Tackling a Decline in Water Quality

Heat waves and moderate drought conditions, coupled with heavy downpours and strong winds, have begun degrading the quality of Lake Waramaug’s water. LWC’s consultant limnologists (freshwater scientists) report that lakes across the region are confronting similarly degraded conditions. The Conservancy is focused on developing short- and longer-term solutions to the challenges of rising temperatures attributable to climate change. Short-term, we are implementing a modification to our in-lake layer aeration systems, which will increase the aerators’ ability to mix oxygen-rich water near the surface of the lake with cooler, oxygen-poor water from lower in the water column. This process will thicken the lake’s middle layer, shrinking the anoxic bottom layer where extremely high concentrations of the phosphorus that degrades water quality are held. Longer-term, LWC is exploring several options, including some now being designed and field tested by our consultant limnologists.