LCC Lake Ripples - October 2011 E-News
LCC Wraps Up Rugg Brook Monitoring Project
In 2011 LCC completed five years of monitoring at a stream restoration site in St. Albans. Rugg Brook was targeted for restoration following an LCC assessment of the watershed. Prior to restoration, the stream had cut up to 11 feet deep into a pasture; the banks of the stream were slumping and eroding, delivering tons of sediment to St. Albans Bay. Following LCC's recommendations, a new floodplain was created so that the stream could spread out and deposit sediment rather than eroding its banks.
Five years later the stream has stabilized and established a new channel. Vegetation has grown back on the site. Willows planted as mere spikes during the restoration now stand over ten feet tall. A healthy, balanced stream system has developed.
Intensive remedial projects such as the one undertaken at Rugg Brook become necessary when streams lose their balance with the landscape that created them. Excessive manipulation of stream channels in a misguided attempt to prevent flooding, as has happened in many places following Tropical Storm Irene, often set the table for future problems like the one we tried to correct in Rugg Brook.
Blue-Green Algae Season Overview
LCC completed its ninth season of blue-green algae monitoring on Lake Champlain. In 2011, volunteers collected 172 samples and there were 29 low alerts and two high alerts issued during the ten weeks of citizen monitoring. Low alerts occur when high densities of potentially toxic algae are found but toxins are not. High alerts occur when more than six micrograms of toxin per liter of water are detected. Missisquoi Bay had 13 low alerts and both high alerts at the four volunteer monitoring sites. St. Albans Bay had four low alerts. There were five low alerts in the North part of the lake. There were three low alerts in the Burlington area and single low alerts at Pt. Au Roche State Park in New York and Ferrisburgh Town Beach in Vermont. By comparison, between 2005 and 2011 the average number of alerts per season has been 25.1 with a high of 51 in 2006 and a low of 6 in 2007. In only two of the six years, 2007 and 2010, no High Alerts were recorded. MORE on LCC's website.
Tropical Storm Irene Series
Tropical Storm Irene will shape our thoughts about and relationship with rivers for at least a generation. Climate models predict we should expect and prepare for more intense storms in the years to come. In a two-part series, LCC Staff Scientist Mike Winslow takes a look at how we should respond to river clean-up in the wake of Irene and how we can best prepare for the next storm.
Part One: Tropical Storm Irene: How Do We Respond?
Part Two: Tropical Storm Irene: How Do We Prepare For The Next One?
University of Vermont awarded $20M to study lake
(Adapted from an AP report)
A science program at the University of Vermont has been awarded a $20 million federal grant, the largest grant in the school's history, to help study the health of the Lake Champlain basin and look at the effects of climate change on it, officials announced recently. MORE on LCC's website.
McAllister Clean Up
Commercial divers recently reached the shipwrecked tugboat McAllister to assess whether it still contained diesel fuel from when it sank in 1963. The wreck sits in about 165-feet of water off Schuyler Reef. The tug was carrying diesel fuel when it sank and had a capacity to hold up to 14,000 gallons of fuel. Until the divers reached the wreck it was unknown how much fuel remained underwater. Fortunately, the divers found only small amounts of lubricating oil and no diesel fuel. LCC first reported on the Tugboat in an April 2010 Lake Look column. The McAllister, Towing and Transportation Company, which owns the wreck and still operates today, paid for the recovery operations.
Fall Clean Lake Tip
Piles of autumn leaves left in the road can become part of the stormwater problem for the lake. Help keep our waters clean by sweeping or raking leaves away from roadways. Mulch them with a few passes of the lawnmower so the nutrients left in the leaves go back to your lawn instead of into the lake.
Tern, Tern, Tern
By Lake Champlain Committee Staff Scientist Mike Winslow
The sandbar at the mouth of Mill Creek in Port Henry is covered with loafing birds, white balls of feathers in various states of repose. Most are ring-billed gulls with a few other gulls mixed in, but two birds in particular stand out. They are the same size as the gulls with similar white plumage, but they have bright orange bills and a swept-back black crest like they just came from the salon. These are Caspian terns, one of three species of terns that can be found on Lake Champlain. MORE on LCC's website.
Water Conservation Tip
Installing a WaterSense labeled aerator to your faucet is one of the most cost-effective ways to save water. Also consider replacing the entire faucet with a WaterSense labeled model. Either way, you can increase a faucet's efficiency by 30 percent without sacrificing performance. The WaterSense label was designed by the Environmental Protection Agency to make it easier for consumers to find and select water saving products. The label is backed by third party, independent, testing and certification to ensure quality performance and efficiency.
Moving? Changing Email Addresses?
If you’ve had an address change recently, please send us an email so we can update your files and ensure you receive news on lake issues and LCC’s work. Our primary form of communication with members is through email. By mailing electronically we save time and resources and reinforce the stewardship ethic of our mission. We don’t give away or sell email addresses. To ensure that our email messages get through to your inbox, please add lcc@lakechamplaincommittee.org and the domain enews.lakechamplaincommittee.org to your safe/allowed list and address book. Thanks!
Lake Champlain Committee Board of Directors
Alan Booth (Plattsburgh, NY), Susan Coffey (Plattsburgh, NY), Gary Kjelleren (South Hero, VT), Sandy Montgomery (Montreal, QC), Sharon Murray (Bolton, VT), Ann Ruzow Holland (Willsboro, NY), Jim Schweithelm (Burlington, VT), Mary Van Vleck (Charlotte, VT).
Lake Champlain Advisory Council
Steven Kellogg (Essex, NY), Peter S. Paine, Jr. (Willsboro, NY), Mary Watzin (Burlington, VT).
Lake Champlain Committee Staff
Lori Fisher, Executive Director
Jessica Rossi, Office Manager
Mike Winslow, Staff Scientist
