The Upper Saranac Foundation is pleased to announce that the Town of Santa Clara’s new sand and salt storage facility is now complete. The Town was awarded a $598,800 grant through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) program—a highly competitive statewide grant initiative that supports projects designed to improve water quality and habitats, reduce flood risks, bolster climate resiliency, and protect drinking water sources.
This funding will reimburse the Town for construction of the new storage facility, which replaces the previously exposed salt pile. By housing stored salt under cover, the Town will help protect groundwater within a principal aquifer and reduce potential impacts to Upper Saranac Lake.
While the Town of Santa Clara’s annual use of road salt—approximately 150 tons per year—is modest compared to state road application rates, it contributes to a much larger regional concern. It is estimated that roadways in the Upper Saranac watershed receive approximately 1,242 tons of salt each year. As a result, Upper Saranac Lake exhibits significantly elevated salt levels relative to Adirondack lakes without paved roads—16 times higher for sodium and 37 times higher for chloride.
Across the Adirondacks, chloride and sodium levels have risen sharply due to widespread use of road de-icers, primarily sodium chloride. Road salt has been described by some researchers as “the new acid rain,” given its far-reaching ecological and public health impacts. According to the Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI), roughly 192,700 tons of road salt are applied annually in the Adirondacks—totaling nearly 7 million tons since 1980.
The benefits of proper storage are well documented. The Town of Harrietstown, for example, significantly reduced material costs and improved operational efficiency after constructing a similar facility. Highway Superintendent Dan Martin noted that covering their salt pile eliminated major losses due to rain and freezing—previously resulting in the loss of 10–15% of stored salt to rain and rendering an additional 30–40% unusable each season.
Excess road salt infiltrates groundwater and surface waters, damaging aquatic ecosystems, killing vegetation, corroding infrastructure, and contaminating drinking water. High salinity in household wells can contribute to health issues such as high blood pressure and can destroy plumbing and appliances. Several households in the Upper Saranac watershed have already documented road-salt contamination and must now rely on bottled water.
State roads in New York have the highest de-icing application rates in North America. The New York State Department of Transportation applies an average of 23 tons of salt per lane-kilometer annually. With 54 kilometers of state roads in the Upper Saranac watershed, this accounts for an estimated 1,242 tons of applied salt each year.
As reported in the 2016 Upper Saranac Lake Watershed Report, sodium and chloride concentrations have risen dramatically over the past several decades—now four times higher than in 1991. AWI research estimates that Upper Saranac Lake contained approximately 1,370 tons of chloride in 2016, compared to just 410 tons in 1991. In an undeveloped watershed with no paved roads, chloride levels would be expected to measure only about 40 tons.
Completion of the Town of Santa Clara’s salt storage facility marks a significant and positive step toward protecting local water resources. Proper storage dramatically reduces runoff risks, safeguards groundwater, and supports the long-term health of the Upper Saranac watershed.
This important project was made possible with successful grant assistance provided by the Upper Saranac Foundation and AdkAction.