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Casin’ the Basin E-Newsletter
November 2015 Issue No. 27 Spacer Dark Blue
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Happy 25th Anniversary!

LCBP 25th Anniversary Logo

November 16th marked the 25th anniversary of the Lake Champlain Special Designation Act which was authored by Vermont’s U.S. Senators Leahy and Jeffords and New York Senators D’Amato and Moynihan in 1990. Since that time the LCBP has continued to work on priority issues facing Lake Champlain. A keystone of the program has been the collection of water quality monitoring data that allows scientists to see changing trends in rivers and the Lake itself. As lake issues evolve so, too, do the management priorities for Lake Champlain. New York, Vermont, and Québec, along with U.S. federal agencies, remain at the table, sharing responsibilities for pollution reduction with citizens of their geographic regions.


Since 1990, the LCBP has awarded more than 970 grants, totaling more than $6.4 million, to local organizations who complete a great diversity of pollution prevention, habitat restoration, and other projects to improve the quality of Lake Champlain. Next month, about $1 million dollars in new federal funds will be distributed to local groups working to restore the Lake’s ecosystem, inform students and local communities about lake issues, and preserve the region’s cultural heritage.



Willsboro Dam Successfully Removed

Willsboro dam removal

The Saw Mill Dam on the Boquet River in New York was successfully removed in September, opening up over 40 miles of salmon spawning habitat. The timber frame structure was originally built in the 1890s to power nearby mills and had a life expectancy of 40-70 years. By 2015, the structure was failing and the town of Willsboro faced the choice to repair, remove or replace it. Voters eventually chose to remove the dam, and the town teamed up with Milone & MacBroom, the Greater Adirondack Resource Conservation and Development Council, LCBP, New York State DEC, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Over a period of 18 months, the team conducted feasibility studies, held public meetings, and eventually designed a low-impact removal process. Town officials hope the removal, along with providing access to spawning habitat, also will decrease the risk of ice jam flooding.



Burlington Waterfront Development Addresses Stormwater

Constructed gravel wetlands put stormwater management at the core of Burlington’s Waterfront Access North project.

Thanksgiving week saw the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Waterfront Access North project in Burlington, VT. Many federal, state, and city officials, including Senator Patrick Leahy, Governors Peter Shumlin and Howard Dean, and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger were on hand to unveil the rehabilitated portion of the Burlington waterfront. In addition to a widened and realigned bike path, a new skatepark, and improved access and parking, the project includes the construction of two gravel wetlands to treat stormwater from the area.


With the site’s close proximity to the lake, stormwater management and education was a critical component in project planning. LCBP awarded the City of Burlington $200,000 to construct the wetlands near the existing defunct Moran coal-fired electric generating plant. Previously untreated, stormwater now will be directed to and collected by the wetlands. Gravel wetlands of the type constructed at the site have been shown to reduce suspended sediments by 99% and phosphorus by 56%. Interpretive signs installed at the site will explain the stormwater treatment process, and will encourage personal responsibility that leads to behavioral changes and actions to reduce stormwater pollution in other areas, as well.



CBEI Hosts Fall Workshops

Dr. Tim Mihuc of SUNY-Plattsburgh leads teachers in a macro-invertebrate sampling exercise in the Saranac River. Photo: Jen Cirillo, Shelburne Farms

On October 9th, CBEI partners and Friends of Northern Lake Champlain provided a 3 hour in-service workshop with St. Albans and Fairfield educators for grades K-12. The St. Albans Supervisory Union offered the teaching opportunity, recognizing the need for educators to learn more about Champlain and St. Albans watershed issues. Thirteen participants received the LCBP 2015 State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report, participated in a lake-related World Café activity facilitated by Jen Cirillo from Shelburne Farms, shared their lake projects with colleagues, and did some preliminary planning for the next steps in bringing teacher resources to St. Albans. Teachers also visited the City School’s rain garden (created with funding from the LCBP; see Grant Results below) and a restored wetland.


Fourteen educators from Peru, Keene, Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake, and Moriah, NY participated in the October 23rd CBEI Sharing the Stories of the Saranac River workshop. Participants worked in teams to weave together stories of aquatic and terrestrial ecology, history and on-line story mapping. Working with a river ecologist, historian, and two field experts during the morning session, the participants then extrapolated how they could use their new found knowledge and apply it to their existing classroom curriculum. CBEI will continue to reach out to Plattsburgh and other New York communities to help educators incorporate Lake Champlain and its ecosystem into student learning while teaching to the standards.


The third CBEI teacher workshop, Nuts about Masts (the dry fruit from woody plants), was held at Shelburne Farms with ten educators on October 30. Each year, CBEI holds several alumni events for the more than 50 educators who have graduated from the Watershed for Every Classroom course, providing them with an opportunity to bring a colleague who may also want to incorporate watersheds and ecosystems into their teaching. Keeping Track’s Sue Morse used visual presentations to discuss fall and winter habits of wildlife, then led teachers on an outdoor field trip for several hours through the Farm’s fields and forest.


Visit the WatershED Matters website to learn about upcoming CBEI events >>



Boat Launch Steward Season Wraps Up

Boat launch steward inspects boat

A boat launch steward conducts an inspection at the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department launch on the Winooski River in Colchester, VT.

Summer 2015 was another busy season for the Lake Champlain boat launch stewards. In its ninth year, the program stationed 10 stewards at 14 launches between Memorial Day and Columbus Day. Stewards conducted courtesy boat inspections for aquatic invasive species, collected survey data, and talked to visitors about how they can help to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.


The stewards inspected 12,555 boats and shared the “Clean, Drain, Dry” message with 26,306 Lake Champlain visitors. Nearly 10% of boats had an aquatic organism present, and 2.8% carried invasive species. Commonly found aquatic invasive species included Eurasian watermilfoil, curlyleaf pondweed, zebra mussels, variable leaf milfoil, and water chestnut.


Surveys revealed that 89% of visitors had taken spread prevention measures such as washing their boat, draining their bilge, drying their boat and equipment, disposing of bait properly, and disinfecting their livewell. This is an increase from 83% in 2014, suggesting that increased steward efforts throughout the region, including the Adirondacks, may well be helping to increase awareness of invasive species issues among recreational boaters.



IJC Releases Draft Flood Forecasting and Mapping Report

The streets of Venise-en-Québec on Missisquoi Bay were inundated to 103' above sea level in spring 2011. Photo: MDDELCC

The International Joint Commission-appointed International Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Technical Working Group has prepared and released for public comment the draft report Toward an operational real-time flood forecasting and flood inundation mapping system for the Lake Champlain and Richelieu River. The report addresses issues that the governments of Canada and the United States asked the IJC to address following the release of the IJC’s July 2013 Plan of Study for identifying flood impacts and mitigation measures.


The report included flood-inundation maps for the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River system. These maps provide an emergency planning tool for authorities and the general public for lands that may flood during high water events. Static inundation maps were created for the Vermont side of Lake Champlain, a portion of the New York northeastern shoreline, and for the Richelieu River from the border to downstream of the Fryers Rapids in Québec. A LiDAR Digital Elevation Model available in Canada helped scientists develop maps showing flood water depths for 11 flood scenarios from 101 to 106 feet above sea level. The inundation maps are not designed for regulatory purposes.


The public is invited to offer comments until December 10, at which time the IJC will consider public comments before finalizing its report. View the draft report on the IJC’s website.



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Grant Results

Grant projects

St. Albans City School students plant rain garden vegetation; a Boy Scout shows his shoreline  map; APIPP’s Zachary Simek shows spotted knapweed to a participant in Friends of Saranac River Trail’s Nature Trek. Photos: St. Albans City School; Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Friends of the Saranac River Trail.


St. Albans City School rain garden
Students at St. Albans City School, located within the critically impaired St. Albans Bay watershed, helped design and implement a bio-retention rain garden to mitigate runoff and pollution, and reduce erosion from a heavily used parking lot. The project involved students in every phase of the process, including meeting with environmental engineers, assessing the site, designing the bio-retention garden, choosing the specific plants, planting and maintaining the garden, and communicating about the project with community members and the local media. Students presented their work at the 2015 International Society for Technology in Education Conference and Expo in Philadelphia, wrote articles for the local paper, and presented to the SACS School Board. Students will assess the site and compare stormwater runoff before and after the implementation of the bio-retention garden to quantify effects of the treatment.

 

Scouting the Otter Creek
A group of young explorers from Vergennes mapped the historic Otter Creek last summer. Working with the staff of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, members of Boy Scout Troop 539 rowed longboats seven miles from Vergennes Falls to Lake Champlain. Along the route they used GPS technology to map points of interest, including nesting areas, historical sites, archaeological sites, and areas affected by invasive plants and aquatic life. The scouts spent the next day discussing their findings and using GIS software to create an online map and interpretive guide. The 21st century gave way to the 17th century when they learned how French explorer Samuel de Champlain navigated and made maps in the early 1600s. Each scout crafted handmade maps of the shoreline of North Harbor, and compared their drawings to satellite projections on Google Earth. The project was funded through a Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership Water Trail Grant.


Talks, Treks and Tasks on the Saranac River Trail
The Friends of the Saranac River Trail have used an Education and Outreach grant to build awareness about the trail and sites along its route. This summer and fall, the Friends have sponsored several events led by local experts. The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) led a tour along the trail, identifying invasive species and describing the ecological threats posed by these species. Two local photographers led two treks, providing tips and tools for amateur photographers to view their surroundings in new ways. The City Environmental Manager led a tour of one of the most prominent but least known buildings on the Plattsburgh waterfront—the wastewater treatment facility. Additional programs are planned for the coming year. For more information, visit the Friends of the Saranac River Trail website.



Research and Implementation Projects

Costs and Benefits of Floodplain Protection Activities in Waterbury, Vermont and Willsboro, New York
A recent study funded by the Lake Champlain Basin Program and led by consultants Milone and MacBroom, Inc. and Fitzgerald Environmental found that allowing rivers to access their floodplains and limiting development in hazard-prone areas can save communities tens of thousands of dollars in flood-related damages. Floodplains help provide flood water storage, reduce erosion, and protect water quality. The consultants conducted a cost-benefit analysis for two communities—Waterbury, Vermont, on the Winooski River, and Willsboro, New York, located on the Boquet River. If floodplain development rules don’t change and new development is allowed, the economic cost will be significantly greater. Conversely, if these communities consider measures such as elevating flood-prone buildings and utilities and restricting floodplain development, net benefits may be achieved. For specifics on the analysis damage and benefit estimates, read the full report >>


LCBP Climate Change and Stormwater Management Report Completed
LCBP staff recently completed a technical report analyzing the local effects of climate change in the near and distant future with particular adaptation strategies for stormwater management. The report is intended for municipal-level stormwater managers as well as the general public, and includes explanations of global climate change scenarios, current stormwater management in Vermont and New York, and the potential impacts of a warmer, wetter future. Though the region may feel the effects of a changing climate, preparing now for future flood events can prevent widespread damage to infrastructure and homes.
Read the full report >>



LCBP Events & Activities

Upcoming Events

Healthy Soils Workshop
December 4, 2015, Grand Isle, VT
The LCBP will host a meeting of local, state, and federal partners working on healthy soils initiatives. The goal is to determine if shared messaging can benefit multiple organizations working to reduce water pollution and improve soil health. For more information, contact Colleen Hickey at chickey@lcbp.org or 802-372-0211


Natural Shorelands Erosion Control Certification
January 22, 2016, Montpelier, VT

Vermont has over 1,400 miles of lakeshores with some of the greatest residential density and development pressure in the state. This voluntary certification course teaches landscaping practices that control stormwater runoff and safeguard wildlife habitat, so we may better protect lakes through responsible shoreland management.


Certified participants will be listed on the Agency of Natural Resources web site and given priority for certain ANR grant funded shoreland projects.

$25 per person. Lunch included. Register: Amy.Picotte@vermont.gov OR call 802-490-6128


Champlain Basin Education Initiative Workshop
January 29, 2016, Location TBD
State of the Lake: Issues, Action & Creative Use of Technology

Stay tuned for more information.



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Blue Spacer About The ProgramThe Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) works in partnership with government agencies from New York, Vermont, and Quebec, private organizations, local communities, and individuals to coordinate and fund efforts which benefit the Lake Champlain Basin’s water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and cultural resources. Learn more or view our Management Plan. Blue Spacer 2 Other SitesOpportunities for Action
State of the Lake
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