The Effect of Water Quality in Lake Champlain on Tourism and Recreation Arelis Enid Girona Dávila | Yu-shiou Tsai, Steve Scheinert, Dr. Christopher Koliba, Dr. Richard Kujawa and Dr. Asim Zia Introduction Results Conclusion • Recreational activities can adversely affect water quality and the Lake Champlain is the host of many recreational activities. For every county there was, a chart was made describing the shoreline. Assessing and improving free time activities will help However, there have been cyanobacteria blooms in the lake that attendance of each park, the room and meal tax receipt and the preserve water quality for fish and wildlife habitat as well as for our threaten human health. As individuals avoid recreational sites levels of phosphorus and nitrogen from May through October 2012. own recreational purposes and the health of their visitors. Poor subject to these blooms, there may be a decrease in the For each county there are four state parks. The room and meal tax water quality can affect recreation on the water, degrade fish and recreational and touristic activities in or near the Lake. This receipt was made with the 2012 data. wildlife habitat, pose a health risk for water-contact recreation, and research will look for the relationship between the attendance of threaten the safety of your drinking water supply. visitors to Vermont State Parks, the meal and room tax and the 18,000 120 25,000 60 • In terms of how the issue of water quality could be solved may be levels of Phosphorus and Nitrogen during summer. It will show how 16,000 100 50 by achieving some Best Management Practices (BMPs) that may 20,000 recreation and tourism in the parks has fluctuated due to variation 14,000 Burton Island State Park Button Bay Island State Park reduce the impact on the environment, essentially in agriculture, in water quality, which is due to the algal blooms, while controlling 12,000 80 Woods Island State Park 40 DAR State Park 15,000 10,000 Lake Carmi State Park Branbury State Park forest management, and construction. Also having a wastewater for fluctuations across space, time and other influences. 60 30 Kingsland Bay State Park 8,000 Killkare State Park Attendance Attendance treatment plant upgrades, stabilization of stream banks and stream 10,000 Total Phosphorus Missiquoi Bay 50 Total Phosphorus South Lake 6,000 40 20 A 04 channels, and better storm-water management and erosion control Total Phosphorus Missisquoi Bay Total Phosphorus Otter Creek 4,000 Segment 09 Central 51 5,000 20 10 Total Phosphorus Port Henry Considering this, I will investigate three relationships among Total Phosphorus St. Albans Bay 40 on developed land and roadways. 2,000 Segment 07 recreational activities. The first relationship will be the attendance Total Phosphorus North East Arm - 0 34 - 0 • In terms of the State Parks, the amenities are the main criteria to of visitors to Vermont State Parks between May and October. The choosing were to visit. The attendance is influenced by this. The second relationship will be the levels of Total Phosphorus and Month Month 14,000 45 levels of nutrients can affect in a way the use of recreational sites Nitrogen in Lake Champlain between May and October. The third 20,000 20 40 18,000 18 but it is not definitive. 12,000 16,000 16 relationship will be room and meal tax receipts of Vermont. It is 35 10,000 14,000 14 • I conclude that this study needs to continue further to see if there is expected that the recreational and touristic activities in the state 30 North Hero State Park 12,000 12 Sand Bar State Park 8,000 25 a relationship within a several years to find out if the affiliation Niquette Bay State Park parks of the counties next to the Lake Champlain decrease with a Knight Point State Park 10,000 10 Underhill State Park 20 6,000 Grand Isle State Park between water quality and recreation exist in every scenario. A Attendance Attendance Mt Philo State Park raise in the Phosphorus and Nitrogen levels and also with a 8,000 8 Total Phosphorus Mallets Bay 25 15 Alburg Dunnes State Park 4,000 6,000 6 Total Phosphorus Main Lake 19 regional plan can be made with the general purpose of the decrease in room and meal tax receipts. Total Phosphorus Isle La 10 Motte 46 Total Phosphorus Burlington Bay 21 4,000 4 Total Phosphorus Isle La Total Phosphorus Shelburne Bay 16 development of this relationship promoting the health and welfare 2,000 Motte 36 5 Total Phosphorus 2,000 2 Cumberland 33 of the residents and visitors and the ecosystem. - 0 - 0 Month Month •These charts shows the state park attendance for the counties of Franklin, Addison, Grand Isle and Chittenden between May and October 2012 and the level of phosphorus in Works Cited Methods microgram per liter (ug/L) for the lakes stations near each county. • Lake Champlain Long-Term Water Quality and Biological Monitoring Program (2006) Prepared by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Water Quality Division and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 5. pp.11. • Board, B. N. (n.d.). Seven Mile Creek Improvement Project. • H, P. (2013, January 10). US Geological Survey. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/urbaneffects.html • Minnesota, U. o. (2008). Protecting our waters. Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/components/dd6946e.html • The comparison will be made using data from Lake Champlain • R, G., & S, L. (2008). Canada-USA Agreement on Eutrophication Control and Protection of Lake Champlain. • Resources, V. A. (2013). Water Quality Remediation, Implementation and Funding Report. Vermont Assembly. Long-term Water Quality and Biological Monitoring Project, the The map shows the lake sites where Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation of Vermont and the the water quality samples were Vermont Department of Taxes. The state parks will be the ones that done. This sampling was made by Acknowledgments are in the counties next to the Lake Champlain. The attendance of the Lake Champlain Long-Term the parks that are in Franklin, Chittenden, Addison and Grand Isle Water Quality and Biological • I really appreciate the opportunity that the EPSCor Center for will be compared within the county to see if there is any difference Monitoring Program to detect long- Workforce Development and Diversity has offered me, especially term environmental changes in the because of the interaction with Lake Champlain. The levels of help Lindsay Wieland, Miranda Lescaze, Chritopher Koliba, Steve lake and the sampling program Scheinert, Richard Kujawa, Asim Zia and Yushiou Tsai have given Phosphorus and Nitrogen will be given by 14 lake stations located focused on those analyses at the lake. Lake stations are visited regularly from late April determined to be the most me. Special thanks to Erick Matta, Prof. Rosana Grafals, Jeffrey through October each year. The chosen data was from May meaningful for assessing the long- Rivera, my family and friends. through October on 2012. term effects of management actions and other changes in the • With each of the chosen counties, their meal and room tax receipts environment. were used to identify the tourist visits and compare them with the attendance to the parks and see if there is any connection. These relations could give us the relationship between the water quality in the lake compared to tourism and the recreational use to it. • Funding provided by NSF Grant EPS‐1101317.