Champions of Change: Organizations Leading the Movement to Reduce Road Salt Use

Across the northern United States, winter road maintenance presents a difficult balance between public safety and environmental protection. For decades, highway departments have relied heavily on road salt to keep roads clear, yet growing evidence shows that excess salt use is contaminating drinking water, degrading lakes and wetlands, and corroding infrastructure. In response, a number of forward-thinking organizations have stepped up to train highway crews, advise municipalities, and educate the public on smarter, more sustainable winter practices. Groups such as WIT Advisers and its SWiM® program, AdkAction, and the Lake George Association are leading the charge to help communities maintain safe winter roads while dramatically reducing their environmental footprint.

WIT Advisers, LLC and the SWiM® Program

Who they are

WIT Advisers, LLC is a consulting firm specializing in winter maintenance operations, with a strong focus on sustainable winter management. On their website they describe the SWiM® (“Sustainable Winter Management”) certification program, which is designed for both site/facility managers and public highway departments. (WIT Advisers)

Why they do it

WIT Advisers is motivated by the need to reconcile winter road safety with environmental protection and cost-control. Their “A Decade of Road Salt Reduction” article illustrates that there is both a fiscal and environmental imperative to reduce salt usage: high chloride loads degrade fresh water, and excessive use also means higher costs and corrosive impacts.

What their role is

• They developed the SWiM® certification program:

  • Site Certification (for facilities/property owners) and Road Certification (for highway departments) that verify adoption of policies and practices to meet salt reduction and cost targets. 

• They provide training and best-practice guidance: the SWiM® framework helps highways departments adopt anti-icing strategies (brine pretreatment, live-edge plows, calibration of spreaders, monitoring) rather than traditional heavy de-icing. For example municipalities working with WIT achieved sizeable reduction in rock-salt use. (The Adirondack Almanack)

• They help set benchmarks and measure performance: the SWiM® model includes customized salt-reduction targets, cost reduction targets, and means to track progress. 

• They serve as an interface between municipalities and emerging technologies (brine systems, calibrated spreaders, data-driven decision making) to reduce salt runoff into watersheds.

Takeaway for municipal leaders / MS4 professionals: WIT Advisers offers a structured certification path and best-practice framework for your winter maintenance operations. If you’re looking to reduce salt usage, defend water quality, and still meet public safety obligations, SWiM® offers a credible tool.

AdkAction

Who they are

AdkAction is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in the Adirondacks (New York) whose mission is to develop projects that address unmet community needs while preserving the natural beauty of the region. (AdkAction)

Why they do it

They have identified road salt pollution as a major threat to water quality in the Adirondack region and the Lake Champlain basin. Their website states that highway departments apply enormous tonnages of salt, and that runoff is contaminating groundwater and surface water.

They aim to reduce that environmental damage while maintaining public safety. Their “Don’t Be Salty” campaign exemplifies the public education side of their work: encouraging households, businesses and municipalities to adopt responsible salt application practices. 

What their role is

• Training and support for highway departments: Under their “Clean Water Safe Roads” initiative, AdkAction works with regional highway departments to reduce road-salt use while maintaining winter safety. 

• Public outreach campaigns: For example, “Don’t Be Salty” is a public campaign aimed at raising awareness about salt pollution, providing tools (e.g., measuring cups for salt application) and engaging businesses and residents.

• Advocacy and partnership building: They coordinate working groups (e.g., the Adirondack Road Salt Working Group), host road-salt conferences/summits, and engage with state policy.

• Regional initiative execution: They help municipalities engage in pilot programs, help implement best management practices (BMPs) for salt, and leverage funding for equipment/infrastructure upgrades that support salt reduction. 

Takeaway for municipal leaders / MS4 professionals: AdkAction is a resource if you are in the Adirondack or Lake Champlain region (or similar cold-climate watershed contexts) and want both departmental training and community-wide engagement on salt issues. Their model combines community outreach + departmental best practices + policy advocacy.

Lake George Association (LGA)

Who they are

The Lake George Association is a non-profit dedicated to the protection of the Lake George watershed (“The Queen of American Lakes”). Their work spans monitoring, assessment, outreach, advocacy and targeted projects. (lakegeorgeassociation.org)

Why they do it

For the Lake George watershed, excessive road salt use has been identified as a significant threat: salt runoff can damage water quality, harm aquatic ecosystems, and impact drinking water supplies in the region. For example, the LGA states that overuse of road salt in the Lake George watershed is leading toward a statewide drinking water crisis. 

They also recognize a fiscal benefit: municipalities participating in their Road Salt Reduction Initiative have saved taxpayer money while reducing salt and safeguarding water.

What their role is

• Initiating the Lake George Road Salt Reduction Initiative: The LGA led the effort for municipalities in the Lake George basin to adopt a Memorandum of Understanding and Best Practices Agreement around salt reduction. 

• Training & certification support: They partnered with WIT Advisers and other technology providers (e.g., Viaesys) to train plow crews and highway departments on best practices (brine pre-treatment, live-edge plows, calibrated salt spreaders). 

• Granting and financial incentives: They have awarded grants to municipalities for equipment (e.g., a sidewalk plow with a salt-brine unit) to support salt reduction operations.

• Hosting conferences and knowledge exchange: They host the Adirondack Champlain Regional Salt Summit, bringing together municipal leaders, scientists, and equipment vendors to discuss salt reduction strategies.

• Advocating for policy: They have played a role in legislative outreach and support for statewide road salt reduction policy (e.g., support for bills A.4481-A/S.6976-A). 

Takeaway for municipal leaders / MS4 professionals: The LGA offers a strong example of a watershed-based initiative that combines municipal training, equipment investment, certification, and public ownership of the salt-reduction challenge. Their model can be adapted or referenced for other watersheds beyond Lake George.

Summary Comparison Table

Why this matters for MS4 compliance, municipal leaders, and watershed health

• Road salt (chloride) is increasingly recognized as a pollutant of concern. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) points out that training, public outreach, and best-management practices are key to limiting application and impacts. (Department of Environmental Conservation)

• Municipalities often face the dual mandate of ensuring safe winter roads and protecting water resources. These organizations show that by shifting toward anti-icing (brine) strategies, better plow blade design, calibration of spreaders, monitoring, and data-driven decision-making, both goals can be achieved (and costs reduced).

• From a budget-and-financing perspective: The Lake George initiative reports municipalities reducing salt use by 25-50% and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars. (lakegeorgeassociation.org)

• From a watershed health perspective: Excess road salt contributes to elevated chloride in surface and groundwater, can harm aquatic life, affect drinking water sources, mobilize metals and disrupt ecosystems. (lakegeorgeassociation.org)

• For MS4 and compliance professionals: Having credible training programs (like those offered by WIT Advisers) and public-education campaigns (like AdkAction’s outreach) strengthens a municipality’s case for meeting permit obligations for pollutant reductions, BMP documentation, staff training, and public involvement.

• For municipalities and highway departments: Engaging with such programs provides access to best-practice guidance, external certification recognition, peer-networking (via summits), potential grant funding, and a documented path to reduced salt load and cost savings.

Recommendations for municipalities reading this

• Consider partnering with a certified training provider such as WIT Advisers to review your winter maintenance program, adopt the SWiM® framework, set measurable salt-reduction targets, and monitor outcomes.

• Engage a regional nonprofit or watershed-based organization (if available) like AdkAction or LGA that bridges operations, outreach, and watershed science—this can help broaden stakeholder buy-in (citizens, business owners, contractors) and foster community culture around salt reduction.

• Prioritize equipment upgrades and operational changes that support anti-icing, brine pretreatment, live-edge plows, calibrated spreader controls, driver/operator training, and data capture of salt use per lane-mile or per event.

• Document salt usage, cost savings, and environmental outcomes: these metrics will serve you well in MS4 reporting, regulatory inquiries, and grant applications.

• Incorporate public outreach: educate residents, businesses and private contractors about proper salt application (e.g., use measuring cups, avoid over-salting) to reduce overall salt load in the watershed.

• Monitor outcomes and share results: being able to show measurable salt-use reductions and cost savings helps build internal and external support and may open doors to additional funding or policy incentives.

Reducing road salt use is not just an environmental goal - it is a practical, cost-saving, and community-building effort that benefits everyone who depends on clean water and safe roads. The work of WIT Advisers, AdkAction, and the Lake George Association shows what can be achieved when science, training, and public outreach come together. By embracing modern equipment, data-driven practices, and community education, towns can cut salt use dramatically without compromising safety. Every municipality that adopts these best practices contributes to a broader legacy of stewardship - protecting local waterways, saving taxpayer dollars, and ensuring that future generations inherit roads and lakes as resilient as the communities that care for them.