Suffolk looking for Lake Ronkonkoma 'keeper' to improve water quality 

Help wanted in Suffolk County: a limnologist ( a scientist who studies fresh waterbodies) dedicated to restoring Lake Ronkonkoma to the pristine swimming, fishing and kayaking destination it once was.

County officials on Tuesday announced the creation of a “Lake Keeper” position responsible for overseeing the restoration of Long Island’s largest fresh waterbody.

The position is a key recommendation in the county’s recently published 108-page Lake Ronkonkoma Watershed Management Plan. The person hired will implement the plan’s other proposals for the lake.

“Like many other waterbodies, it fell victim to the devastating effects of nitrogen pollution and harmful algal blooms,” County Executive Steve Bellone said during a news conference at Lake Ronkonkoma County Park Tuesday. “We knew we had to clean up this treasured body of water and restore it to its former glory.”

The July 2023 management plan, created with a $60,000 state grant, calls for instituting regular water quality monitoring and testing, installing cleaning stations for watercraft to minimize the spread of invasive species, Canada geese control methods and other measures.

The position pays between $77,099 and $98,736 per year and will be funded by the county for the first two years. The Lake Keeper will be required to seek grants to fund the role after that. It is a civil service job but it is a provisional appointment, meaning a candidate can take and pass the civil service test after they are hired, according to a county job posting.

The county and public have undertaken several measures to improve Lake Ronkonkoma water quality in recent years including installing an advanced septic system at the county park’s public restrooms in 2018. In 2016, the county cleaned up the Smithtown Boulevard site of the shuttered Bavarian Inn restaurant, which had been demolished three years earlier.

Evelyn Vollgraff of Holbrook, a co-founding member of the Lake Ronkonkoma Improvement Group, has led several beach cleanups and advocated for the waterbody. She said group members have collected “tons” of debris from the lake including tires, mattresses and an old safe. She said people think twice before polluting the lake since their group began its efforts.

“We’re trying to remind people what this lake was,” she said. “I grew up here. My husband’s family has been here since 1635. It’s just important.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.