Thank You Monitors & Partners!
Kathy Davis checks on sites in Shelburne Bay during the monitoring season.
More than a hundred volunteers trained by LCC filed weekly water quality reports during the summer. Their data provided over 75% of the information on the blue-green algae tracking map housed at the Vermont Department of Health.
"The program is an important part of protecting and improving water quality and public health," said Andrew Chevrefils, Environmental Health Risk Coordinator for the Vermont Department of Health. "We look forward to continuing our work with the Lake Champlain Committee to further refine and expand the monitoring program and foster greater environmental stewardship and civic engagement."
The information the monitors provide is relied on by public health and environmental officials to assess the safety of the lake for recreating (see <link learn news item algae-season-recap>Algae Season Recap). It's also adding to our body of knowledge about the triggers for blooms so we can reduce their frequency. If you'd like to be part of the monitoring crew for the 2016 season, <link get-involved volunteers bgamonitors blue-green-algae-monitor-interest-form>sign up here.
LCC's monitors are a dedicated group. Many monitors, including Kathy Davis, Brad Gooding, Cathy Hickory, Bob and Mary McKearin went the extra mile to provide daily site checks when conditions warranted it. Bob Martell and Mike Roach have been monitoring conditions in Missisquoi Bay for LCC since we began the program over a decade ago. Ken Adams, Peter and Marion Benevento, Sheila Chairvolotti and kids, Jeff Clock, Kathy Davis, Todd deBurlo, Jon Deming, Tim Etchells, Tara Gibson and Dan Pettit, Brad Gooding, Fred Guffey, Cathy Hickory, Karla Rieger, John and Berney Skutel, and Chuck Woessner all diligently report on multiple sites throughout the season.
The monitoring program wouldn't exist without the committed, enthusiastic involvement of all our volunteers and the generous financial support of LCC members, the Lake Champlain Basin Program and the Vermont Department of Health. Our deep thanks to our project partners at the Vermont Departments of Environmental Conservation, Health and Forests, Parks and Recreation and our wonderful monitors: Ken Adams, Laurie Adams, Bunny Adler, David Andrews, Farrah Ashe, Janine Banks, Mary Jane Banyi, Susie Becker, Peter and Marion Benevento, Dana Bishop, Paulette Bogan, Bob Bogdan, Liz Bosworth, Philip Brett, Ashley Brisson, Ginny Bush, Debbie Bushey, Amy Calkins, Allan Carpenter, Carrie Smith, Sheila Chairvolotti, Jeff Clock, Peggy Coutu, Kathy Davis, Erin De Vries, Todd deBurlo, Joshua Dein, Amy Demetrowitz, Jon Deming, Sandi Detwiler, Deborah Diemand, Juliana Dixon, Gillian Dreier-Lawrence, Anne Duffy, Tim Etchells, Cathy Frank, Jim Gears, Tara Gibson, Ken Girardin, Sara Glickman, Brad Gooding, Phil Graziano, John Grivetti, Fred Guffey, Carol Hanley, Tim Hanrahan, Paul Hansen, Deb Hartenstein, Ron Haskell, Cathy Hickory, David Hobbs, David Holland, Phelps Holloway, Maxwell Hunter, Sarah Jackson, Bob Jackson, Kim Jacobs, Susan Jacques, Suzy Johnson, Alia Johnson, Erin Knight, Miles Koeller, David and Diane Larose, Norton Latourelle, Tina Lindberg, Lisa Liotta, Celia Loarraine McChesney, Bob Martell, Dave Mayette, Marcia Mazeine, Jon McBride, Alicia McDonald, Bob and Mary McKearin, Heidi McNally, Dayna McRoberts, Pat Morton, Josh Mulhollem, Mary Jay Mullowney, Larry Myott, Boston Neary, Carol O’Donoughue, Marcia Orlandi, William Parkhill, Linda Patterson, Doug Patterson, Conor Pecor, Martha Perry, Dan Pettit, Susan Poirier, Ann Porter, Nancy Read, Ellie Reddington, Karla Rieger, Mike Roach, Andrea Rogers, Wendy Saville, Cheryl Shea, Jessica Shields-Gregg, John and Berney Skutel, Gerard and Rita Sparacino, Michael and Veronica Stahl, Ken Strum, Levi Thill, Cornelia Tierney, Jim Van Hoven, Kyle Wagner, Eric Weber, Alyse Winchester, Chuck Woessner, Michael Wood and Chip and Jo Wright.
