While good conditions were primarily reported this week, blooms popped up in many sections of the lake and at some inland lakes. As of late afternoon Friday (8/17/18) we received 120 reports from Lake Champlain and inland lake sites. Scroll down to see pictures of the filamentous green algae scums that were showing up in some areas of the lake. People often confuse decaying green algae with cyanobacteria. Read...

Yet another busy week of monitoring as alert level conditions were reported from several Lake Champlain locations and inland lakes. A large bloom was observed at the Rock River near Morses Line, Vermont on the VT/Quebec border and also in the Saxtons River Recreation Area in Rockingham, VT. There’s stagnant warm water in rivers across the region due to the lack of rain. Please spread the word that blooms aren’t restricted to lakes and ponds, they can be found in rivers as well.Read...

July was a hot, steamy month with blooms popping up in various places around the lake. (July was officially the hottest for Burlington VT since the National Weather Service began keeping records in 1892.) The high heat and sultry weather has continued into August, a time of year when cyanobacteria blooms are more common. Please enjoy the water but keep a careful watch for cyanobacteria. Read...

Another busy week that brought much needed rain. While most Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) monitors reported good conditions throughout the week, some blooms did show up on Lake Champlain but not at any of the inland lakes that reported this week.Additionally, on Friday morning (7/27) two Burlington, VT beaches (Blanchard at Oakledge Park and Leddy Beach) were closed due to E.coli from stormwater flows after recent heavy rains. Read...

Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) monitors were busy assessing conditions throughout the watershed during this hot, dry week. We received 139 reports from Lake Champlain and inland lake sites. Hot, still weather is ideal for cyanobacteria so please be mindful of changing conditions and keep a careful watch on the water. You’ll find further details of this week’s reports below. Read...

It’s been another hot week, but quiet in terms of cyanobacteria blooms all week until Friday afternoon. While most monitors reported conditions great for recreating throughout the week, we received a low alert bloom notice of cyanobacteria at Alburgh Dunes State Park in the North Main Lake mid-afternoon today and late in the day reports of low and high alert blooms at two sites in the Inland Sea. You’ll find further details of this week’s results below along with background information about LCC’s monitoring program. Read...

What a hot week of record-breaking temperatures! Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) monitors filed 140 reports for Lake Champlain and inland lakes. Most observed clear water, great for cooling off in during the heat wave. However, there were some sightings of cyanobacteria, mainly in Outer Malletts Bay and the Inland Sea on Lake Champlain and at some inland lakes. Happily most conditions improved by mid-week. Read...

It’s been a busy week for the Lake Champlain Committee Cyanobacteria Monitoring Program with over 130 reports from Lake Champlain and inland lakes! While most monitors observed clear water, perfect for cooling off in, we did receive some reports of cyanobacteria from Malletts Bay and several inland lakes. Read...

Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee’s (LCC) summer cyanobacteria monitoring reports! Monitors reported in from more than 80 locations this past week, mainly noting clear water conditions great for recreating. While there were no reports of cyanobacteria for Lake Champlain locations and many inland lakes there was a cyanobacteria bloom observed in a feeder stream near Hall’s Bay in Lake St. Catherine in Poultney, Vermont.

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We're gearing up for the summer monitoring season and are looking for people to report on water quality. LCC cyanobacteria monitors receive training to assess water conditions, visit the same site throughout the season and file a weekly online report from mid-June through the end of September.

In late December 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a $65 million four-point initiative to aggressively combat harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Upstate New York waters. Twelve lakes that are vulnerable to HABs and are critical drinking water sources and vital tourism drivers were chosen as priority waterbodies. Lake Champlain and Lake George are two of the twelve that will receive greater focus. Lessons learned will be applied to other impacted waterbodies moving forward. Read...

From September 24 through mid-week, a record-setting heat wave helped spawn or perpetuate blooms at over 20 monitoring sites along the Lake Champlain shoreline. The wet spring and summer had already flushed lots of nutrients into our waterways priming conditions for cyanobacteria to take off during the spate of hot, still weather.

Mixed conditions were reported by Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) monitors again this week on Lake Champlain and inland lakes. Cyanobacteria blooms persisted in St. Albans Bay and Lake Carmi and in parts of Missisquoi Bay. Low alert conditions were observed at some Main Lake North and Main Lake Central sites and at Shelburne Pond. 

Mixed conditions were reported by Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) monitors yet again on Lake Champlain and inland lakes. Cyanobacteria blooms persisted in St. Albans Bay and parts of Missisquoi Bay and Main Lake North along with Lake Carmi. Low alert conditions were reported at Lake Memphremagog and Lake Morey. 

Monitors reported mixed conditions again this past week on Lake Champlain and inland lakes. Summer is on the wane and many state and municipal beaches are closed or will be closing soon, however LCC will continue to send weekly reports through the end of the month. Please be cautious while recreating on the water as blooms may persist through the reporting season.

As we head into the Labor Day weekend LCC monitors are reporting both clear water and cyanobacteria blooms. While there are many beaches open and safe for swimming, we have received reports of blooms in Bulwagga Bay, Maquam Shore, St. Albans Bay, Missisquoi Bay, Lake Carmi, Shelburne Pond and Ticklenaked Pond. 

Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) cyanobacteria monitors mainly reported good conditions this week. The exceptions so far are low alerts from Monday August 21 at Philipsburg Quebec. The Quebec reports were from research sites that are monitored every two weeks so conditions may change well before the tracker gets updated with the next report. The other low alert came from Ticklenaked Pond in Ryegate in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. There was also a report of an unusual cyanobacteria on Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vermont. Scroll down to see a picture of Rivularia spp. and learn more. 

While blooms witnessed on Lake Champlain were restricted to Missisquoi Bay (one location) and St. Albans Bay (four sites), we are still at the peak bloom period for our region. Spring and summer rains have flushed lots of nutrients into the water and temperatures are predicted to rise through the beginning of next week.

This week there were mixed conditions reported on Lake Champlain but only one report of a bloom at Vermont inland lakes (low alert at Ticklenaked Pond) that participate in the monitoring program. While blooms witnessed on Lake Champlain were restricted to Missisquoi Bay (one location), St. Albans Bay (four sites), Inland Sea (two sites) and the northern part of the lake (one location), we are in the middle of what is generally the peak bloom period for our region.

cyanobacteria monitors filed a record 171 reports this week from Lake Champlain and inland lake locations. Most sections of Lake Champlain experienced mixed conditions with both low and high alert blooms for at least some sites. The exceptions were Malletts Bay and the South Lake which reported generally good conditions at all sites but had fewer reports overall. Conditions can change rapidly and blooms can show up anywhere on the lake. Please be watchful, report anything of concern and avoid cyanobacteria.

There was one report of low alert conditions in South Alburgh but that was short-lived and the water was clear the next morning. All other monitors reporting this week noted good conditions on Lake Champlain and other waterways in the program!

We had a great response from Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) cyanobacteria monitors this week with 135 reports for Lake Champlain and inland lake locations! While it's been a week with lots of lovely summer weather, all the sunshine is encouraging cyanobacteria activity. Alert conditions were reported at Lake Champlain sites at Pt. Au Roche State Park beach and Black Bridge in St. Albans Bay as well as at Lake Carmi, Lake Amherst and Ticklenaked Pond.

Monitors generally reported good conditions during another wet week. While Deep Bay at New York's Pt Au Roche State Park had a low alert bloom on 7/10, it had cleared by the next day. (Pt Au Roche had a short-lived bloom around the same time last year.) As of late Friday afternoon (7/14/17) there were no blooms at any of the Lake Champlain monitoring sites that reported this week.

We had reports from 122 different Lake Champlain Committee cyanobacteria monitoring sites this week as of late afternoon on Friday. There were no reports of blooms on Lake Champlain, Lake Iroquois, Lake Memphremagog, and several other VT lakes but unfortunately the bloom at Shelburne Pond's boat launch persists at low alert levels.

We had reports from 105 different sites this week as of mid-afternoon today. There were no reports of cyanobacteria blooms from monitoring sites on Lake Champlain, Lake Carmi, Lake Iroquois, Lake Memphremagog, and several other VT lakes but unfortunately Shelburne Pond experienced a high alert bloom at the boat launch.

We had reports from 54 different sites this week. We will see an increase in the number of site reports as the season progresses and more of our monitors get out on the water. There were no reports of cyanobacteria blooms from monitoring sites on Lake Champlain, Lake Iroquois, Lake Memphremagog, and several other VT lakes.

Help assess Lake Champlain water conditions around the lake. Complete our cyanobacteria monitor interest form if you're interested in monitoring during the 2017 season or want to attend a training session to learn more about the lake. Feel free to share this invite with other lake lovers.