The 2022 cyanobacteria monitoring season has come to a close for LCC monitors and partners. Monitors collectively filed over 2,500 reports during this year’s 20-week season. In the links and photographs below you’ll find our last weekly report compilation for 2022; a link to sign-up to monitor in 2023; clear water scenes from Alburgh Dunes State Park, Stoney Point, and the Burlington shoreline; water samples from Burlington beaches and DAR State Park; stick season images; bike ride beauty; and which monitor filed 143 reports this season. Read...

Site coverage is scant this time of year but all 47 reports from Lake Champlain received during week 19 were of good conditions. For inland lakes, Lake Carmi had a low alert bloom and Joe’s Pond had a high alert. The latter covered a wide swath of shoreline but was short-lived. Blooms can still happen late in the season so please continue to report if you’re still in the area. Read...

Only a scattering of monitoring reports are still coming in as we move into stick season but all that do provide important data on water conditions. Lake Champlain was bloom-free for the second fall week in a row. Lake Champlain was bloom-free again for the fourth week in a row. The lone sighting of cyanobacteria came from Lake Iroquois but we only had reports from four inland lakes. Read...

Good water conditions dominated monitoring reports for the third full week of fall but there are far fewer monitors reporting this time of year on Lake Champlain and inland lakes. This week’s photos don’t show any cyanobacteria but scroll down to see what monitors observed during week 17 including... Read...

Good water conditions dominated monitoring reports for the second week in a row since we moved into the fall season but cyanobacteria blooms continued to show their colors in areas of Lake Champlain and several inland lakes. Read...

Good water conditions dominated monitoring reports during week 15 but blooms showed up in a few Lake Champlain locations as well as several inland lakes. Scroll down to see clear water at Alburgh Dunes State Park, and Graveyard Point on Lake Champlain; blooms at Lake Carmi, Lake Memphremagog, Shelburne Pond, Burlington beaches, and St. Albans Bay; and learn how to differentiate cyanobacteria from duckweed. Read...

Week 14 of monitoring brought cooler weather, fewer sightings of cyanobacteria, but also far fewer monitors to report them. High alert blooms continued in parts of St. Albans Bay, Lake Carmi, and Lake Morey which have all had persistent blooms during the last weeks or months. Read...

While the weather cooled during Week 13 of monitoring, blooms continued in several lakes or bays where they were present previously and showed up in some new locations. On Lake Champlain, high alert conditions were restricted to nutrient-rich St. Albans Bay but there were low alerts in the Inland Sea, Malletts Bay, Main Lake North, and Main Lake South. Blooms also persisted in Lake Carmi, Lake Morey, and Lake Memphremagog. Read...

Blooms continued into Week 12 of the monitoring season. You can see visuals of some of them from Lake Memphremagog, Lake Morey, Tinmouth Pond, Shelburne Pond and Lake Champlain’s Arnold Bay and Valcour Island, and Lake Champlain’s Keeler Bay. You’ll also find photos illustrating blue-green blues and the recreational impact of cyanobacteria. Read...

Several monitors reported odd gelatinous globules in the water at several sites in Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea during week 11 of monitoring. Happily they took water samples and photographs and shared the details with us and our partner Dr. Ana Morales-Williams at the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory. The samples turned out to be Calothrix sp. – a benthic filamentous cyanobacteria. Read...

Happy end of August! As we move towards September, please remember that blooms can still happen as summer wanes which is why we are only about half way through the monitoring season. Blooms have been witnessed through November in our region during past years and the next few months can be very active periods for blooms. Read...

We’ve had a lot of additional subscribers to our weekly cyanobacteria emails so here’s a link to all the weekly reports from the 2022 season in case you’ve missed any of them. They’re worth checking out for the compilation of reporting results, visuals of blooms, and information to help you differentiate cyanobacteria from other lake phenomena. Read...

Happily, Central Main Lake was bloom-free during week 8 of monitoring but blooms persisted in sections of St. Albans Bay and Missisquoi Bay on Lake Champlain and Lake Carmi. After a week of bloom-free reports, cyanobacteria was observed again on Lake Memphremagog. Read...

Bloom reports for the week were restricted to the Central Main Lake, St. Albans Bay, and Missisquoi Bay on Lake Champlain and to Knapp Pond and Lake Carmi for Vermont inland lakes. Read...

Conditions at Lake Champlain and inland Vermont waterways were overall much improved from the previous week. Continued warm weather along with the influx of nutrients from periodic storms could trigger additional cyanobacteria blooms so check the water carefully during your recreational outings and take advantage of the resources and links in this email to learn more about cyanobacteria. Read...

Most of the week was sunny, hot, calm, and humid and blooms took off in many Lake Champlain locations as well as at Lake Carmi. Heat waves are known to promote cyanobacteria blooms in waterways by increasing thermal stratification, allowing cyanobacteria to remain in warm and well-lit surface waters, and encouraging release of phosphorus from lake sediments in shallow lakes. Read...

Our week 4 cyanobacteria monitoring report for July 10 through July 16 was delayed due to a breakdown with the cyanobacteria tracker. Monitors filed 187 reports during a busy week with blooms showing up in Lake Champlain’s Inland Sea, Main Lake North, Main Lake Central, and Main Lake South and at Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog while all other inland waterways reported good conditions. Read...

Another week of mainly good water conditions reported by over 100 monitors from Lake Champlain and inland lake locations. Blooms showed up in Lake Champlain’s Mallett’s Bay, North Lake, and Missisquoi Bay and on Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog.

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We received mainly good water quality reports during the second week of the cyanobacteria monitoring program. Scroll through this email for details of Week 2 2022 monitoring results from 6/26/22 through 7/2/22; photos of clean water conditions at Lake Champlain’s Button Bay, Oakledge Park, North Beach, and Valcour Island; check out a cool monitor innovation for water sampling without getting wet; and learn about the ingredients for a bloom. Read...

Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! Monitoring began the week of June 19 and will run through early fall. Each week we’ll send you an update about conditions monitors are finding around Lake Champlain and several inland lakes. Read...

Vermont is becoming warmer and wetter due to climate change. Specifically, the Vermont Climate Assessment 2021 notes that both summer and spring precipitation have increased in the Green Mountain State. The Assessment cautions that “[t]his spring precipitation . . . can make farm operations difficult.” Read...

In sun and rain, heat and cold, monitors collectively filed over 2,700 reports during the 2021 season. Read...

Most monitors reported generally safe conditions during this 19th week of the monitoring season but blooms were also witnessed at select locations. Read...

While color is fading on the hillsides, it unfortunately is still showing up in the water. October 20 was a particularly busy day for cyanobacteria sightings with blooms reported at a scattering of locations up and down Lake Champlain. Scroll through this email to view pictures of the conditions witnessed at Arnold Bay, Burlington beaches, Island sites, St. Albans Bay, and Lake Memphremagog during this 18th week of cyanobacteria monitoring. You’ll also find some visuals and details about duckweed, water samples rimmed with cyanobacteria, and resources and links to help you recognize, avoid, and report cyanobacteria. Read...

Unfortunately, this was another big week for blooms—with reports of cyanobacteria coming in from all sections of Lake Champlain except Malletts Bay, Missisquoi Bay, and the South Lake. Blooms were also reported from Clyde Pond, Lake Carmi, Lake Iroquois, Lake Memphremagog, and Shelburne Pond. We have fewer monitors watching the water at this time of year but blooms can still show up as evidenced by the reports and photos compiled from this week. Please use the resources and links in this email to learn how to recognize, avoid, and report cyanobacteria. Read...

Unfortunately, this was a big week for blooms—reports of cyanobacteria were chronicled at all Lake Champlain sections except the South Lake and Malletts Bay. Blooms expanded in many areas of Lake Memphremagog and were reported on Lake Carmi and Lake Iroquois. You can get a sense of the impact of a bloom by watching this video taken on 10/6/21 by Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge Manager Ken Sturm. Ken and his team witnessed an extensive swath of dense cyanobacteria in Missisquoi Bay during a 20-minute boat ride from the east delta all the way around to Long Marsh Bay. Read...

Clear water dominated on the cyanobacteria tracker during this first full week of fall and the 15th week of the cyanobacteria monitoring program. Most monitors who are still able to report recorded safe conditions, great for late-season recreation. Cyanobacteria was reported at one site each in Lake Champlain’s Main Lake Central and Main Lake South sections and several times during the week at Lake Carmi. Read...

Fewer reports are flowing in as we move into fall, park staff leave posts, and seasonal residents close up camps. However, late season blooms are not uncommon so please keep checking conditions whenever you recreate in or around water. Read...

Although generally safe conditions dominated the cyanobacteria tracker again this week, we received reports of cyanobacteria from all Lake Champlain regions except the South Lake and Malletts Bay. Monitors also logged in bloom reports for some sites on Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog. Read...

Generally safe conditions prevailed at most locations again this week but cyanobacteria was reported at Lake Champlain’s Main Lake Central, Main Lake South, Missisquoi Bay, St. Albans Bay, and South Lake and at Lake Carmi and Lake Memphremagog. Read...