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Residents and experts urge council to act after new Loughbury Lake water study; DPW says it initiated source-discovery RFP
Summary
Multiple public commenters flagged a March study on Loughbury Lake that they said documents declining yield and rising nutrient levels. Speakers asked the council to allocate resources to protect the city's drinking-water supply; the DPW commissioner said the department had issued an RFP for additional sources and awarded a contract in June.
Several residents and experts raised alarms during the public-comment period about a new study of Loughbury (Loughbury/Laubre) Lake, a primary open watershed source for Saratoga Springs' water supply.
BK Kiaramati, who said he lives at 27 Granite Street, told the council he received a copy of a March study from DPW and described its findings as showing “major degradations of quality and quantity of water since the 2001 report.” He said he could not understand why the report had not been publicly released earlier and urged the council to allocate capital and operating resources to address the risks.
A medical doctor with public-health experience, David S. Pratt, told the council he had reviewed the report and was concerned that rising phosphorus levels could favor cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). He said higher phosphorus and algal blooms pose human and animal health risks and noted that while chlorination kills cyanobacteria, killing them can increase toxins in the water under some circumstances.
Gordon Lloyd told the council the report shows a roughly 7% decline in reservoir capacity and a 22% decline in yield since the 2001 baseline and said the city should consider a moratorium on new water connections and prioritize finding long-term sources.
DPW response and actions Commissioner Marshall (DPW) responded that the commenter who first requested the report (BK Kiaramati) had been invited to the DPW office, given a tour of the water treatment plant and provided the revision the commenter sought. Marshall said the department issued an RFP on March 7 for discovery of additional water sources and awarded the contract on June 3, 2025, to an engineering firm (CTMail cited in the presentation) for $121,880, with a subsequent addendum of $13,500 approved Sept. 16. Marshall said the city engineer was meeting with neighboring towns (Wilton and Greenfield) because the lake is an open, uncontrolled watershed shared across municipal boundaries.
Why it matters: The city relies on the lake for municipal water supply. Speakers cited quantitative changes in capacity and yield and expressed concern that the documented nutrient increases could enable algal blooms and elevated toxins; the DPW described active steps to identify additional sources and acknowledged the long-standing, regional nature of the watershed issue.
Next steps: The DPW said it was pursuing the RFP work and meeting with towns in the watershed. Commenters asked the council to prioritize funding and to publicly release the full report and its findings; the DPW said the report had been provided to the commenter and that engineers and staff were working on next steps.
Ending: The council acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and said staff would continue the technical work; several council members urged transparency and more frequent public updates.
