The Lake Champlain Basin Program released their 2015 State of the Lake report on June 30. The report states that, “although water quality trends in Lake Champlain are cause for concern. . .more than 85% of Lake Champlain’s water is consistently of excellent quality and another 13% of the water is usually in quite good condition. In the remaining 2% of the Lake, conditions are seasonally alarming... Read...

For the second time in seven years a Vermont town has lowered the assessed value of lakeside property due to pollution, according to Vermont Public Radio. In both cases, the towns in question were located on St. Albans Bay where blue-green algae blooms routinely develop during the summer. Read...

LCC Executive Director Lori Fisher spent a few days in Washington DC last month with colleagues from the America's Great Waters Coalition. Organized by the National Parks Conservation Association and the National Wildlife Federation, the Coalition includes representatives from the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, Everglades, Puget Sound, New York/New Jersey Harbor, the Gulf of Maine, and Mississippi River, Lake Champlain and other great waters across the nation. Read...

Mega retailer Walmart was fined $98,000 by New York State for selling phosphorus fertilizer without appropriate signage. As a result, and to avoid future such fines, Walmart has agreed to remove all phosphorus lawn fertilizer from its store shelves. The law restricting the use of phosphorus fertilizer on lawns went into effect in New York in 2012. Read...

Hats off to the great group of dedicated blue-green algae monitoring volunteers who are reporting on water quality from over 80 Lake Champlain shoreline locations, six sites on Lake Carmi and one on Lake Iroquois. LCC has trained over 300 individuals this season to identify blue-green algae, including state and municipal recreational staff and water treatment system operators. Read...

The 2015 edition of the Lake Champlain Paddlers' Trail guidebook is out! It’s jam-packed with helpful information for great adventures on the water including site descriptions and chartlets for 43 Trail locations (with access to over 600 campsites), launch site listings, natural history articles, safety and stewardship tips, equipment check lists and more! Read...

In late June, LCC members John Little and Jim Wakefield headed down the lake in a handcrafted canoe on a paddle to New York City. Both are science teachers and experienced outdoorsmen, and they have paddled many waterways together. Below is John's account of the first leg of their journey.  Read...

Ponds can be an aesthetic addition to a property, but they also pose a danger during times of flooding. Ponds built within floodplains become magnets for rising waters. Streams can “capture” the pond which then exacerbates downstream damage when the pond blows out.  Read...

Few of us like picking up dog poop. For many dog owners it's the least favorite task of pet ownership. Pet poo may seem benign but those left behind stools are nasty to step in and bad for waterways. Pet waste contains disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and lots of excess nutrients that can close a beach to swimming, trigger weed and algae blooms, and foul water. Read...

In May, more than five thousand people joined in the Way to Go Smart Trip Challenge and chose healthier, more earth-friendly transportation alternatives to driving alone. Together these commuters saved at least 300,773 miles, 12,215 gallons of gasoline, and over 110 tons of carbon.  Read...