Letter from the Director

January felt COLD at the LCBP office in Grand Isle, VT. Will Lake Champlain freeze over this year?  That is one of the big questions bouncing around the LCBP office, and among enquiring visitors to the LCBP Resource Room at ECHO Leahy Center.

If you missed it, we forecasted—based on a century of trend data—in our 2021 State of the Lake Report that by the year 2050, the Lake may freeze fully just once per decade. We shall see what Mother Nature has in store for us for the rest of the winter!

This is an important year for the LCBP and for Lake Champlain. October 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which authorizes the LCBP to do the work we do. It also marks three decades of grants awarded by the LCBP to groups across the watershed to implement projects that help improve and protect the health of the Lake Champlain ecosystem.

Over those 30 years, the LCBP has awarded more than $14 million in grants to help achieve our goals for the watershed. Staff have been busy processing grant applications and working to prepare new projects for the upcoming field season. Stay tuned for an announcement later this month summarizing the suite of projects that LCBP will be supporting in the coming year.

This will also be the final full calendar year that Senator Leahy will be in office, championing support for Lake Champlain and healthy ecosystems across the country. The legacy of Marcelle and Patrick Leahy will be everlasting on Lake Champlain.

We also have been busy updating our comprehensive management plan, Opportunities for Action.  We are on track to publish this plan this summer. Stay tuned for announcements for public meetings and a formal public comment period this spring.

We will continue to emphasize perennial priorities in the updated plan, including supporting monitoring programs, grant programs to partners, research and implementation projects to address nutrients, and aquatic invasive species. The plan also will reflect feedback we received from partners last summer by establishing climate change and access to underserved communities as overarching themes.

Enjoy the Lake, and if you go out on the ice, remember that no ice is safe ice!

Eric Howe
Director, Lake Champlain Basin Program & Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership

The LCBP Thanks Patrick and Marcelle Leahy

The LCBP thanks Patrick and Marcelle Leahy for their nearly five decades of service to our country, to Vermont, and to Lake Champlain. Their dedication to Lake Champlain will leave a lasting legacy well beyond the lifetimes of our current generations of stakeholders in the Basin. Pillars of this legacy include the passage of the Lake Champlain Special Designation Act and the creation of the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.

Read more

LCBP Celebrates 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act

The U.S. Clean Water Act will celebrate its 50th anniversary in October 2022. This monumental law expanded federal protection of the waters of the United States, paving the way for policies, protections and funding dedicated towards clean water.

Subsequent amendments to the Act strengthened protections for Lake Champlain and created the Lake Champlain Basin Program. The LCBP and the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership will work with partners to commemorate the anniversary with a variety of events, activities, and publications over the course of the year.

Join the Clean Water Act anniversary commemoration

NEIWPCC Celebrates 75th Anniversary

This year will also mark 75 years since NEIWPCC’s establishment by an act of Congress on July 30, 1947. Throughout the year, NEIWPCC will be sharing stories from staff, commissioners, and partners to commemorate the organization’s strong history of advancing clean water in the Northeast.

NEIWPCC—a regional commission that helps the states of the Northeast preserve and advance water quality—serves as the primary program administrator of LCBP at the request of the Lake Champlain Steering Committee and administers the program’s personnel and finances. LCBP is a program partner of NEIWPCC.

Executive Director Susan Sullivan Invites Partners to Celebrate NEIWPCC's 75th anniversary and the Clean Water Act's 50th

Boat Launch Stewards Notch Hundreds of AIS Saves

The Lake Champlain Boat Launch Steward Program closed out its fifteenth season in fall 2021. In a cooperative effort the LCBP, the Adirondack Watershed Institute, and OBVBM in Québec inspected boats for aquatic invasive species (AIS) and educated the public about their ecologic and economic harm at launches around the lake.

LCBP Boat Launch Stewards intercepted aquatic invasive species 829 times last summer—mostly on boats being taken out of Lake Champlain—preventing the spread of these threats between Lake Champlain and other water bodies in the region. 

The LCBP stewards conducted 11,612 surveys for 12,523 watercraft and decontaminated 196 high-risk watercraft with high-pressure hot-water treatment. They discussed AIS spread prevention with 26,200 launch users and surveyed them about their spread prevention practices. Seventy-six percent of users surveyed said they take spread prevention measures to clean, drain, and dry their watercraft, trailer, and equipment.

Learn more about AIS Spread Prevention and what you can do

IJC Continues Work to Address Flooding

The International Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Study Board released the report Flood Water Storage using Active and Passive Approaches: Assessing Flood Control Attributes of Wetlands and Riparian Agricultural Land in the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Watershed in December (report summary). The report details the results of the study’s research into the potential for expanding wetlands to reduce high water levels during floods.

The study will release several more reports as it prepares to deliver final recommendations to the IJC for mitigating flooding in the basin. The reports will cover flood forecasting efforts in the US and Canada, the potential effects of climate change on future water supplies in the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River basin, and updated information on the structural solutions to reduce high water levels during floods.

The study board expects to deliver its final recommendations in May 2022. Public comments on the preliminary findings and recommendations will be accepted until March 4th. The public can provide feedback in a number ways on the Study Board web site.

Learn more about the International Lake Champlain - Richelieu River (LCRR) Study Board and the LCBP’s role

Vermont CAC Releases 2022 Action Plan

The Vermont Citizens Advisory Committee has released its 2022 Lake Champlain Action Plan. CAC members met this month with several committees of the Vermont Legislature, Governor Scott, Lt. Governor Gray, and members of the Administration to present the annual report of recommendations. The 2022 Action Plan calls for the State to invest in natural and developed infrastructure, public access and the recreation economy, aquatic invasive species prevention, the agricultural transition to sustainability, and solutions to emerging contaminants pollution. It also calls for consolidation of water quality enforcement.

In November, the New York and Vermont Citizen Advisory Committees (CAC) hosted a joint meeting with participation from members of the Québec Citizen Advisory Committee. Dr. Alissa White of the University of Vermont and Brian Steinmuller of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets presented on issues of soil health, water quality, and climate change. The meeting summary and recording can be found on the Vermont and New York CAC webpages.

The CAC meetings provide a forum for community members, interest groups, and local governments to discuss Lake issues. The VTCAC and NYCAC meetings are open to the public. You are welcome to attend, learn about challenges and opportunities facing the Lake, and provide comments.

Email Katie Darr to be added to the VTCAC or the NYCAC public notice email list to be alerted of all upcoming meetings and CAC information

Education and Outreach Highlights

Resource Room visitors explore the 2021 State of the Lake Report. Photo: LCBP

Resource Room Preparing for Spring Visitors
The LCBP Resource Room at ECHO welcomed 3,853 guests in the last three months and looks forward to hosting more visitors this spring as we gear up with new exhibits.

The Resource Room is featuring “Rocks of the Region” and a display of Lake Champlain Basin fossils to complement the opening of the museum’s new Dinosaur Discoveries exhibit. Staff is also welcoming visitor’s reflections on meaningful locations in the Basin, as part of the Clean Water Act 50th anniversary commemoration. 

St. Albans Girl Scout Troop 30456 brought great questions to the Resource Room on a recent snowy weekend! Got a Lake question? The Resource Room staff has answers. Contact them seven days a week at (802) 864-1848 ext 109 or resourceroom@lcbp.org.

Speaker Series to Feature Explorations of Water Quality
The South Hero Land Trust and the Worthen Library will host two LCBP grant recipients who will discuss water quality on Lake Champlain as part of the virtual Winter Wednesdays Speaker Series. 

On March 2, Susan Evans McClure, Executive Director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) will discuss the creation, the impact, and the legacy of the Clean Water Act on the Lake Champlain watershed. The Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership is partnering with LCMM to develop a series of travelling interpretive exhibits to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Act throughout the Basin.

On March 16, UVM student Jordan Rowell will share a preview of No Other Lake, a documentary of his kayak journey along the length of Lake Champlain. On their journey, Jordan and filmmaker Duane Peterson met with community members to discuss current lake issues, climate change impacts, and hopes for Lake Champlain’s future. An LCBP Education and Outreach grant is supporting production of the documentary and work with school children on watershed issues and climate change.

Get details about SHLT's Winter Wednesdays Speaker Series

LCBP Welcomes Emma Redel

The LCBP welcomes Communications and Publications Intern Emma Redel. Emma will be helping with maintenance of LCBP websites and other communications projects. Emma studies Environmental Science, Community Development, and Geospatial Technologies at UVM. Previously, she worked on a Lt. Governor’s campaign in Vermont and as a sommelier in the Burlington area. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a collective of local professionals, she helped found On the Fly Vermont, where she led the onboarding and operations of grant-funded client projects focusing on supporting the hospitality industry.

Local Implementation Grant Highlights

The LCBP has awarded more than $14 million through more than 1,490 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:

Panoramic videos immerse viewers in Lake Champlain landscapes
The Lake Champlain Land Trust worked with Peregrine Productions to produce two 360-degree videos and purchase virtual reality display headsets that put the viewer at the center of breathtaking panoramic views on the Lake Champlain shoreline. One video features four natural communities within the Trembleau Mountain Tract in Chesterfield, New York. The other immerses the viewer in the four seasons of Lake Champlain as seen from Trembleau Mountain, Split Rock Mountain, Mill River, Eagle Mountain, Niquette Bay State Park, and Rock Point Natural Area in Burlington, VT. The videos will be available on the LCLT website, and visitors can view them on the Virtual Reality headset at community events.

Grant Category: Education and Outreach.

Experience the Lake in 360

Property Owners Protect Lake St. Catherine

Nineteen property owners on the Little Lake section of Lake St. Catherine in Vermont implemented 22 projects to improve water quality in summer 2021. Projects included vegetated buffer plantings, infiltration step installation, culvert stabilization efforts, and rain garden construction. The work was done as part of the Lake Wise assessment program conducted by the Lake St. Catherine Association, Poultney Mettowee NRCD, and the Lake St. Catherine Conservation Fund. The projects were funded by the LCBP and Lake Champlain Sea Grant. Several other property owners had assessments done and learned about steps they could take to help keep their lake clean.

Grant Category: Pollution Prevention and Habitat Conservation

Get involved in the Lake Wise program on Lake St. Catherine

Maritime Museum Reduces Microplastics Threat

The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has developed exhibits and outreach programs to inform staff and visitors about the impacts of microplastics and actions taken to reduce them. The Museum worked with Danielle Garneau, Professor of Environmental Sciences at SUNY Plattsburgh, to develop an exhibit that accompanies new dock flotation at the museum that will reduce microplastic pollution. Dr. Garneau also helped develop a training guide and session for museum staff and volunteers. Thirty-six people attended the recorded training, which is available on the Museum’s YouTube channel.Grant

Category: Education and Outreach.

Learn about microplastics with LCMM and Dr. Garneau

New Boat Launch Steward Program Started at Monkton Pond, VT
The Lewis Creek Association established a new boat launch steward program on Monkton Pond in summer 2021. The program complements the program started on Bristol Pond by LCA in 2020, helping to reduce transport of aquatic invasive species between the two ponds and other waterbodies in the region, including Lake Champlain. Stewards at the two ponds removed invasive species from a combined total of 160 boats and identified a new population of the invasive brittle naiad in Bristol Pond.

Category: Aquatic Invasive Species Management.

Learn more about the LCA boat launch steward program

Clockwise from top left: Lake Champlain Land Trust, Lake St. Catherine Assoc., Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Matt Gorton.

View more LCBP project highlights

Upcoming Events

Northeast Aquatic Biologists Conference
March 2-4, 2022
Portland, ME
Learn more

World Water Day Celebration of Student Work
March 22, 2022 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Virtual
Teachers and their students can submit up to three classroom entries for the 2022 World Water Day celebration hosted by the Champlain Basin Education Initiative partners. The event will share student work about clean water and healthy ecosystems. We’re looking for cool New York, Québec and Vermont entries  through student art, photography, writing, or video projects while celebrating the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Clean Water Act. We’ll offer fun classroom awards, so spread the word to local schools please! For more information contact LCBP’s Stephanie Larkin at slarkin@lcbp.org.

Annual Nonpoint Source Conference
April 27-28, 2022
Woodstock, VT

The Annual NPS Conference is the premier forum in the Northeast for sharing information and improving communication on NPS pollution issues and projects.
Learn more

New York Educators Summit
May 5, 2022
Fort Ticonderoga, NY

Exploring the Diversity of the Lake Champlain Basin and Linking Students to Their Watershed!
Learn more

Lake Champlain Research Symposium

May 23-24, 2022
Save the dates for the next Lake Champlain Research Conference! The focus of the conference will be Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act. Registration will open in late March.
Visit the LCRC conference page

LCBP Committee Meetings

• Lake Champlain Executive Committee, March 15, 2022.
• LCBP Steering Committee, April 12-13, 2022.
• LCBP Executive Committee, May 11, 2022.

Contact Kathy Jarvis for more information.