AdkAction’s Clean Water, Safe Roads Network for road salt reduction is expanding, and a related public outreach campaign will be launched this fall, thanks to $123,000 in recently awarded funding.
The Clean Water Safe Roads Network was started in 2022 to equip municipal and county highway departments with skills, resources, and support in order to make salt reduction practical, and is funded by a $49,431 grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and the New England Interstate Pollution Control Commission.
Building on the success of the program’s work throughout the Champlain Basin, the network will welcome more towns and counties, implementing salt reduction strategies among participating departments, thanks to an anonymous grant for $52,000 to grow this work beyond the Champlain Basin.
This regional strategy for road salt reduction includes workshops and hands-on training sessions, one-on-one technical assistance with experts, equipping highway supervisors with resources to promote sustainable practices, and fostering collaboration between towns and counties.
Ultimately the program supports highway departments to reduce the excessive salt applied on county and municipal roadways, in hopes of reducing the NaCl pollutant and material loading currently impacting Adirondack lakes, rivers, and drinking water.
AdkAction is also planning to launch a new public outreach campaign this fall. The campaign hopes to raise awareness about the harmful effects of excessive salt usage and the role of responsible salt practices in protecting waterways and drinking water, thanks to a $22,500 grant from the Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund.
The outreach campaign aims to help educate the driving public, and will include ways to reduce winter salt usage at homes and businesses and how to support highway departments in their efforts to protect our water while maintaining road safety.
Photo of Washington County Brine Workshop in 2023 provided.
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