Lake Champlain

Burlington, Vermont officials will hold a town hall meeting Thursday to review a proposed plan to upgrade the city’s wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

Last week, Burlington, Vermont’s mayor and Department of Public Works officials announced an accelerated plan to renovate the city’s wastewater and storm water system after chronic problems with overflows this summer.  The $30 million plan went before city councilors this week, who have sent it to the November ballot for voter approval.

The Lake Champlain Basin Program recently released its latest State Of The Lake report on the health of Lake Champlain.  While the report finds phosphorus is still problematic, there is some progress in other areas.

Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources Secretary wants to fund water quality improvements from the state's capital bill, money usually used to pay for large construction projects.

Officials from the U.S., Canada, New York, Vermont and Quebec were in Crown Point, New York this week to renew the Lake Champlain Basin Program’s management plan for the lake.

Plattsburgh officials have announced details of the 40th annual Mayor’s Cup festival and regatta.

A report issued this month assesses the changing salinity of freshwater lakes.  It finds increased sodium chloride in the North American lakes studied, most likely caused by using salt to de-ice roadways.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott says the state remains committed to seeing Lake Champlain cleaned up, even though the total estimated price tag over the next 20 years could exceed $1 billion.

Vermont's state treasurer says property owners could be on the hook for $25 million a year for a water cleanup initiative.

The city of Plattsburgh is working on expanding its marina on the Lake Champlain waterfront.  The Common Council addressed two items on its agenda Thursday night that will move the plans forward.

A Vermont dairy farm is taking a novel approach to reducing polluted runoff into Lake Champlain by spinning its manure in a centrifuge to remove some of the phosphorus.

The state of Vermont is seeking public input on a plan to clean up Lake Champlain by reducing the amount of phosphorous and other pollutants that reach the lake.

Vermont officials are trying to adapt to a tougher drinking water standard for a chemical used to fight the sea lamprey, a parasitic eel that has hurt fish populations in Lake Champlain.

A multi-state, international Homeland Security training, water quality and boating enforcement exercise is under way on Lake Champlain.

In 1990, Congress passed the Lake Champlain Special Designation Act, creating the Lake Champlain Basin Program.  It is charged with coordinating water quality programs to restore and protect Lake Champlain with partners in Vermont, Quebec and New York.

On Monday, Dr. Eric Howe will become the new Program Director of the Basin Program following the retirement of Bill Howland.  Howe, an environmental scientist, worked at the Darin Freshwater Institute and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation before joining the Basin program in 2009 as its Technical Coordinator.  He tells WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley why he wants to lead the bi-national and bi-state watershed protection program.

The annual Mayor’s Cup Regatta is the largest sailing race on Lake Champlain.  But this year, high winds and rain lowered some sails and cancelled many shore events.

Lake Champlain has a long nautical history.  Early Native Americans used birch bark canoes on the lake.  Then warships plied the waters during the Revolutionary War. Later, the age of commerce brought ferries and steamboats, and now recreational sailing is popular. But over the centuries, many ships have sunk in the lake’s deep waters. Carolyn Kennedy, a PhD student at Texas A&M University, has been researching steamboat wrecks for the past three years.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has notified Vermont officials that they will sign off on the state's plan to clean up Lake Champlain.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued the phosphorus pollution limits for the Vermont segments of Lake Champlain. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports on what the limits mean for the lake.

A new $20 million federal grant will bring together scientists from a number of Vermont colleges and universities to study what makes some sections of the Lake Champlain watershed more resilient after extreme weather events.

Scientists from a number of Vermont colleges and universities will be using a $20 million federal grant to study what makes some sections of the Lake Champlain watershed bounce back faster than others after extreme weather events.

In the spring of 2011, Lake Champlain reached record high levels and historic flooding occurred.  In Plattsburgh, a low-income housing complex along the lakeshore was condemned.  On Monday, the Plattsburgh City Planning Board approved plans to redevelop the 3-point-3 acre property.

Farms in northwestern Vermont may have to abide by certain practices to reduce phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain under a decision released by the state's agriculture secretary.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates the five-year cost of cleaning up Vermont waters is about $154 million. But as WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley reports, regional officials say the federal agency is underestimating costs.

Do you remember Lite-Brite? The toy with small colored plastic pegs that create illuminated designs on a light board?  Well scientists and designers have taken the concept to a new level. They’ve created a display at the ECHO Center for Lake Champlain to visually display data about the lake.