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Lake
Champlain - Water Quality
As the economic importance of the
Lake Champlain and the population of the Champlain Valley
have grown, so have the environmental problems of the lake.
One of the main environmental issues facing the Lake is
controlling pollution that flows into the lake. One
of the first alarm bells that sounded, suggesting that Lake
Champlain was in trouble, was the New England River Basin
Study completed in the late 1970s. The report identified
high phosphorus levels in Lake Champlain as a problem that
threatened the long term health of the lake.
 In
1988, Vermont, New York and Quebec signed a memorandum of
understanding that acknowledged the phosphorus levels were
too high in Lake Champlain and all three pledged to reduce
these levels. In 1990, Senators Jeffords, Moynihan and
D’Amato and I introduced and passed the Lake Champlain
Special Designation Act. Since then I have secured over $1
million annually to support the Lake Champlain Basin Program
(LCBP), which was created in the Special Designation Act.
LCBP funds research, pollution prevention and restoration
projects for the lake.
Agriculture Non-Point Pollution – Agriculture activities
contribute 55 percent of the annual phosphorus load into the
lake. Through voluntary actions, farmers have reduced
phosphorus loads by more than 65 tons per year since the
1970s. However, there are still many farmers that want to
improve their land management practices to reduce phosphorus
runoff but are still waiting for federal funding. I have
worked for over a decade to secure that funding through the
federal Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) that
I helped launch in the 1996 Farm Bill. On average, this
program has brought between $1 million and $2 million to
Vermont farmers each year. Through a provision I included
in the most recent federal Farm Bill, this number is going
up dramatically to $7 million in 2004. In addition, I have
secured $1 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
conduct several pilot programs around Missisquoi and St.
Albans bays to help reduce phosphorus runoff and stem the
algae blooms in the area.
Urban
Runoff – Wastewater treatment, industrial discharge and
storm water runoff all contribute to the lake’s water
quality concerns. Pollution from specific facilities
dropped 40 percent between 1970 and 1991. Along with
Senator Jeffords, I have secured over $10 million in
wastewater grants for communities in the Lake Champlain
Basin. These earmarks assisted towns with upgrades to their
municipal wastewater systems and reduced phosphorus
discharge into Lake Champlain. Senator Jeffords and I have
also secured $3 million to help Chittenden County
communities with improvements to curb storm water runoff.
For more
information on Lake Champlain water quality, please visit:
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