State of the Lake 2018

2018 STATE of the LAKE and Ecosystem Indicators Report ABOUT THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN BASIN PROGRAM The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) coordinates and funds efforts that benefit the Lake Champlain Basin’s water quality, fisher- The Lake Champlain Basin ies, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and cultural resources. The program works in partnership with federal agencies; state and provincial agencies from New York, Vermont, and Québec; local communities; busi- nesses; and citizen groups. These partners lead collaborative, non-par- QUÉBEC Sutton tisan actions to address water quality and environmental challenges Philipsburg that cross political boundaries in a multi-national watershed. Richford Chazy The LCBP was created by the Lake Champlain Special Designation Act Saint Albans of 1990, which designated Lake Champlain as a resource of national LAKE Plattsburgh significance. The LCBP was charged with developing and implementing CHAMPLAIN S N I a comprehensive and coordinated plan for protecting the Lake Cham- A T plain Basin. The LCBP works closely with program partners to imple- NEW YORK N U Keeseville Stowe ment management goals outlined in Opportunities for Action: An Evolving O Burlington Plan for the Future of the Lake Champlain Basin. M VERMONT N E ADIRONDACK E The Lake Champlain Steering Committee guides the LCBP’s work. Lake Placid Elizabethtown R Montpelier MOUNTAINS G Its members include staff from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several other U.S. federal agencies, state and provincial government in Vermont, New York, and Québec, local government, and Port Henry Middlebury r e iv R ce Lake Champlain Sea Grant. The chairpersons of the LCBP’s Technical en r r w e a v L i t. R S 01020 u e i l Advisory Committee, Heritage Area Program Advisory Committee, e QUÉBEC h c Ticonderoga ONTARIO i Miles Education and Outreach Advisory Committee, and Citizen Advisory R LAKE CHAMPLAIN Committees also serve on the Steering Committee. NEW YORK VERMONT Rutland The LCBP receives funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection NEW HAMPSHIRE Agency, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and the National Park Whitehall Service. The New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Com- LAKE mission (NEIWPCC) manages the LCBP’s financial, contractual, and GEORGE human resources business operations on behalf of the Lake Champlain Steering Committee. LCBP staff are employees of NEIWPCC. Visit www.lcbp.org to learn more. Cover: Middlebury College’s R/V David Folger heads to a research site on Lake Champlain. Photo: Perri Silverhart CONTENTS of Contents Table Introduction ...............................................................2 State of the Lake Summary .....................................4 Clean Water ................................................................6 Drinkable, Fishable, and Swimmable Water ...............6 Pathogens and Cyanobacteria ......................................8 Phosphorus ...................................................................10 Healthy Ecosystems ...............................................16 Biodiversity ...................................................................16 Fish Health ....................................................................18 Aquatic Invasive Species .............................................19 Thriving Communities ..........................................24 Community Engagement ............................................24 Recreation.....................................................................26 Informed and Involved Public .............................28 Education and Outreach .............................................28 Citizen Action ...............................................................30 Ecosystem Indicators Scorecard ......................... 31 Acknowledgements ................................................32 Photo: Perri Silverhart 2018 STATE OF THE LAKE • 1 Introduction ever before has there been efforts of the LCBP and its partners in of the Lake report. The knowledge port includes new information and so much support from lake the pursuit of four goals: clean water, of the “State” of the Lake included updated illustrations that summarize Nusers, resource managers, and healthy ecosystems, thriving commu- here and the “Response,” which has the current state of knowledge of government entities to improve Lake nities, and an informed and involved led to many improvements in water the conditions in the Lake Champlain Champlain and its watershed. Just as public. These goals serve as the frame- quality and ecosystem health, are the Basin. Additional supplemental mate- the historic flooding of 2011 was a work for much of the LCBP’s work, results of science-based, collabora- rials are available in the online version touchstone moment in the history including this 2018 State of the Lake and tive management that takes a holistic at sol.lcbp.org. of the management of Lake Cham- Ecosystem Indicators Report. The report approach to watershed management plain, the revised phosphorus Total covers the work being done to achieve based on coordinated development of Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the four goals and presents the most high-quality, objective scientific data. Vermont, released by the U.S. Environ- recent information on the conditions The 2018 State of the Lake report mental Protection Agency in 2016, has of Lake Champlain and its watershed. highlights the economic integration P R E heralded renewed awareness, debate, It serves as an update to legislators and management theme to a greater degree E S S P S R U and action around the health of the policymakers and informs citizens and than previous versions. Management N E E S S R S O I N O E Lake Champlain Basin. resource managers about threats to the strategies that maintain vibrant local P O N S P E É Action is underway on many fronts. Lake and opportunities to meet present economies while protecting and R R The governor of Vermont has initiated and future challenges. restoring the ecological and cultural re- a phosphorus innovation challenge, the The state, or condition, of the Lake’s sources of the Basin cut across all four governor of New York has announced ecosystem—the focus of this report— Opportunities for Action goals. More than a harmful algal bloom reduction effort, is a primary component of the Pres- ever, these strategies take into account ÉTAT and Québec has adopted new legisla- sure-State-Response approach adopted the inextricable link between inno- tion to increase protection of wetlands. by the LCBP for assessing and manag- vative and cost-effective approaches STATE Federal, state, and provincial govern- ing Basin resources. In this approach, to pollution reduction, efficient use ment agencies in the United States and the LCBP tracks human activities that of resources through coordinated Canada are examining and applying can exert “Pressure” that may result in funding and management actions, tools to reduce phosphorus pollution, complex, long-term, and cumulative and vibrant communities that are able mitigate harmful flooding, restore ecosystem impacts—that is, changes in to leverage their natural and cultural aquatic habitat and native fisheries to the “State” of the Lake. These changes heritage assets. the watershed, and interpret the rich often elicit a management “Response,” Resilience to climate change is also culture and heritage of the region. The such as new environmental policies or a common theme in the management U.S. congressional delegation repre- management actions. A proper “Re- efforts of the LCBP and its watershed senting the jurisdictions within the sponse” can reduce sources of “Pres- partners. In an effort to more effec- Lake Champlain Basin continues to sure” to bring about a more desirable tively reflect the far-reaching impact enthusiastically support these efforts. “State” of the Lake. of climate change, the 2018 report In 2017, the LCBP, with support Opportunities for Action identifies sev- includes climate change considerations from the Lake Champlain Steering eral management themes that underlie throughout each section, rather than, Committee, released an updated the strategies aimed at achieving all as done in the previous two versions version of Opportunities for Action, the four goals in the plan. These man- of the report, within a dedicated cli- management plan for Lake Champlain agement themes also are reflected mate change section. and its watershed. The plan directs the throughout all sections of this State This printed edition of the re- Partners in Québec, Vermont and New York work to improve the health of Missisquoi Bay. Photo: LCBP. 2 • LAKE CHAMPLAIN BASIN PROGRAM Introduction amais auparavant n’a-t’-on vu un Québec adoptait de nouvelles législa- citoyens et les gestionnaires de ressou- Le rapport État du lac 2018 met l’accent tel soutien de la part des usagers tions pour améliorer la protection des rces sur les menaces qui pèsent sur le sur le thème de la gestion de l’intégra- Jdu lac, des gestionnaires de res- milieux humides. Des instances gouver- lac, ainsi que sur les moyens de relever tion économique dans une plus grande sources et des instances gouvernantes nementales fédérales, des États et pro- les défis actuels et à venir. mesure que les versions précédentes. Les envers l’amélioration du lac Champlain vinciales aux États-Unis et au Canada L’état de l’écosystème du lac, le sujet stratégies de gestion visant à préserver et de son bassin hydrographique. Tout examinent et mettent en œuvre des out- principal

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