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"Spreading Trouble"
February 21, 2000 WPTZ NEWS CHANNEL 5
Why is Phosphorus a Problem?
Phosphorus is a naturally occurring nutrient essential for plant growth. When too much phosphorus enters a water body, however, it can cause algal blooms and excessive palnt growth. These plants and the water quality problems that occur when they die can harm fish and other species and limit human uses of the Lake. The Lake Champlain Basin Program has been working to control phosphorus from all sources.

Manure is one of the many contributors of phosphorus to Lake Champlain. Other sources of phosphorus include urban and suburban runoff from parking lots and lawns, municipal wastewater treatment plant discharges, and forestry activities.

Since 1996, the US Department of Agriculture has shared the farmer's cost for more than 500 best management practices (BMP's) within the Lake Champlain Basin. Installing manure pits is an example of a best management practice. Other BMP's include riparian buffers. In addition, New York State Bond Act funds and more than $1.5 million in Vermont state appropriations have helped farmers manage their dairy waste.

A recent study estimates that about 51-55% of the phosphorus load to Lake Champlain comes from agriculture; about 37% comes from urban land; and the remainder from forested land (LCBP Technical Report # 31). It is also important to note that on an acre per acre basis, urban land contributes about 3 and 1/2 times as much phosphorus as agricultural land and almost 40 times as much phosphorus as forested land. Therefore, as urban growth increases in the Champlain Basin, and as forested land becomes developed, these estimates will change.

Links

Contacts

USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service
Vermont Office
69 Union Street
Winooski, VT 05404
(802) 651-6796

New York Office
441 South Salina St.
Suite 354
Syracuse, NY 13202-2450
(315) 477-6504

New York State Department of Agriculture, Food and Markets
1 Winners Circle
Albany, New York 12235-0001
nysagmk@emi.com

Vermont Department of Agriculture Food and Markets
116 State Street, Drawer 20
Montpelier, Vermont 05620-2901
phone: 802-828-2416
fax:  802-828-3831

Clinton County, NY Cornell Cooperative Extension
Education Center
6064 State Route 22
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(518) 561-7450

Essex County, NY Cornell Cooperative Extension
PO Box 388
Westport NY 12993-0388
(518) 962-4810

University of Vermont Cooperative Extension Program
Field Offices:
Middlebury: 388-4969
S. Burlington: 656-5433

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Vermont Agency of Natural Resources

LCBP Reports

Lake Champlain Nonpoint Source Pollution Assessment. Lenore Budd, Associates in Rural Development Inc. and Donald Meals, UVM School of Natural Resources. LCBP Technical Report #6. February 1994. $7.50

Characterization of On-Farm Phosphorus Budgets and Management in the Lake Champlain Basin. Robert D. Allshouse, Everett D. Thomas, Charles J. Sniffen, Kristina Grimes, Carl Majewski - Miner Agricultural Research Institute. LCBP Technical Report #22. January 1997 $8.00

Urban Nonpoint Pollution Source Assessment of the Greater Burlington Area. Urban Stormwater Characterization Project. James Pease, VT Dept. of Environmental Conservation. LCBP Technical Report #25. December 1997 $5.00

Estimation of Lake Champlain Basinwide Nonpoint Source Phosphorus Export. William Hegman, Associates in Rural Development, Inc, and Catherine Borer, UVM Water Resources & Lake Study Center. LCBP Technical Report #31. September 1999. $7.25

Evaluation of Soil Factors Controlling Phosphorus Concentration in Runoff from Agricultural Soils in the Lake Champlain Basin. Frederick R. Magdoff, William E. Jokela and Robert P. Durieux, University of Vermont, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. LCBP Technical Report #29. June 1997. Call for $

PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed on WPTZ NEWS CHANNEL 5's series "Champlain 2000" do not necessarily reflect the position of the Lake Champlain Basin Program or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Lake Champlain Basin Program
PO Box 204
54 West Shore Road
Grand Isle, Vermont 05458
To Contact LCBP: lcbp@lcbp.org
Telephone: (802) 372-3213 or 1-800-468-LCBP
http://www.lcbp.org

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Last Updated: February 22, 2000

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