LCBP Boat Launch Steward Intercepts Hydrilla

A sample of hydrilla intercepted by an LCBP boat launch steward at a boat launch at South Hero, VT in September. Photo: LCBP

“Clean, Drain and Dry” is the motto for boaters across the Lake Champlain Basin. The importance of this preventative practice was emphasized in early September when hydrilla—an invasive aquatic plant—was almost introduced into the Lake at the South Hero John Guilmette access site.

The Lake Champlain Basin Program’s boat launch steward Matthew Gorton was conducting routine courtesy boat inspections to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species when he noticed an unusual looking plant hanging off the trailer backing up into the Lake.

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USACE Tours Lake Champlain Basin Projects

Commander Asbery (USACE), Kim Jensen (VT DEC) and Mark Malchoff (Lake Champlain Sea Grant) examine water chestnut from a harvesting site in the South Lake. Photo: LCBP

In September, Commander Thomas D. Asbery and support staff from the New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) visited several project sites where work is underway to help improve the health of the Lake Champlain ecosystem. The two-day tour in New York and Vermont highlighted projects that improve water quality in Lake Champlain and prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species across the lake’s basin.

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LCBP and USACE Invite Letters of Request for Watershed Restoration Projects

The LCBP, in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), is soliciting Letters of Request for watershed restoration projects. The Lake Champlain Watershed Environmental Assistance Program awards design and construction services provided by the New York District of the Corps. Letters of Request may be submitted at any time for determination of a project’s eligibility, and projects are reviewed periodically throughout the year by the LCBP.

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Mill Pond Dam Removed

In November, the Mill Pond Dam in Colchester, Vermont was removed. This project reconnected 31 miles of aquatic passage in the Indian Brook and improving aquatic ecology in this corner of the Lake Champlain Basin. The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) spearheaded the two-year effort with funding support from the LCBP to pull the plug on the failing structure after property owner Kim Scofield requested help removing it.

With assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the project team restored the stream’s floodplain at the former dam site and removed 30,000 cubic yards of impounded sediment. Scientists estimate that the sediment contained 17 tons of the phosphorus, a potentially significant source to Lake Champlain.

Thousands of dams have been built on rivers and streams in the Lake Champlain Basin. Some dams provide hydroelectric power, recreational opportunities, and water storage, but many structures no longer serve a useful purpose. They can act as barriers to fish passage and impair water quality. In addition, unmaintained dams can be hazardous to downstream communities if they fail during flood events.

Anglers, scientists, and river managers have observed the impacts of dams for decades. Increasingly, local officials, tourism boards, and the general public are recognizing the benefits of dam removal. VNRC leads the Vermont Dam Task Force, a coordinated effort to improve aquatic connectivity and water quality through dam management and removal in Vermont. The active partnership of environmental organizations, management agencies, and dam owners has been successful in pooling resources and expertise.

Similar efforts to remove dams have increased river connectivity in the New York portion of the Lake Champlain Basin in recent years. In 2019, the LCBP worked with several key partners to form the New York – Lake Champlain Basin Dam Removal Task Force in order to coordinate and focus these efforts and share expertise.

An LCBP grant helped support the design, permitting, and construction of the project. USFWS, TNC, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife also provided funding.

Upstream of the Mill Pond Dam site, before and after removal. Photo: VNRC

Watch a video by VNRC about the Mill Pond Dam Removal

NALMS Comes to Vermont

LCBP Education and Outreach Coordinator Colleen Hickey welcomes NALMS attendees to Burlington at ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. Photo: Moleaer

The LCBP and Vermont DEC co-hosted the North American Lake Management Society’s (NALMS) annual conference in Burlington in November. Despite an early-season snow storm, most of the registered 600 lake managers, engineers, biologists, and citizen scientists arrived from as far away as New Zealand to share their knowledge in dozens of workshops and sessions.

This year’s conference offered more workshops than ever, providing attendees the opportunity to learn about algae identification, statistical computing software, story map creation, and more. Special day-long sessions focused on harmful algal blooms, citizen science, drinking water supplies, aquatic invasive species, and monitoring.

Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore, and Dean of the UVM Rubenstein School of Natural Resources Nancy Matthews welcomed attendees to the conference. ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain hosted a welcome reception, and attendees were treated to a tour of the University of Vermont’s lakeside Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory.

Dr. Doug Tallamy of the University of Delaware captivated the plenary audience with photos and stories of plants, insects, and birds and how landscapes that support biodiversity also support healthy watersheds. Runners braved a cold and snowy “Clean Lakes Classic” 5K course. LCBP Director Eric Howe finished in a respectable third-place. Always working to improve water quality in Lake Champlain, Eric crossed the finish line carrying a bag of dog poop that he picked up on the course!

Headed up by the LCBP’s Meg Modley and former VTDEC Lakes and Ponds Program Manager Perry Thomas, the host committee worked with the NALMS staff and board to facilitate program development, solicit record sponsorship support, and organize numerous local events. LCBP staff supported the conference from the earliest days of planning in Spring 2018 by designing the conference logo, planning and moderating sessions, and facilitating workshops. Plans are already underway for next year’s conference in Minneapolis.

Watch the NALMS Plenary Presentation by Dr. Doug Tallamy

International Joint Commission Work Continues

Extensive damage to property and infrastructure devastated communities around Lake Champlain during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Photo: LCBP

The LCBP continued to support the work of the International Joint Commission (IJC) through the summer and fall.

The International Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Study Board continues to explore the causes, impacts, risks, and solutions to flooding in the Lake Champlain and Richelieu River basin. The study is focused on flood forecasting models, public perception of risk, and flood mitigation measures. The International Joint Commission (IJC) will hold public meetings in Vermont, New York, and Québec in Spring 2020. Study personnel will share their progress, and public stakeholders will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback. The Study Board is expected to make formal recommendations to the IJC in 2021.

The LCBP supports the IJC flood study by providing secretariat services, including agenda development, meeting minutes, monthly status reports, coordination of technical workshops, data acquisition, and public outreach. The LCBP also funds and manages the workplan of the IJC communication coordinator for the study. The LCBP prepared the literature review for the Missisquoi Bay water quality report and worked with partners to write the final report and recommendations.

Read more about the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Study

In a separate study, the LCBP and Organisme de basin versant de la baie Missisquoi (OBVBM) released the draft report Nutrient Loading and Impacts in Lake Champlain, Missisquoi Bay, and the Richelieu River as part of the Missisquoi Bay Water Quality project. The LCBP and OBVBM hosted public meetings after the release of the draft report to receive feedback on the proposed management and policy recommendations. The study has been extended by six months and will now wrap up in March 2020 with the presentation of recommendations on water quality and nutrient loading to the governments of the U.S. and Canada.

Read an overview of the Missisquoi Bay Water Quality Study

Watch LCBP Director Dr. Eric Howe describe water quality challenges and possible solutions in Missisquoi Bay in Mountain Lake PBS coverage of the study’s public meetings. >>

2019 Boat Launch Steward Numbers Are In

LCBP Boat Launch Stewards inspect watercraft for aquatic invasive species and inform boaters about spread protection measures. Photo: LCBP

LCBP staff have tallied preliminary numbers for the boat launch steward program this summer. Thirteen stewards worked at eleven different public launches on Lake Champlain between Memorial Day and late September.

• Number of boats inspected: 11,116
• Number of visitors reached with AIS spread prevention message: 23,222
• % of Watercraft with AIS intercepted: 8.6%
• % of boaters taking one or more AIS spread prevention measures: 74.6%

The stewards conduct courtesy boat inspections to intercept aquatic invasive species on boats being launched into or retrieved from the Lake. They also survey boaters on their recent and future boating activity and actions they have taken to prevent the spread of invasive species.

Stewards again operated high-pressure, hot-water decontamination stations at launches in Shelburne, South Hero, and Colchester Point in Vermont. The decontamination stations treated 81 watercraft that were considered to be high risk of transporting invasive species.

The LCBP is partnering with Paul Smith’s College and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation to coordinate their boat launch steward programs in the New York portion of the Lake Champlain basin. Consistent data collection techniques, survey questions, and inspection methodologies help build a comprehensive picture of invasive species threats and need for outreach to achieve the goals of the programs.

Learn more about AIS Spread Prevention

Study Aims to Identify Causes of Mercury Increases

Former LCBP Technical Associate Ellen Kujawa prepares a fish tissue sample for analysis. Photo: UVM

A recent increase in mercury in several Lake Champlain fish species was a surprise trend noted in the 2018 State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report. After a steady decline in the concentration of mercury in fishes between the 1990s and 2011, the period between 2011 and 2017 showed an unexpected bump up.

Scientists are unsure of the reasons for the reversal, and are continuing to track mercury levels to help identify causes of this increase. Similar findings have been documented in the Great Lakes region and in Ontario. Some researchers suggest that causes may be increased mercury deposition from Asia, food web disruption by invasive species, and climate change. These, along with impacts of Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, are plausible explanations for the increase in Lake Champlain fish mercury but require additional research for managers to be certain.

This summer and fall LCBP staff assisted in a research effort at the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein Aquatic Ecology Lab and Rennselear Polytechnic Institute’s Darrin Fresh Water Institute to provide additional data for fish tissue analysis. This new study will evaluate a larger sample size of fish, resulting in a more robust, informative analysis. Hopefully, these additional data will help researchers to more fully understand the recent increase in mercury in Lake Champlain’s fish.

Mercury and other toxins in fish tissue are a prominent human health concern in the Lake Champlain Basin. Vermont, New York, and Québec have issued fish advisories to provide guidance to the public on healthy fish consumption to minimize impacts of mercury.

Education and Outreach Highlights

Healthy Soils
The new Lawn to Lake website has been officially launched. The site features the current “Raise the Blade” campaign as well as information from the former “Don’t ‘P’ on Your Lawn” campaign. The “Raise the Blade” social marketing campaign is working hard behind the scenes this winter, approaching new community partners about spring lawn mowing practices.

Look for a new partnership with the Clinton County Action for Health in New York this spring along with ads on Clinton County buses. In 2020, the public will be invited to enter a raffle for composting mower to be awarded at the end of next summer.

If your business or organization would like join about 15 others in encouraging the public to mow to three inches or higher, with the goal of healthier soil and root systems that absorb runoff from rain events and snowmelt, please contact Colleen Hickey.

YWCA/YMCA Summer Camp Watershed Education Program

LCBP staff demonstrates the watershed model during Camp Hochelaga 100th anniversary event. Photo: LCBP

The LCBP worked with YWCA Camp Hochelaga in South Hero, VT and YMCA Camp Abnaki in North Hero, VT again this year to incorporate lake programming activities into student summer camp experiences. LCBP staff and outreach stewards trained summer camp counselors using activity kits and the watershed model so that they could use these teaching tools to help campers learn more about Lake Champlain. After all, the campers swim, fish, sail, and canoe the lake, so why not incorporate cool science, too?  More than 2,000 students attend the summer camps each year. This fall, LCBP also participated in Camp Hochelaga’s Fall Harvest event on a spectacular October day.

Students and LCBP were back to school!

Students from Porters Point school in Colchester, VT clean up a beach on Malletts Bay. Photo: LCBP

The LCBP has extended the tenure of one of our summer outreach stewards, bolstering the LCBP’s ability to deliver education programs through the winter. This fall, Sue Hagar, LCBP’s outreach steward, help the Education and Outreach team coordinate and conduct 30 programs that reached 480 students at St. Albans Bay Park and Georgia Town Beach. Five organizations offered interactive programs during the field days that were hosted by St Albans Historical Museum. Students participated from St. Albans City and town school, Georgia, Fairfield, and Sheldon. LCBP staff also provided programs to 90 second graders at Colchester’s Porters Point and Union Memorial School, organized a beach clean-up along Malletts Bay with the students, and presented information at Missisquoi Valley Union High school in Swanton. LCBP staff are available to come to your classroom to teach about the watershed and complement your curriculum. To schedule a visit, contact Colleen Hickey.

ECHO SOL Exhibit

Visitors to the Burlington, VT waterfront can view the State of the Lake exhibit in public space just outside ECHO. Photo: LCBP

Visitors to the waterfront in Burlington can now explore two new State of the Lake exhibits completed in partnership with ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. Working with LCBP on graphics and text, ECHO now shares some of the information through a lake story station created in cooperation with WCAX. If you are inside of ECHO, stop by to make one of 6 news video productions which can be sent to your email. Outside, visitors can view the State of the Lake exterior exhibit located in very visible, free public space in front of the Spirit of Ethan Allen.

High school stewardship program

Plattsburgh High School students explore Long Pond in Willsboro, NY. Photo: LCBP

The LCBP and Lake Champlain Sea Grant are offering a pilot High School Stewardship Program to Plattsburgh High School and South Burlington High School students. The multi-year program will present exciting field trip opportunities for grade 9-11 students who are interested in lakes, rivers, and watershed issues. The program has been piloted with students from Plattsburgh City High School and South Burlington High School with some success; we are looking to expand the program to other school systems across the Lake Champlain basin to recruit more students and develop more opportunities. For more information, please contact Stephanie Larkin.

Richmond Celebrates Salmon

Jadziah Hannon-Moonstone of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service helps a young salmon conservationist release a fingerling into the Huntington River. Photo: LCBP

For just the third time in 150 years, scientists found naturally-reproduced Atlantic salmon fry in the Lake Champlain basin this summer. The discovery in the North Branch of the Boquet River in New York was an encouraging milestone for scientists and anglers. And it was timed perfectly, as the CVNHP and partners were stepping up celebrations of the International Year of the Salmon in 2019.

The celebration peaked with the Lake Champlain Salmon Festival in Richmond, VT in October. Organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the LCBP/CVNHP, the day-long celebration included a lecture on salmon restoration, screenings of short films, and exhibit booths stocked with information provided by a variety of watershed partners. Participants immersed themselves in the effort on a guided paddle on the Winooski River and fly-casting lessons. The day was capped off when a group of delighted children (and adults) released fall fingerlings into the Huntington River.

Learn more about the International Year of the Salmon

2019 CVNHP International Summit

Participants at the pre-summit field trip explored historic sites and the terroir of Quebec's Eastern Townships. Photo: LCBP

Seventy-two partners attended the annual Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership International Summit in Venise-en-Québec on October 7, with 21 participating in an optional field trip on Sunday, October 6. The summit included two keynote presentations: 1) Why Women Marched: A History of Activism, by Cyndy Bittinger, U.S. Women’s Historian; and 2) Our Best Endeavors: Temperance & Prohibition in the Champlain Valley, by Susan Evans McClure, Director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The meeting also included an overview of the work accomplished by the CVNHP over the past year, and three “knowledge cafés” where Summit participants discussed how to best focus on the 2020 centennial of women’s suffrage, the 2021 anniversary of prohibition, and what the CVNHP should focus on in 2022. The meeting was ended with a workshop on the CVNHP “pre-proposal” budget and workplan process.

Leatherstocking Literary Trail

The LCBP has developed a seven-panel interpretive trail that focuses on the locations that inspired author James Fennimore Cooper to write his 1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans. The LCBP and the Lake George Historical Society Museum worked closely to develop high-quality, artistic panels tracing Cooper’s 1824 vacation to the region, which inspired the author to write his classic American story.

The team did extensive research on the novel’s locations and focused on artwork by N.C. Wyeth that was included in the 1919 Scribner’s edition of The Last of the Mohicans. The team secured permissions from the Fenimore Art Museum, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Museum of Texas, Brandywine River Museum of Art, Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Library of Congress, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, and others for this project.

Located entirely in New York, the Leatherstocking Literary Trail locations include Fort Edward, the Old Military Road (NY Route 9N), Glens Falls, Ballston Spa, and Lake George. The Leatherstocking Literary Trail will be inaugurated in spring 2020.

View a map showing locations of exhibits

Local Implementation Grant Highlights

The LCBP has awarded more than $10 million through 1,300 small grants to local organizations since 1992. These grants support pollution prevention, habitat restoration, and other projects to improve the water quality and health of the Lake Champlain ecosystem. A sample of recently completed projects include:

Precision Agriculture Education Videos
The Franklin and Grand Isle Farmer’s Watershed Alliance (FWA) produced a series videos to demonstrate how farmers are using precision agriculture technologies to manage impact to natural resources and maximize return on investment. These technologies allow farmers to plant seeds, apply fertilizer, apply manure, harvest crops, and produce feed for livestock with a high degree of accuracy while recording valuable data. The videos have been distributed online, and viewed at the FWA booth at events, reaching a wide variety of community members. The FWA also co-hosted two related field days focused on precision agriculture. The filming was completed on private land with the participation of member farmers in Franklin County, Vermont. Much of Franklin County is in the Saint Albans or Missisquoi Bay watersheds, both of which exceed phosphorus pollution limits into these bays.
Grant Category: Pollution Prevention and Habitat Conservation

View the videos

South Burlington Gravel Wetland Retrofit
The City of South Burlington, VT, hired a contractor to convert a detention basin to a gravel wetland in a suburban neighborhood with persistent stormwater management challenges. The Pinnacle at Spear neighborhood is situated within two stormwater impaired streams. The retrofit included installation of a swirl separator for pretreatment, two gravel wetland cells, and improvement of an outlet structure. The work improved treatment for 4.5 acres of impervious surface, reducing peak discharge to Bartlett Brook by 75%.
Grant Category: Enhanced Best Management Practices

Soil Health on Market Farms
The Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District partnered with SUNY Adirondack’s Agricultural School to host a series of soil health on market farm programs. The District worked directly with professors and students to implement the “Soil Health on Market Farms” grant at the college. Together, they developed a demonstration market farm plot at the college and purchased the tools and supplies necessary to maintain the plot. Best management practices were used to promote conservation practices. In addition, a series of programs were hosted at the college, discussing the benefits of market farming, best management practices (BMPs), cover crops, no-till and how to effectively and efficiently use these techniques on the demonstration plot.
Grant Category: Education and Outreach

VSECU Rain Garden
The Montpelier Conservation Commission coordinated construction of a rain garden with bioretention media to infiltrate and slow stormwater runoff from a portion of the Vermont State Employees Credit Union (VSECU) parking lot. Located on a main road in Montpelier, the project is highly visible to the public and is being used as an educational site. Ecolibrium produced the design and constructed the garden with the help of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. Sustainable Montpelier Coalition and VSECU helped design outreach materials. The project is part of a larger plan to implement green stormwater infrastructure practices to reduce stormwater impacts in Montpelier.
Grant Category: Pollution Prevention and Habitat Conservation

Clockwise from top left: inside a contemporary high-tech tractor; construction of a stormwater management system in South Burlington, VT; an agroecology course at SUNY Adirondack’s Agricultural School; green stormwater infrastructure in Montpelier. Photos: Farmers Watershed Alliance, City of South Burlington, Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District, Montpelier Conservation Commission

Upcoming Events

Year of the Salmon Teacher Workshop
January 25, 9 a.m.-3:00 p.m., LCBP office in Grand Isle

Teachers are invited to join the LCBP, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, and the Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited as we offer a one day workshop about Salmon. Topics to be covered include history of salmon in the Champlain Valley, life cycle of salmon, habitat restoration, Salmon in the Classroom, and possible fish dissection. Register (FREE) by emailing  Stephanie Larkin. Spaces may fill quickly.

Love the Lake Speaker Series
Thursdays, February 20 to March 12, 2020, Grand Isle, VT
Join the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Executive Director Susan Evans McClure on February 8 for a rollicking review of Temperance and Prohibition in the Champlain Valley. Stay tuned for more information about the LCBP’s four-part lecture series at the LCBP office. Who else will you meet during the series?

31st Annual Nonpoint Source Conference
April 23-24, 2020, Woodstock, VT
The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), in partnership with its member states, has coordinated the Annual Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution Conference since 1990. Their NPS conference has become the premier forum in our region for sharing information and improving communication on NPS pollution issues and projects.

This year’s conference theme – The Watershed Approach – focuses on the importance of partnerships and collaboration between states and federal agencies and organizations working to manage nonpoint sources of pollution. The planning team, consisting of staff from NEIWPCC, LCBP, VTDEC, and USEPA, is developing an agenda that caters to nonprofit and watershed organization staff, private sector professionals, state, tribal, federal, and municipal staff, as well as college and university students and professors. Keep an eye out for registration opening in February 2020.

NEIWPCC has served as financial administrator and program advisor to LCBP since 1992. NEIWPCC is a regional commission that helps the Northeast states preserve and advance water quality. NEIWPCC’s values include collaboration and education which, in the upcoming year, will be emphasized at the 31st Annual Nonpoint Source Conference. Materials from previous conferences can be viewed at NEIWPCC's conference archives.

To stay informed about this event, please contact James Plummer at NEIWPCC