The Lake Champlain Basin has 587 miles of shoreline that provides habitat for a wide variety of species, as well as extensive opportunities for recreation. The shoreline is also a desirable location for development and housing, which is often detrimental to shoreline habitat and water quality in Lake Champlain. Efforts are underway across the basin to restore natural shorelines and implement shoreland best management practices (BMPs) in developed areas. Protected shoreline:
- Provides important habitat for a wide array of fish and wildlife
- Filters sediment and nutrient runoff as it enters the lake
- Prevents erosion, especially during flooding and heavy rain events
- Provides recreation and education opportunities
Lakeshore Ecology
Functioning lakeshores are home to diverse and interdependent populations of plants, fish, and wildlife. Native vegetation provides structural stability and mitigates erosion and runoff, safeguarding the water quality of the lake.
Lake Champlain has five basic shore types as defined in the Shoreline Stabilization Handbook:
- High erodible bluff (greater than 30 feet high)
- Low erodible bluff (10 to 30 feet high)
- Low erodible plain (less than 10 feet high)
- Sand dunes
- Wetlands or marsh
Each shore type can support unique habitat features. Bluffs are high banks that are largely unvegetated, while low plains support an array of terrestrial plant life. Sand dunes may be home to rare plants, like Champlain beach grass and the low-growing beach-pea. Wetlands and marshes tend to be biodiversity hotspots, providing habitat niches for a wide variety of plants and wildlife both aquatic and terrestrial.
The lakeshore gives way to the littoral zone, the area where water meets land. In the relatively shallow water, light is abundant and supports aquatic plant life. Plants and woody debris create physical structure that slows the movement of water and provides shelter and food for fish and other aquatic life.
Pressures from Development
During heavy precipitation events, rain falls across the watershed and makes its way into streams, rivers, and eventually the lake. Water that falls near the shore may make its way directly into the lake, bringing sediment and nutrient pollution picked up along the way.
When lakeshore properties are developed, natural vegetation along the shoreline is typically cleared and replaced with a lawn. Buildings and driveways create impervious surfaces that cannot absorb rainwater. During storms, rainfall that would have been absorbed by shoreline vegetation runs directly into the lake, contributing pollution in the form of sediment and nutrients, like phosphorus.
Shoreland Restoration
Many projects are underway throughout the Lake Champlain basin to restore natural shorelines and implement shoreland best management practices (BMPs). The Vermont DEC operates a technical assistance program for homeowners called Lake Wise to encourage the implementation of shoreland BMPs. BMPs include, but are not limited to:
- Conserving shoreland
- Planting vegetative buffers using native trees and shrubs
- Lake-friendly yard maintenance
- Low-impact lakeshore development
- Managing invasive species
Native tree nurseries are being supported with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. With more native tree and shrub stock available, conservation organizations have greater capacity to organize members and volunteers around seasonal tree plantings in river corridors and along the lakeshore.
The Vermont Shoreland Protection Act became effective in 2014, and regulates activities within 250 feet of the mean water level of lakes greater than 10 acres in size. The Act was designed to encourage lakeshore development practices that protect aquatic habitat and water quality and prevent erosion.
The Shoreland Protection Act is administered by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Shoreland Permitting.