After the summer floods of 2023 and 2024, many in the Lake Champlain basin watched nervously for a third deluge this past summer. Instead, we got the opposite extreme: a drought, which brought lake levels to near record lows and exposed previously…
This summer, the Lake Champlain Committee partnered with Tetra Tech and launched a new project aimed at better understanding and monitoring benthic cyanobacteria blooms. Benthic cyanobacteria are a type of cyanobacteria that grow on lake bottoms and…
Back in August, LCC partnered with the team at Foam Brewers to survey for the invasive golden clam (Corbicula fluminea) at North Beach in Burlington, VT. LCC Water and Science Program Coordinator Lindsey Cookson trained the team on how to survey the…
Volunteers are essential to LCC’s work, whether they are tossing rakes as CHAMP aquatic invasive species patrollers, advocating for lake health to legislators and state agencies, or diligently photographing and reporting cyanobacteria conditions each…
For the price of a pasta entree, you can get detailed insights on the makeup of your soil. A soil test can tell you about the nutrient levels, organic content, and pH (the soil acidity or alkalinity) of your lawn or garden area and what you need for…
In week 18 (10/12-10/28/2025) of the cyanobacteria monitoring season, we saw the lingering late-season bloom in North Hero, the vibrant green waters at Shelburne Pond, a swirl of green and teal at Graveyard Point, a bright surface bloom at North…
Even as fall advances and temperatures turn cool and crisp, cyanobacteria blooms continue to appear across Lake Champlain and Vermont’s inland waterbodies. This week, only low-alert blooms were observed in Lake Champlain, occurring in the Inland Sea…
With fall now underway, cyanobacteria blooms are still being observed in multiple sections of Lake Champlain and in inland Vermont waterbodies. This week, we saw a mixed bloom with different types of cyanobacteria at Graveyard Point, patchy…
Even with cooler temperatures and autumn colors setting in, cyanobacteria blooms are still showing up across Lake Champlain and nearby Vermont waterbodies. During Week 15, the Main Lake South experienced a notably high amount of blooms, while Lake…
The products we use to encourage prolific lawn growth may end up fueling less-welcome species, including cyanobacteria, when they end up in Lake Champlain.
Although fall is officially here, cyanobacteria blooms were still observed across Lake Champlain and several inland Vermont waterbodies during Week 14. While the overall number of reports was lower, blooms occurred in several key areas on Lake…
This week we saw a paint-like bloom at Venise-en-Québec shoreline, a green sheen bloom at Black Bridge in St. Albans Town, a faint green haze at North Beach in Burlington, an intense bright green layer at the U.S. Coast Guard Boat Access Ramp in…
During Week 12 (8/9 - 9/6/2025) of the cyanobacteria monitoring season, we saw paint-like green bloom at Philipsburg Boat Launch, dense mats coating the shoreline at Philipsburg, vibrant green waters at North Hero Marina, bright teal and green…
Under a velvety dark sky on the night of a new moon, an American eel (Anguilla rostrata) slithers from her watery home in Lake Champlain to embark on a fateful mission. To mate, she must venture on a journey that stretches north through the Richelieu…
This week we saw teal tinted waters at Parc Jameson, patches of green from a low alert at Graveyard Point East, green waters at Shelburne Pond, tiny cyanobacteria at Black Bridge in St. Albans, and specks of cyanobacteria at Graveyard Point West.
This week we saw bright green surface accumulations at Shipyard in Highgate Springs, thick swirling scums at Philipsburg, nearshore pea soup conditions at Lakeshore Park in Alburgh later in the week, patchy shoreline blooms at Graveyard Point in…
This week, we continued to see blooms in Missisquoi Bay and the Inland Sea, with additional reports scattered throughout the lake. While some areas remain clear, cyanobacteria is still present in several locations.
We saw blooms this week in the Inland Sea, Missisquoi Bay, Malletts Bay, and Main Lake North, along with reports from Lake Carmi and other inland lakes. Several sites also showed signs of blooms beginning to break down, with teal hues, wispy white…
We saw an increase in blooms during Week 7 of the cyanobacteria monitoring season (7/27 - 8/2/2025), with numerous reports coming from Missisquoi Bay and St. Albans Bay. Several sites also showed signs of blooms beginning to break down, with teal…
Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! In this email, you will find details of Week 5 monitoring results. Click on the links to see a dense jar of cyanobacteria from a high alert bloom…
Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! In this email, you will find details of Week 4 monitoring results. Click on the links to see a dense bloom at Corlear Bay, meet part of the…
The day after a heat wave swept through the Champlain Valley, the clouds lifted to reveal a brilliant sunset over Lake Champlain. As LCC staff, board members, volunteers, colleagues, and friends gathered at the St. John’s Club in Burlington, the…
In 2023, LCC started the Champlain Aquatic invasive Monitoring Program, aka CHAMP. Through this program, we train, support, and empower community scientists from all around Lake Champlain to identify and survey for aquatic invasive species. In 2024,…
We are thrilled to welcome Serena Buono to the LCC team as our summer intern! Always a fan of the lake and the comforting skyline of tall mountains, Serena decided to move up from her home in Long Island, NY to study and protect the ecosystems she…
Lake Champlain teems with movement in the summer: fish splash, osprey dive, and kayakers paddle. Waters warmed by the July sun seem to suffuse lake life with motion. Yet there is an animal that remains slow, if not completely still, amidst the…
Summer rainstorms can turn roads to rivers. As water travels over an impervious landscape, it collects everything within its flow, including harmful pollutants, on its way to Lake Champlain. How can we keep some of the summer deluge from becoming…
Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! In this email, you will find details of Week 3 monitoring results. Click on the links to see scenes of beachgoers unknowingly in bloom…
Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! In this email, you will find details of Week 2 monitoring results. Click on the links to familiarize yourself with the public cyanobacteria…
Cyanobacteria are among the oldest forms of life on Earth. Their story begins not just before humans or mammals, but before our oxygen-rich atmosphere even existed. The blooms we see today are not due to completely new species but rather to shifting…
Thank you for signing up to receive the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) Cyanobacteria monitoring reports! Monitoring began the week of June 15 and will run through early fall. Each week we’ll send you an update about conditions monitors are finding on…
At what point does a waterway stop being a river and become part of Lake Champlain? This transition happens gradually in a zone called a river delta where a river empties into the lake.
Join the Lake Champlain Committee at the Pt. Au Roche Nature Center on Sunday, June 8 from 10 AM - 12 PM for an educational training on aquatic invasive species! Learn what invasive species are, why they are a problem, how to prevent their…
Join LCC and the Northeast Disabled Athletics Association, South Hero Land Trust, and North Branch Nature Center on Thursday, 7/17/2025 between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM at the Sandbar State Park in Milton, VT. This adaptive kayaking series is an…
As we gear up for another field season at the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC), we're seeking volunteers for the Champlain Aquatic invasive Monitoring Program—CHAMP! Now entering our third season of CHAMP, LCC recruits, trains, and supports volunteers…
Our beloved aquatic creatures share oxygen, food, and habitat —but unfortunately, they also share the water with something far less natural: our trash. A shampoo bottle floating in the lake, an abandoned boat, or a buoy washed up on a beach are all…
Join LCC and our partners in the Marine Debris Coalition for a cleanup of the Burlington Waterfront! Sign up for one of two cleanup locations: the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center and the Burlington Community Boathouse Marina from 9:00 AM -…
Imagine a world where homes are built of glass—not by human hands, but by nature’s tiniest architects. These microscopic wonders, known as diatoms, are a type of single-celled algae that inhabit nearly every aquatic environment on Earth. Their unique…
