LCC Lake Ripples - Spring 2011 E-News
LCC's E-News Bulletin LCC Is On the Move!
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LCC’s new office is just a short walk away from the lake and Oakledge Park. Photo by Lori Fisher.
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Please note our new address.
The Lake Champlain Committee has moved closer to the lake! We are now located at 208 Flynn Avenue, Bldng 3 – Studio 3-F, Burlington, Vermont. Please make note of our new address. We are in a larger office complex that will provide us with better space to do our work and are just a half mile away from one of our Paddlers’ Trail day-use sites at Oakledge Park. The entrance to our new office isthrough Flynndog Gallery a community art space co-founded by Bren Alvarez and Dave Farrington. We share a vestibule with Burlington’s Taiko Drummers and Chef’s Corners will be opening a café right next to our office. The building was an abandoned warehouse that has been adaptively re-used. We are proud to be in space that has been fit up with recycled and reclaimed materials in an aesthetic and ecological way. Our office is outfitted with windows, wood and boards salvaged from other buildings, lit with LED lights, and all surfaces have been painted with eco-friendly zero-VOC paints. We could not have made this move without the help of our wonderful landlord and supporter Dave Farrington. We’ll have an open house in warmer weather but feel free to come by for a visit sooner. There is plenty of parking and the lake and Burlington recreation path are just down the road! Environmental Protections Under Attack
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Photo available on Flickr by mbell1975.
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The U.S. House of Representatives has approved an aggressive planto significantly reduce the budgets of critical federal environmentalprograms. The budget proposed by the House slashed the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by almost $3 billion (or30%) from 2010 levels and included a provision that prohibits EPA from continuing its work to clarify which waters are protected under the Clean Water Act. The anti-Clean Water Act provision has absolutely nothing to do with saving federal dollars; in fact, new guidance or regulations to clarify which waters fall under federal jurisdiction would likely reduce costs to both the federal government and the regulated community. For example, under the current guidance, regulators are required to develop extensive administrative records to make “case-by-case” jurisdictional determinations for certain types of wetlandsand streams. New guidance could eliminate this time consuming andresource intensive process...MORE Raise Your Voice for Water
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You can help move important lake legislation along by contacting your Senators. Photo by Metro Watershed Partners.
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In Montpelier two bills are pending that could use citizen support. The first is a bill to limit the sale and use of lawn fertilizers (H.26).The bill would require homeowners to have a soil test that showed their lawns needed phosphorus prior to applying phosphorus fertilizer. Stores selling phosphorus fertilizer would have to display it separate from phosphorus-free fertilizer and provide education materials noting that phosphorus causes water quality problems. This bill has passed the House and (as of April 7) was in the Senate Natural Resources Committee where it has received testimony. LCC has long advocated for such legislation. The second bill (H.11) would assist individuals in properly disposing of unwanted pharmaceuticals. Sometimes pharmaceuticals end up in the toilet, but waste water treatment facilities are not equipped to remove the drugs and they end up in the water...MORE LCC to Help Guide Revised TMDL
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LCC’s Mike Winslow is helping to develop an updated lake pollution model. Photo by Jeanne Stark.
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Lake Champlain Committee Staff Scientist Mike Winslow has been invited to serve on a work group guiding efforts to develop a revised Lake Champlain pollution loading model. The work group will provide input to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their consultants, TetraTech as they begin efforts to develop a new Lake Champlain clean-up plan (TMDL). While EPA's disapproval of the present TMDL did not cite weaknesses in the original modeling efforts, they are using the opportunity of the reopening to refine the existing model and include more recent data that have been collected since the original model was constructed. Click here for further background on the issue. Thanks for the Heavy Lifting!
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Photo by mag3737 from Flickr.
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Thanks to the many people who assisted LCC with our move to 208 Flynn Avenue in Burlington. We couldn’t have done it without the generous time and support of Dave Farrington, Bren Alvarez and the wonderful building, painting and moving team from BrickBox Company who did the fit-up and oversaw our move. Dave, Bren, Eric, Derrick, Gene, Scott and longtime LCC member and volunteer Pete Rosenfeld please take a bow! Thanks also to Steven Kellogg and Peter Paine for their generous donations and to Isabel Burnham, Tyler Austin Dooley, Larry Ebere, Jen Francoeur, Richard Moss, Alex Rose, Ben Rose, Phyllis Rose, Jim Schweithelm, Sheehy, Furlong and Behm, Jeanne Stark, Mary Van Vleck, and Lisa Ward for their help with packing, painting, and the move.
LCC Wish List of Goods and Volunteers
Do you have one of these to spare? Photo by nos_inventory from Flickr.
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The interior spaces of our new office provide opportunities to visually convey our mission of protecting lake health and access. We are looking for the following items to help our work and enhance the space:
• Flat panel computer monitors with 20 inch screen or larger
• Laser desk top color printer
• Tall lateral file cabinets (65 inches or taller) in good condition
• Large counter top microwave
• Wooden boat, canoe, kayak or guideboat to hoist on top of one of the offices
• Wooden boat bow to hang from one of the high walls
• Weathered oars
• Large long waves to be built out of ¼ inch plywood that we can paint and attach to the walls or ceiling
• Stunning large lake art pieces to hang from big wall spaces
• A few indoor trees or tall indoor plants
• Large jade plants
• Silverware and microwavable dishes in good condition
• Carpentry help to build a below-counter wood storage shelves
• Archivist assistance to catalogue our historical records
• Outreach enthusiasts to help us with spring open house
If you have items or time to contribute, please contact LCC ExecutiveDirector Lori Fisher.
April 8th & 9th EMS Club Days
Get outfitted for the outdoors at a discount. Photo by Lori Fisher.
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Storewide Discounts for Current LCC Members
If you’re an active LCC member in need of outdoor gear, you might want to head to Eastern Mountain Sports for their annual Club Day. People who are involved with the Lake Champlain Committee can receive 20% off all national brand products and 25% off EMS products. Everything is included – even boats! Store hours are 10 AM – 9 PM on Friday and 10 AM – 7 PM on Saturday. Click here to find the EMS store nearest you.
April 19th Cat Walk for Water to Benefit LCC
Stylists and students from O’Brien’s AVEDA Institute and O’Brien’s salons are teaming up to produce a fun night of hair and fashion! Students will create looks based on themes of Earth, Air, Fire and Water and dress each model head to toe in recycled garments. Doors open at 6:30 PM and the show starts at 7 PM on Tuesday, April 19th at Club Venue in Colchester on Porter’s Point Road (right near the Sunset Drive-In). Come join us for a fun night of music, recycled fashion and hair with flair in support of a good cause! Purchase your tickets in advance for $10/person at the O’Brien’s AVEDA Institute at 1475 Shelburne Road, South Burlington or O’Brien’s salons in Burlington, Essex Junction or South Burlington. Tickets will be available at the door for $15. All proceeds go to LCC’s water protection and restoration programs. If you’d like to help out with the event, please contact us at lcc@[remove this text]lakechamplaincommittee.org.
April 26th Walk for Water ~ Stroll out with Stylists
Get some exercise while raising funds for LCC’s water protection programs. Photo by Jeanne Stark.
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Join Aveda representatives, local stylists, and others for a four mile walk from LCC’s new digs at 208 Flynn Avenue along the Burlington bike path and back. The walk is part of Aveda’s global initiative that acknowledges the daily struggle of more than one billion around the world who do not have access to clean water. The Lake Champlain Committee is one of Aveda’s 35 global partners in this effort to raise funds and awareness about the need to protect and improve water quality. The walk will start at 5:30 PM at LCC’s office at 208 Flynn Avenue, Building 3, Studio 3F in Burlington, Vermont. The walk length will be about four miles – the average distance that women in developing countries walk to collect water each day. So step out with stylists, bring your friends and family and join in a waterfront walk for water. We’ll get some exercise, pick up trash as we stroll along, and end with light refreshments at the LCC office. A $20 donation is requested which will go directly to support LCC’s clean water programs. All are welcome!
Natural History Note – Lake Levels
Pike take advantage of spring flooding to spawn in flooded fields and grassy marshes from Canadafishingonline.net
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Typically, Lake Champlain’s level peaks in April, but this year the lake level may have peaked on March 25h at 99 feet. Since then, the level has been slowly falling. On average, the Lake’s level climbs almost three feet between the beginning of March and early May, peaking at about 99 feet above sea level. The amount of snow that accumulates through the winter helps determine the maximum level for the year. Approximately 20% of annual precipitation falls between the beginning of December and the end of February in our area, and much of it enters the Lake only after melting. The annual spring flooding of lakeside and riverside environments creates unique opportunities for many animals. Pike utilize flooded fields and grassy marshes for spawning. For cavity nesting waterfowl like wood duck, hooded mergansers, and goldeneye the flooded forests make it more difficult for predators to reach their homes in tree hollows and make it easier for their young to get to the water upon hatching. Lake Look - Fix A Leak for the Lake
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Look for the WaterSense label for products independently tested.
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Drip. Drip.Drip. It’s easy for the sound of a leaky faucet to become just part of the background noise in your household. With a large body of fresh, relatively clean water like Lake Champlain so close by, water conservation often doesn’t seem like a meaningful environmental issue. Yet there are environmental consequences of ignoring that drip.
The average home wastes 10,000 gallons of water annually due to easy-to-fix leaks according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense Program. Nationwide, household leaks add up to more than 1 trillion gallons lost each year. The Lake ChamplainCommittee is one of EPA’s national WaterSense partners working topromote water conservation.
Wasting water can contribute to lake pollution. Sewage treatment facilities remove phosphorus pollution from the water that leaves our homes. However, the efficiency of pollution removal at the sewage treatment facility decreases when sewage is diluted by leaked tapwater. Furthermore, municipal drinking water systems often add a phosphorus containing compound to drinking water to prevent lead from leaching from old pipes. This compound must then be removed from wastewater before it enters Lake Champlain. Of course, removal is not 100% efficient, so waste of water leads to additional phosphorus pollution...MORE
Moving? Changing Email Addresses?
Please keep LCC posted on your address
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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), Megan Epler Wood (Burlington, VT), Gary Kjelleren (South Hero, VT), Sharon Murray (Bolton, VT), Ann Ruzow Holland (Willsboro, NY), Jim Schweithelm (Burlington, VT), Mary Van Vleck (Charlotte, VT). Lake Champlain Committee Staff:
Lori Fisher, Executive Director
Caitlin Kincaid, Office Manager
Mike Winslow, Staff Scientist LCC Links
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