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Learn More About the Lake

Why is ice so hard and slippery? Does Lake Champlain produce lake-affect snow? Why does fog form over the lake on cold days? What is the probability that Lake Champlain will freeze over in any year? Find the answers to these and many more questions…

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Nature Note – Steam Devils

Early winter is the best time to look for steam devils on Lake Champlain. These weak whirlwinds over water develop when cold air moves in over the still relatively warm waters of the lake.

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Take a Look at the Lake

Lake Champlain is breathtakingly beautiful. Spread that beauty around with the purchase of LCC's stunning photo cards.

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Other Water News From Near and Far

First day hikes, news from Colchester, changes at Lake Trout and more. Read about water happenings in other parts of our world.

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Did You See the Owl Swim?

Well you would have if you liked LCC's Facebook page! 'Like' LCC's Facebook page for engaging content, unique phenomena, the latest lake news, and beautiful lake photos.

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Oil Transport Comments Needed by 11/30/14

Rail transport of explosive Bakken crude oil through the North Country has increased dramatically due to tremendous growth in outputs from Canada and the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota. Rail incidents in Quebec, Alberta, Alabama, North Dakota, New…

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EPA Calls For 36% Reduction In Phosphorus Loading

Last week EPA held a series of hearings in the Lake Champlain Basin to introduce their proposed phosphorus pollution budget (called a total maximum daily load or TMDL). The budget calls for a 36% reduction in current phosphorus loading to Lake…

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VT Fails to Require Best Practices For Missisquoi Farms

Vermont State Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross issued a ruling that he would not impose best management practices on farmers in northwestern Vermont as a way to improve water quality in Lake Champlain.

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Vermont Fines Farmer For Illegal Discharge

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture leveled a $40,000 fine against Leach Farms in Enosburgh Falls for illegal discharge into waters of the state. Workers at the farm flushed out their manure spreader into Bogue Brook, a tributary of the Missisquoi…

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Lessons From the Floods - Bad News Berms

Three years ago Lake Champlain reached record highs and Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the northeast. These and more recent flood events demonstrated the importance of buffers, floodplains, and stable riverbanks and shorelines in reducing sediment and…

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Keep the Lake in View with LCC Note Cards

Wish you could look at Lake Champlain every day? Now you can with a purchase of LCC's stunning photo cards feature beautiful vistas of our favorite lake! An eight-card set includes two cards each of four different arresting scenes and costs $10 for…

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2014 Blue-green Algae Recap

This summer marked LCC's tenth year of blue-green algae monitoring and our third year of using a visual approach. We received reports from 87 sites around the lake each week during the summer. During the season LCC volunteers and staff had submitted…

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Thank You Monitors!

Over a hundred volunteers trained by LCC filed weekly water quality reports during the summer. Their data provided over 95% of the information on the blue-green algae tracking map housed at the Vermont Department of Health. “The Lake Champlain…

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Lake Gifts

Know someone who loves the lake? Have a good friend who you play on the water with? Express your caring for the wonderful people in your life and your concern for water quality at the same time by gifting a Lake Champlain Committee membership.

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Lake Effect Snow

Earlier this month lake effect snows dumped over seven FEET of snow around Buffalo, NY. Roads were closed for days; at least 30 roofs collapsed in Erie County; and at the latest toll 13 people had died as a result of the storm, many due to heart…

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Nature Note - Sea Lamprey

Sea lamprey, best known for their parasitism on salmonids, are among the most primitive organisms with backbones. They belong to a relic group of jawless fish called Agnathans. Their basic body structure evolved much earlier than most other…

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What's Not to Like?

Are you on Facebook? So are we! 'Like' LCC's Facebook page for engaging content, the latest lake news, and beautiful lake photos.

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Upcoming Meetings on Lake Clean-up

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting a series of public meetings this November to outline the next steps in Vermont’s efforts to restore water quality in Lake Champlain. 

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Oil Transport Comments Needed By 11/30/2014

Rail transport of explosive Bakken crude oil through the North Country has increased dramatically due to tremendous growth in outputs from Canada and the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota. Rail incidents in Quebec, Alberta, Alabama, North Dakota, New…

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Come work for a healthy, accessible lake!

LCC is seeking an Office Manager who is highly organized, detail-oriented, energetic, enthusiastic, and multitasking. MORE

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LCC's 51st Annual Gathering - 10/16 6-8 PM

Join us at the Lake Champlain Committee's (LCC) 51st anniversary party on Thursday October 16 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the FlynnDog Gallery and Chef's Corner South End restaurant area at 208 Flynn Avenue in Burlington.

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Please Take Action by 9/30/2014!

Prevent Tar Sands from being transported through our communities! File comments by 9/30/2014 with both the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Department of Transportation.

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Blue-green Algae Conditions on Lake Champlain

Check LCC's site weekly for water condition updates and reports of blue-green algae on Lake Champlain.

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Oil Train Forum Attendees Call for Action

More than 130 concerned residents attended an LCC public forum to discuss the risks of crude oil train traffic through the Adirondack Park and Champlain Valley last week, with many saying they would urge New York state officials to fully assess the…

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Spiny Waterflea Have Arrived – What Next?

On August 25 four individual spiny waterfleas were found during routine monitoring of Lake Champlain. The invasive exotic zooplankton species were discovered in the middle portion of the Main Lake between Burlington and Port Kent.

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Algae Bloom Triggers Toledo Drinking Water Ban. Could It Happen Here?

In early August, more than 400,000 residents in Toledo, Ohio were warned not to consume, cook with, or even boil their tap water due to the presence of algae toxins in their source water, Lake Erie.

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Petition Calls for More from Farmers

Should farmers who own land with greater potential to pollute Lake Champlain be held to a higher standard than those that own less vulnerable land? LCC agrees with a Conservation Law Foundation petition submitted to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture…

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Shumlin Offers Revised Clean-up Plan

Governor Peter Shumlin sent a revised Phase I plan for the clean-up of Lake Champlain to EPA the end of May. The plan is an effort to meet requirements anticipated from a revised lake pollution budget required by EPA.

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Bass Tournaments

Bass are now the most popular recreational sport fish in America, and Lake Champlain has become a destination for bass fishing. In 2012, BassMaster Magazine listed Lake Champlain as the fifth best bass lake in the United States.

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Lampreys Be Damned!

Earlier this year, an innovative sea lamprey barrier was put in place on Morpion Stream, a tributary of the Pike River in Notre-Dame-de-Stanbidge. The barrier addresses one of the largest uncontrolled populations of sea lamprey on Lake Champlain by…

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Power Lines Under Lake Champlain

The United States Department of Energy has released a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a electric transmission line that would run down the bottom of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River to deliver Canadian hydro-electricity to the New…

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Water Conservation Matters

There are still more warm, drying days ahead before cold fall breezes blow in. Below are a few lawn and garden tips before you put tools away for the season.

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Nature Note – Bonaparte's gull

While most people are savoring the last few days of summer, many birds have gotten beyond that and are beginning their travels to warmer winter climes. One of the first migrating birds you might encounter on Lake Champlain is the Bonaparte's gull.

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Oil Train Community Forum - 8/28/2014

Join LCC in Plattsburgh, NY on August 28, 2014 from 7-9 PM for the Oil Train Community Forum. A panel of experts and partner organizations will be discussing risks oil trains pose to the North Country and steps community, state and federal…

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LCC Update & Call to Action on Blue-green Algae Blooms

Blue-green algae blooms have begun developing on Lake Champlain, particularly in the shallow northeastern bays – Missisquoi and St. Albans. Blue-green algae thrive in nutrient-rich water and can multiply rapidly to form blooms and scums.

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Rail Transport of Oil Poses Lake Risk

The sound of trains clacking along the rails that abut Lake Champlain has become more common recently with the dramatic increase in freight traffic attributed to fossil fuel extraction.

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Planning Shoreline Protection Projects

In the midst of another spring of high water we remember the floods of 2011 that brought widespread devastation to the Champlain Basin. A large snow pack and extensive spring rains swelled Lake Champlain to a record height of 103.27 feet above sea…

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Do TMDLs Work?

Vermont has been working on revising a lake clean-up budget as directed by the Environmental Protection Agency. What are the chances that the budget will lead to a cleaner lake?

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Legislative Update

In the 2014 Vermont Legislative session the legislature debated bills to increase requirements for protecting lake shores, regulate toxic chemicals and provide more funding for water quality projects.

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Vermont Water Caucus

In late March, LCC joined with a number of other organizations interested in lakes and rivers to discuss ways to advance water quality policy in Vermont.

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