SWANTON, Vt. (AP) - An organization has received a $34,000 grant to complete a water quality assessment along the Lake Champlain shoreline in Swanton and Highgate.
The assessment being done by the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain aims to pinpoint problem areas and then determine solutions. It is scheduled to be conducted in 2021 with money from the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
The St. Albans Messenger reports t he northernmost region of Lake Champlain, which includes Missisquoi Bay, has the highest concentration of phosphorus of any part of the lake. The high phosphorus levels can bring cyanobacteria blooms and harm wildlife habitat.
“This area of the lake has got the highest goals for reducing phosphorus runoff. That’s what the Environmental Protection Agency assigned,” said the organization’s chair Kent Henderson. “But these small towns have low populations, low budgets and they’re struggling just to keep their schools and their roads operating.”
The assessment will cover 37 miles of shoreline. The area’s most prominent feature is the Missisquoi Delta, a National Wildlife Refuge protected by the federal government.
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