The Transportation Department recently released new emergency rules in response to a series of fiery rail crashes of trains carrying crude oil from the Bakken Fields of North Dakota. Read...
News from Selected Category
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released a report on the effectiveness of wastewater treatment facilities at removing microbeads. The report found microbeads in effluent of 25 of 34 New York wastewater plants sampled, demonstrating that they are not removed by standard wastewater processing, but instead pass into the environment. Read...
What's worse than picking up dog poop?
Stepping in it.
What's worse than stepping in dog poop?
Swimming or fishing in or drinking water with dog poop in it.Read...
The water quality bill in Montpelier passed the full House on April 2 by a vote of 133-11. The bill has since been amended and approved by the Senate Natural Resources Committee on a vote of 4-1 with the lone dissenter calling for even stronger regulation of forestry practices. Read...
Help assess Lake Champlain water conditions around the lake as a blue-green algae monitor! <link get-involved volunteers bgamonitors blue-green-algae-monitor-interest-form>Complete our blue-green algae monitor form if you're interested in monitoring during the 2015 season or want to attend a training session to learn more about the lake. Feel free to share this invite with other lake lovers. Read...
Over the last three years the Lake Champlain Committee has been collecting data in a study to determine the effectiveness of agricultural best management practices. The study, led by Stone Environmental, measures run-off from two nearby farm fields at each of six sites then applies a best management practice to one of the fields. Read...
Sometimes increasing society’s resilience to future floods means abandoning things we built in the past. Following Tropical Storm Irene there have been at least 30 flood-prone properties purchased with an additional 67 buyouts planned. Read...
Spring flooding presents a challenge to the trees living along rivers. They risk root death due to water -logged soils and don’t yet have their leaves to produce oxygen to pump down to the roots. Read...
Stowe Doodie Day, Friday Bird Walks in May with LCC, Way to Go week and Blue-green Algae Monitor Training! Read...
Dead Fish – A Sign of Spring, Albany Advances Money for Water, EPA Forwards Water Rule, Using Satellites to Monitor Algae Blooms, Goldfish Threaten Colorado Lake, California Water Crisis and more... Read...
Here are a few ideas for how to celebrate our planet and the corner we call home from your friends at LCC. Read...
On March 17 nearly 200 water quality activists gathered at the Vermont State House in Montpelier to call for strong water quality protections and stable ongoing funding for water projects. During a press conference held during the day a farmer, angler, sailing educator and members of watershed groups all urged action to protect and restore waterways across the state. Read...
On March 23 Vermont and Quebec recommitted to working jointly on lake management issues. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Quebec Premier Phillippe Couillard signed a Memorandum of Understanding pledging their governments to cooperative lake management. Read...
LCC has received a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to map and manage populations of floating leaved invasive plants, water chestnut and European frog-bit, in the northern portion of Lake Champlain. Read...
In the last few months courts in Washington State and Iowa have ruled that manure can be a pollutant. While many may see these decisions as obvious, manure has more frequently been considered a resource rather than a pollutant. In reality it can be both. Read...
There is no poop fairy. That’s the ingenious marketing message used around the Denver, CO area to nudge irresponsible pet owners to begin taking care of their dogs’ waste. Their public service announcement notes, "Like the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot, the fabled poop fairy has been the stuff of legend. Read...
Emergency actions alleviate immediate problems but can create long-term vulnerabilities. That happened in Rutland when flooding threatened the cities drinking water supply, but the quick work to protect it created vulnerability to future floods. Read...
April showers bring May flowers, or so the proverb goes. April on average is a wetter month than March, though not as wet as May. As sunlight strengthens in spring the air gets warmer, and there is an abundance of moisture in the form of snow and ice ready to evaporate and fall again as rain. However, it turns out this moisture may not be the most important factor in determining when spring flowers bloom. Read...
As the snow banks slowly recede they unveil the last five months’ detritus. From leaves to old newspapers to cans to dog waste to road sand, all of this will end up in the nearest stream without some help. It’s time for spring cleaning. Read...
Snowkiting on Lake Champlain, Water Pollution and Microbead Bans Signed into Law in New Jersey and Colorado. Read...
Two more fiery train derailments this month highlight the vulnerability of people, wildlife and waterways from the dramatic increase of crude oil transport by rail. The latest debacle has added pressure to improve rail transportation of flammable liquids. Read...
On February 20 in Montpelier the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee recommended H. 35, the water quality bill by a vote of 7-2. The bill still needs approval from the Agriculture and Ways and Means Committees before heading to the House floor. Meanwhile a companion bill is wending its way through the Senate. Read...
The National Weather Service announced on Monday, February 16, 2015, that Lake Champlain is completely covered in ice. Remarkably, this is the second year in a row that the ice has extended over the entire lake surface (last year it closed February 12). Read...
Vermont Gas has halted work on a controversial proposal to supply natural gas to International Paper (IP) in Ticonderoga via a pipeline under Lake Champlain. Read...
It’s snow season. Diligent public works employees spend hours clearing snow and applying salt and sand to roads in order to make daily commutes safer. But eventually, when the snow melts, the sand and salt flows into that river and Lake Champlain. How does it affect water quality? Read...
The importance of agricultural tile drains as a contributor to water quality pollution is gaining more attention. In addition to its other provisions, the water quality bill recently passed by the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee indicates some concern about agricultural tile draining. Read...
The layer of ice now sitting atop Lake Champlain insulates the water from the atmosphere and alters some of the physical phenomena that are sometimes seen around the lake. Read...
March 16-22 - Fix a Leak Week
More than one trillion gallons of water are lost annually in the U.S. due to easy-to-fix household leaks. Fix them during Fix a Leak Week!
LCC, the US Environmental Protection Agency and other WaterSense partners are promoting a week focused on water conservation. Wasting water wastes energy and money and can contribute <link lcc-at-work water-conservation _blank internal link in current>to lake pollution. Get a jump on the week by reviewing your water bills and seeing how much water you consume, then visit <link lcc-at-work water-conservation _blank internal link in current>LCC's Water Conservation page for <link lcc-at-work water-conservation water-conservation-tips-for-the-home _blank external link in new>additional water saving tips.
If your faucet drips or your toilet runs it can waste over 10,000 gallons a year -- the amount of water in a typical backyard swimming pool. Finding and fixing leaks around the home can be as simple as check, twist and replace.
· Check toilets - put a few drops of food coloring into the tank; wait a few minutes and see if the color appears in the bowl before you flush. If it does, there's a leak.
· Twist on aerators - add new WaterSense labeled faucet aerators and showerheads and tighten pipe and hose connections to save water.
· Replace leaking fixtures - be sure to choose WaterSense labeled fixtures when building or rennovating. They are independently certified to use 20 percent less water and perform as well or better than standard models.
March 17 - Clean Water Day
Come learn about water quality legislation pending in the Vermont Legislature and show your support for clean water at the Vermont state capitol in Montpelier. This program runs from 9:30 AM to noon in Room 11 of the Vermont State House. Hear about water quality priorities from Speaker of the House Shap Smith, get briefings on important bills moving through the Legislature, and connect with other citizens who care about clean waterways. Let legislators know you want to see action to protect water by coming to "the people's house" on St. Patrick's Day. Clean Water Day is sponsored by LCC, Vermont Conservation Voters, Vermont Natural Resources Council, Sierra Club Vermont, Toxics Action Center, and Watersheds United Vermont. To RSVP, email lcc@lakechamplaincommittee.org. Read...
Read more about Lake Champlain's threatened and endangered bird species, fishing regulation changes, replica boats, invasive species in the Adirondacks, erosion and more. Read...
Water quality improvements for Lake Champlain were a central theme when Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin stepped to the podium to deliver his inaugural address on January 8th. The Governor called for increased accountability for farm pollution and the establishment of a clean water fund that would provide increased funding for water quality projects. Read...
