Lake Champlain

• Practice -Process For Managing Anatoxin, Cylindrospermopsin, and Microcystin Detections in Raw and Finished Water Samples For Public Surface Water Systems
• Vermont Drinking Water Systems Now Sampling for Blue-Green Algae Toxins   (Press Release: July 2015)

Cyanobacteria are photosynthesizing bacteria that may produce cyanotoxins that can cause illness to exposed human and animal populations.   A bloom is a visually identified concentration of cyanobacteria that discolors the water.  Cyanobacterial cells may be found at the water surface, at a defined depth, or present throughout the water column. 

Summer 2022, marks the eighth year DWGWPD is collaborating with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH), to offer at no cost cyanotoxin analysis of raw and finished water for the 22 Lake Champlain-sourced public water systems for 12 weeks (July through September). This years samples will be analyzed by Vermont Agriculture and Environmental Laboratory (VAEL).

2023 Program

Week One: July 10-11, 2023 Cyanotoxin Monitoring Results

What’s New

The Agency of Natural Resources is revising the Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages Tactical Basin Plan with partners during a year and half planning process. The Agency will release the updated plan at the end of 2024 (see below for the current plan and associated Story Map).   

The Watershed Management Division participates in “special studies” when the need arises, such as: 

Lake Champlain Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC), in cooperation with the Lake Champlain Basin Program, initiated the Lake Champlain Zebra Mussel Monitoring Program in 1994 to track the zebra mussel's distribution through the lake. Reports are provided annually.

The Lake Champlain Long-Term Water Quality and Biological Monitoring Project (LTMP) is designed to measure overall ecosystem health of Lake Champlain based on key ecosystem indicators and to assess long-term effects of management actions and other environmental changes.

Vermonter's are fortunate to have lakes and ponds that, for the most part, clean, clear, and enjoyable. When admiring the vistas from Lake Willoughby, cooling off on a hot summer day at Sunset Lake in Benson, or fishing Somerset Reservoir, it is tough to imagine that VT has a problem with heavy metals like mercury, or with other persistent organic pollutants such as PCB's and DDT. Unfortunately, though, contamination of our lakes by mercury is widespread throughout the state, and contamination by other persistent chemicals, while scattered, is indeed a problem.