Lake George Watershed Lake Steward Program End of Season ...

DRAFT
The Steward would be located at the launch ramp and would take down visible information
such as the boat registration number, the motor type, and the number of people. Once
outside their vehicle the Lake Steward would approach the boater, greet them, give a brief
introduction as to why they are there and state general information about invasive species.
The boater is then asked a series of questions relating to the cleanliness of their boat, such
as if they have cleaned their boat, drained their bilge, and if they have drained their live
wells. They are also asked what water bodies the boat had been in the previous two weeks.
Finally the Lake Steward would visually inspect the boat and remove any organisms or plant
fragments found. Samples would be removed from boats, which would then be placed in a
bag partially filled with lake water and taken to Darrin Fresh Water Institute for identification.
Results
Number of Boats
A total of 437 vessels were inspected before entering Lake George by way of Dunham’s
Bay Marina. Information from each vessel was recorded and interpreted. Boat launch use
by week varied throughout the summer, with an expected peak around the Fourth of July
holiday with 121 boats launching from July 2-6.
Number of Boats
1 2 5
1 0 0
7 5
5 0
2 5
0
6 /0 5 /08 - 6 /0 8 /0 8
Figure 1: Summary of boat launches by week.
# of boats
2 0 0
1 5 0
1 0 0
5 0
6 /1 1 /08 - 6 /1 5 /0 8
0
6 /1 8 /08 - 6 /2 2 /0 8
6 /2 5 /08 - 6 /2 9 /0 8
Boat Launch Use by Week
7 /0 9 /08 - 7 /1 3 /0 8
7 /0 2 /08 - 7 /0 6 /0 8
7 /2 3 /08 - 7 /2 7 /0 8
7 /1 6 /08 - 7 /2 0 /0 8
Date
7 /3 0 /08 - 8 /0 3 /0 8
8 /0 6 /08 - 8 /1 0 /0 8
Boats by Weekday at Dunhams Bay
56
46
Figure 2: Comparison of boat launch use by day of
the week.
113
8 /1 3 /08 - 8 /1 7 /0 8
Vessel Types
A total of 396 motorboats made up a total
of 91% of vessels going through the launch.
The remaining 9% of vessels consisted of
6% personal watercrafts, ~0% sailboats, 1%
canoes and 2% kayaks. There was not a
significant number of non-motorized vessels;
the majority being motorboats and the minority
were canoes and kayaks (figure 3). Though
it seems that
the canoes and
kayaks were
not prevalent
at this location, it is important to note that this marina has a
separate entrance for car-top boats out of view of the launch,
which is reserved only for the use of non-motorized boats.
Also, there is very little use of sailboats at Dunham’s Bay; this
is due to the bridge boats must clear to get out of the launch
site and reach Lake George. This makes it impossible for tall
vessels to launch from this site which explains the absence of
sailboats from this location.
185
8 7 14 21 13
W TH F S A S U
Weekday
a ve ra g e
to ta l
93
Based on Lake Steward interactions by day of
the week, Saturday seem to be the busiest day
at the Dunham’s Bay Launch with 185 boats
total and 21 boats on average each Saturday
that a steward was there. Saturday was
followed by Friday and then Sunday for highest
use, with both of thee days averaging about the
same use.
Vessel Types
Figure 3 Overall comparison of
vessel types.
40 Lake George Watershed Lake Steward Program End of Season Report 2008
6%
1%
0%
2%
91%
M PWC S C K