Read Online: Read the full report (2 MB PDF file). Background Documents: Many of the technical references in the report can be read or linked to from the LCBP website. Ecosystem Indicators and an Environmental Score Card for the Lake Champlain Basin Program, LCBP Technical Report #46 Additional Ecosystem Indicators Matrix Lake Champlain long-term monitoring data (link to VT DEC). Updating the Lake Champlain Basin Land Use Data to Improve Prediction of Phosphorus Loading. LCBP Technical Report #54. LCBP technical reports for cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) monitoring program. Links to Lake Champlain fish consumption advisories for NY, VT and Quebec. "Mass balance assessment for mercury in Lake Champlain" in Environmental Science & Technology. Vol. 40 #1 pp 82-89. (2006) Conserving Lake Champlain's Biodiversity, The Nature Conservancy, 2006.(TNC website) Lake Champlain Sea Lamprey Control website and lampicide schedule. (NYSDEC website). Lake Champlain Basin Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan - 2005. 2007 Vermont Water Chestnut Management Program Summary (VT DEC website).

For Release: Immediate
Regarding: LCBP Reports on the Health of Lake Champlain in New State of the Lake report
Date: June 27, 2008
Contact: Nicole Ballinger, Lake Champlain Basin Program (802) 372-3213 or (800) 468-5227

2008 State of the Lake Report and Scorecard Summarizes Health of Lake Champlain

Grand Isle, VT - The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) released its 2008 report on the health of Lake Champlain: State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report – 2008 at a press conference today, Friday, June 27, 2008 at its offices in Grand Isle, Vermont.

The State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report - 2008 is a 32-page report that answers important questions frequently asked by the public and lake managers about the health of Lake Champlain. It covers issues in three key areas: phosphorus and algae; human health and toxins; and biodiversity and aquatic invasive species. For each issue, the report presents details about the status or condition of the issue, pressures that are contributing to the problem, and some of the management responses to alleviate the problem. The 2008 report also includes an ecosystem indicators scorecard that summarizes the health of each of the Lake’s five major areas or segments: Missisquoi Bay, Northeast Arm (Inland Sea), Malletts Bay, Main Lake, and South Lake by issue. For 2008, nine issues were scored and trends were established for five of those issues.

“The scorecard will help us track the state of the Lake over time and may help focus management efforts by highlighting areas of success and those areas that need additional attention,” said Mary Watzin, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Chair for the LCBP.

“The report shows where the Lake’s health needs improvement, and we are encouraged by the increased focus on Lake Champlain programs by the states of Vermont, New York and the Province of Quebec, as well as the Federal agencies” said Bill Howland, LCBP Manager. “Programs like Vermont Clean and Clear that focuses on phosphorus reduction in the northern Lake, the water chestnut removal partnerships in the south lake and the many volunteer watershed groups across the basin are among the most effective management efforts. Although the complex Lake ecosystem will take time to respond to clean-up efforts, Lake Champlain is on a course towards improvement.”

Details of the 2008 State of the Lake Report

Phosphorus levels in the Lake remain the greatest concern for parts of Lake Champlain, as this nutrient is the primary factor in nuisance algae blooms. The pattern is unchanged from the last State of the Lake report in 2005: Missisquoi Bay, South Lake and Northeast Arm continue to do poorly due to too much phosphorus. As in 2005, the Main Lake and Malletts Bay are very close to phosphorus targets and Burlington Bay, Cumberland Bay, and Shelburne Bay are doing better than their targets.

Phosphorus loading to the Lake was also scored in the report. Phosphorus loads from wastewater treatment plants were scored good for all areas of the Lake because they are meeting the established loading targets, but scores for nonpoint source runoff were poor lake-wide. Nonpoint source runoff includes fertilizers, manure, sediments, and stormwater runoff for both rural and developed land, making programs such as the zero-phosphorus lawn fertilizer campaign and stormwater runoff remediation more important than ever.

The Lake is doing better for human health and toxin issues, which include blue-green algae toxins, beach closures and fish advisories. Most parts of the Lake received good or fair scores. For example, nearly all beaches on the Lake had fewer than three closures in 2007, due to bacterial pathogens, such as E. coli. To inform these scores, the LCBP collected beach closure data from 34 public beaches on Lake Champlain.

The report also includes scores for biodiversity and aquatic invasive species. These scores vary by area of the Lake and by issue. For example, sea lamprey wounds on fish received a poor score lake-wide because the number of wounds found on trout and Atlantic salmon are above targets, although some recent improvements have been documented.

The LCBP also collects data about the number of new aquatic invasive species that have arrived to Lake Champlain and reports that no new species are known to have invaded since 2005, when alewife fish were confirmed to inhabit the Lake. To date 48 aquatic invasive species are known to inhabit the Lake.

“Although we are fortunate to have had no new arrivals since 2005, alewife have demonstrated that just one new species can have serious repercussions for the Lake,” said Bill Howland. “Programs like our Lake Stewards Program at local boat launches are essential to inform the public about how to prevent the spread of invasive plants and animals to and from Lake Champlain.”

Programs to prevent the spread of invasive species that are already here are also vitally important. One species tracked in the new report, water chestnut, has the potential to spread to shallow waters throughout the Lake. Although water chestnut still needs mechanical harvesting in the South Lake, the water chestnut is declining there due to mechanical harvesting programs. Most other areas of the Lake are now free of the plant and rapid response programs to address new infestation in the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge have been successful.

In addition to the issues addressed in the scorecard, the report also details recent data on other Lake issues, including changes to the Lake’s food web, impacts of alewives and other invasive species, and information about mercury and other toxins of concern.

The State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report – 2008 is posted on the LCBP website, www.lcbp.org. Free paper copies may be requested by calling the Lake Champlain Basin Program office at (802) 372-3213. It is also available at the LCBP Resource Room at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, which is located on the top floor of ECHO on the Burlington waterfront.

Click here to read the full report online (2MB PDF)

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