Adirondack Lake's Trout Return, But Acid Rain Relief May Be Temporary

ALBANY, N.Y. - A crystalline Adirondack lake once held up as an example of a “dead” lake devastated by acid rain has now become a symbol of nature’s ability to heal itself once pollutants are curbed.

As the name implies, Brooktrout Lake teemed with trout before air pollution from faraway cities began to change the chemistry of lakes and soils in the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park. In 1984, biologists found that Brooktrout Lake and hundreds of others in the rugged region were completely devoid of fish.

Now there are signs of recovery. After the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 tightened emissions limits on Midwest coal-burning power plants, acid rain decreased significantly. As expected, the pH levels of Adirondack lakes began to rise, becoming less acidic. The surprising thing was how fast it happened.

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The recovery of Brooktrout Lake may be short-lived, however. Tim Sullivan of E & S Environmental Chemistry in Corvallis, Ore., was contracted by New York state to develop mathematical models that predict what will happen in response to various levels of air pollutant emissions. The outlook isn’t good. While there has been a substantial decrease in acid deposition, the improvement in lake chemistry has been relatively small,” Sullivan said. “If we continue to operate under existing emissions regulations, the lakes that have been recovering will stop recovering and will start to get worse again over the next couple of decades. For some lakes, it will be worse than it ever has been.” That’s because soils in the Adirondacks, particularly at higher elevations, have been depleted of calcium and other acid-neutralizing minerals, weakening their ability to serve as a buffer against acid rain, Sullivan said.

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