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Making Lake George the “Smartest Lake” in the World The Jefferson Project at Lake George is a multi-million dollar collaboration between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, IBM, and The FUND for Lake George. Its goal is to understand and manage complex factors—from road salt, storm water runoff and invasive species—threatening one of the world’s most pristine natural ecosystems and an economic cornerstone of the New York tourism industry. Lake Basics • • Lake George is 32 miles long, 2.5 miles wide at its widest point and has a maximum depth of 200 feet. • The land surrounding the lake remains 95% natural forestland. • The lake is responsible for about $1 billion in tourism activity in the surrounding region. It has 145 tributaries and over 170 islands. Lake Stressors Salt Content: In 1980, lakewide chloride concentration was 5.9 parts per million. By 2009, largely due to road salt, lakewide chloride concentration had nearly tripled to 15.7 parts per million. Algae Impact: Over the last 30 years chlorophyll levels in Lake George’s surface waters have increased by 50% Invasive Species: 5 species as quantities of algae in the lake have grown. have been discovered, including the Asian Clam and the Zebra Mussel. Making the Lake Smarter Darrin Fresh Water I nstitute A R esear ch C enter of R ensselaer P olytechni c I nsti tute The Darrin Fresh Water Institute is a multidisciplinary environmental research center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. It will serve as the home base for the Jefferson Project. 40 sensing platforms will be deployed initially. These will monitor 25 variables including weather, water chemistry and quality, lake currents and stream flows. Will model the lake using a supercomputer capable of performing 1 over sec. 188 trillion operations per second. More than 20 scientists will be collaborating on the project, working with 30 years of historical data. Lake George is a headwaters lake and has a top water quality rating from New York. An ideal body of water to study due to its size and unique ecosystem, it will become home to a world-class environmental laboratory with a monitoring and prediction system. Local groups will use this data to make informed decisions on the protection and future of Lake George’s unique ecosystem.