and promoting the event.

DREDGING PERMIT FOR OUTLET CANAL GETS 2-YEAR EXTENSION

(Dec. 22, 2021)--Eighteen percent more rain this year than normal prompted the Duane Lake Association to seek an extension for its DEC-approved canal-dredging project.  The original application called for the work to be done in late summer of 2021, when outflow is at a minimum and least likely to send loose dirt downstream. 

    Scraping two inches off the bottom of the canal was seen as necessary to help protect the dam and shoreline from high-ice damage. The stretch of canal bottom shown above sits about 14 inches higher than the spillway constructed in the 1950s by NY State to govern the level of lake water.

    The application to extend the permit period was approved today.

    Work is now expected to be done in late summer of 2022.