The NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) has awarded $638 million in grants to municipalities statewide for water infrastructure projects and Town of Indian Lake in Hamilton County was the biggest winner among Adirondack communities.
The state’s grant to Indian Lake will cover $3 million of the town’s proposed $5-million wastewater treatment system, according to the Governor’s grant announcement. All told, seven Adirondack communities were awarded $8 million toward local clean water projects costing more than $23 million.
Each project is expected to improve water quality in Adirondack lakes and rivers, creating benefits for nature and for communities far beyond the park’s borders.
Essex County towns gaining grants included the towns of Essex and Westport on Lake Champlain, and the Town of Schroon on Schroon Lake. The Clinton County Town of Dannemora (near Maggy Brook, a tributary of the Saranac River) also won grants; as did the Warren County Town of Warrensburg, on the Schroon River. Schroon Lake (an impoundment of the Schroon River), the Schroon River and Indian Lake (via the Indian River) all flow into the Hudson River. Lake Champlain flows north into the St. Lawrence River via the Richelieu River.
The proposed Environmental Bond Act would also provide money for clean water projects.
Clean water grants in this Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) package in the Adirondacks:
In addition, there was a $3 million grant to the City of Plattsburgh for a $5.24-million project. While not an Adirondack community, Plattsburgh’s wastewater system is vital to the health of the lower Saranac River and to Lake Champlain, whose shoreline and bottom make up more than 100 miles of the Adirondack Park’s eastern boundary.
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