Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages

Protecting and Restoring Its Lakes, Ponds, Rivers and Wetlands

Vermont Agency of Natural Resources

December 10, 2024

view of Burlington Bay over a wildflower field

01 / 23

Vermont's Tactical Basin Plan for the Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages

guides the Agency of Natural Resources and its partners in protecting and restoring the watershed's lakes, wetlands and rivers for recreational opportunities and aquatic habitat among many other uses.

READ the 2024 plan

To learn more about the planning process and the plan, scroll left.

Charlotte shoreline

Managing Surface Waters by Basin

The Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages (Basin 5) is one of Vermont's 15 planning basins – areas that include a major river, or a collection of smaller drainages. WHY PLAN BY BASIN ?

Towns and Subbasins in the Basin

The basin extends north from Ferrisburgh to Alburgh and includes the watersheds of the bays and shorelines of Lake Champlain's western shores and islands.

The Basin Drains to Lake Champlain

Protecting or restoring ponds, rivers, and wetlands in the basin also helps to protect the lake.

Malletts Creek, Pond Brook and Indian Brook draining to Malletts Bay. Photo credit: Jeff Lefebvre

Five-Step Basin Planning Cycle

After identifying surface water conditions, the Agency of Natural Resources (the Agency) partners with other state, federal and community-based organizations (listed at end of Story Map) to develop and implement the strategies over a five-year period. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PLANNING PROCESS

How is the Health of the Basin Assessed?

The Agency assesses biological, chemical and physical characteristics against the Vermont Water Quality Standards to understand water quality trends. See the resulting basin assessment map at the end of the Story Map. Learn more about monitoring and assessment here .

Where Should We Protect?

Waters that are close to pristine conditions or that protect uses that we value, like recreational opportunities or wildlife habitat.

Chapter 2 in the plan identifies how these waters will be protected through reclassification or designation.

Where Should We Restore?

Surface waters degraded by stressors , leading to release of pollutants that adversely impact the waters' uses and values. The interactive map identifies degraded streams and associated pollutants.

To learn more about these waters, see Chapter 3 in the Plan

Strategies to Restore and Protect Surface Waters

The Agency protects and restores Vermont’s lakes, rivers and wetland primarily by improving our management of landscapes.

See also the Vermont Surface Water Management Strategies for Agency's comprehensive approach to addressing pollutants and stressors

Strategies by Land Use Sector

Objectives for each sector focus on reducing Phosphorus and sediment loading to Lake Champlain.

For all strategies and the Agency's approach to addressing all sources of pollutants, see the Implementation Table in Chapter 5 in the plan.

Strategies for the Basin

Working with partners, the Agency supports the following sector- based practices by providing education, technical and financial assistance to encourage voluntary actions and regulatory compliance.

Agricultural Strategies

Reduce erosion off fields

Manage stormwater off production areas

Enhance riparian buffers·

Thorp Brook watershed

Agricultural Strategies

Support nutrient management

Coordinate with agricultural service providers to provide cross training

Encourage adoption of stewardship practices through award program

Town Road Strategies

Inventory road erosion to waters (REIs)

Fix high priority road segments in REI.

Provide technical assistance on culvert and road maintenance

Developed Land Strategies

Identify projects through Stormwater master plans, Flow Restoration and Phosphorus Control Plans

Encourage voluntary residential Best Management Practices

Manage stormwater off private roads

Adopt winter ice management that results in reduced use of chlorides

Stevens Brook watershed

Forestry Strategies

Reduce logging roads and landing erosion

Encourage skidder bridge use

Support forestland conservation

Wastewater Treatment Strategies

Support upgrades and optimize phosphorus removal from wastewater treatment facilities

Promote proper septic system maintenance and assist communities in finding wastewater solution

Wood duck house in Malletts Bay

Natural Resource - River Strategies

Protect and enhance river corridors for flood resilience and steam channel equilibrium, including:

o Shoreline reforestation

o Floodplain connection

o Longitudinal connection, e.g., dam removal, culvert and bridge enhancement

Malletts Creek

Natural Resource - Wetland Strategies

Support wetland restoration and conservation

Assist with Class I designation

Indian Brook wetland

Natural Resource - Lake Strategies

Restore shoreland forest cover

Address erosion from shoreland residential properties and roads

Prevent and manage aquatic invasives and support management efforts

Indian Brook Reservoir

Summary of Strategies

The plan strategies cover land-use, natural resource sectors, and wastewater. See a summary of the strategies below or in the plan's executive summary.

Projects that Address Strategies

The removal of the Mill Pond Dam and the restoration of the stream channel on Indian Brook was completed in 2019 to improve aquatic habitat and reduce sediment flowing to Malletts Bay.

Find more completed projects as well as potential projects in the Clean Water Portal 's Watershed Project Database

Learn more

Scroll down to read more about tactical basin planning, the Lake Champlain Phosphorus TMDL, tracked accomplishments in the basin as well as how to contribute to the planning process and restoration and protection efforts.

Rouses Point Bridge, looking south towards the Champlain Islands

01 / 22

Vermont's Tactical Basin Plan for the Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages

READ the Draft 2024 plan or the 2020 plan.

To learn more about the planning process and the plan, scroll left.

Charlotte shoreline

Managing Surface Waters by Basin

The Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages (Basin 5) is one of Vermont's 15 planning basins – areas that include a major river, or a collection of smaller drainages. WHY PLAN BY BASIN ?

Towns and Subbasins in the Basin

The basin extends north from Ferrisburgh to Alburgh and includes the watersheds of the bays and shorelines of Lake Champlain's western shores and islands.

The Basin Drains to Lake Champlain

Protecting or restoring ponds, rivers, and wetlands in the basin also helps to protect the lake.

Malletts Creek, Pond Brook and Indian Brook draining to Malletts Bay. Photo credit: Jeff Lefebvre

Five-Step Basin Planning Cycle

How is the Health of the Basin Assessed?

Where Should We Protect?

Waters that are close to pristine conditions or that protect uses that we value, like recreational opportunities or wildlife habitat.

Chapter 2 in the plan identifies how these waters will be protected through reclassification or designation.

Where Should We Restore?

Surface waters degraded by stressors , leading to release of pollutants that adversely impact the waters' uses and values. The interactive map identifies degraded streams and associated pollutants.

To learn more about these waters, see Chapter 3 in the Plan

Strategies to Restore and Protect Surface Waters

The Agency protects and restores Vermont’s lakes, rivers and wetland primarily by improving our management of landscapes.

See also the Vermont Surface Water Management Strategies for Agency's comprehensive approach to addressing pollutants and stressors

Strategies by Land Use Sector

Objectives for each sector focus on reducing Phosphorus and sediment loading to Lake Champlain.

For all strategies and the Agency's approach to addressing all sources of pollutants, see the Implementation Table in Chapter 5 in the plan.

Strategies for the Basin

Working with partners, the Agency supports the following sector- based practices by providing education, technical and financial assistance to encourage voluntary actions and regulatory compliance.

Agricultural Strategies

Reduce erosion off fields

Manage stormwater off production areas

Enhance riparian buffers·

Thorp Brook watershed

Agricultural Strategies

Support nutrient management

Coordinate with agricultural service providers to provide cross training

Encourage adoption of stewardship practices through award program

Road Strategies

Inventory road erosion to waters on town and private roads (REIs)

Fix high priority road segments identified in the REIs.

Provide technical assistance on culvert and road maintenance

Developed Land Strategies

Identify projects through Stormwater Master Plans, Flow Restoration and Phosphorus Control Plans

Encourage voluntary residential Best Management Practices

Adopt winter ice management that results in reduced use of chlorides

Stevens Brook watershed

Forestry Strategies

Reduce logging roads and landing erosion

Encourage skidder bridge use

Support forestland conservation

Wastewater Treatment Strategies

Support upgrades and optimize phosphorus removal from wastewater treatment facilities

Promote proper septic system maintenance and assist communities in finding wastewater solution

Wood duck house in Malletts Bay red maple wetland

Natural Resource - River Strategies

Protect and enhance river corridors for flood resilience and steam channel equilibrium, including:

o Shoreline reforestation

o Floodplain connection

o Longitudinal connection, e.g., dam removal, culvert and bridge enhancement

Malletts Creek

Natural Resource - Wetland Strategies

Support wetland restoration and conservation

Assist with Class I designation

Indian Brook wetland

Natural Resource - Lake Strategies

Restore shoreland forest cover

Address erosion from shoreland residential properties and roads

Prevent and manage aquatic invasives and support management efforts

Indian Brook Reservoir

Projects that Address Strategies

The removal of the Mill Pond Dam and the restoration of the stream channel on Indian Brook was completed in 2019 to improve aquatic habitat and reduce sediment flowing to Malletts Bay.

Find more completed projects as well as potential projects in the Clean Water Portal 's Watershed Project Database

Learn more

Rouses Point Bridge, looking south towards the Champlain Islands

Setting Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages Targets: Lake Champlain Phosphorus TMDL

The next three slides describe Vermont's plan, targets and progress towards reducing Phosphorus levels in Lake Champlain. This Lake Champlain Phosphorus TMDL plan is addressed in the tactical basin plan. Watch the video to learn about the TMDL and then swipe left to see information specific to the Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages (Basin 5).

The Vermont Water Quality Standards establish surface water goals. When needed, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is developed to assist in meeting goals. The TMDL is a regulatory term in the U.S. Clean Water Act, describing a plan for restoring impaired waters that identifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water quality standards.

Issued in 2016, the Lake Champlain's Phosphorus TMDL has been an important tool for improving Lake Champlain as well as the Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages (Basin 5).

The Lake Champlain Basin Program's Clean Water Commitment video series https://cleanwatercommitment.org/ provide an overview of Lake Champlain's phosphorus impairment and the collaborative process to address. The video to right describes the TMDL.

Meeting Basin 5 Targets set in the Lake Champlain Phosphorus TMDL

Chapter 3 of the Tactical Basin Plan (TBP) includes estimates of Basin 5 Phosphorus loads and reductions needed from each land use sector to meet a clean water target. See also figure to the right, click on Basin 5.

Our strategies to meet the targets are included in the TBP's Implementation Table with additional explanation found in the TBP's Chapter 3 and the Lake Champlain TMDL Implementation Phase I plan, found here .

The video series described in th previous slide also provides a general overview of planning and development of strategies for the entire Lake Champlain Basin as well as the tactical basin planning process.

Using Modeling to Decide Which Practice Where

To meet TMDL phosphorus allocations, the Agency and the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets work with partners to identify the most effective Best Management Practices in geographically specific areas for reducing phosphorus loading.

Reviewing current land use and expected phosphorus reductions is part of that planning process. To the right and in the next slide, explore the data on field and farmstead practices and compare phosphorus reduction based on practices implemented.

How have agricultural practices helped address the phosphorus target? Which practices and where? Each page of the four pages of this online report helps to answer these questions and will be used to prioritize how resources are directed towards the farmer community and their partners.

Tracking and Accounting Basin Accomplishments

The Agency's Clean Water Interactive Dashboard allows readers to filter and customize Vermont's Clean Water Data. Annual Phosphorus reductions and project output measures are available for this basin.

The dashboard and the annual Vermont Clean Water Initiative Performance Report (see link on dashboard) summarize the State of Vermont’s clean water efforts and demonstrate how clean water investments are making a difference.

While measured water quality parameters are the ultimate indicator of progress, it will take time for Vermont’s waters to realize the benefits of clean water projects.

To provide incremental measures of accountability, the Agency estimates the pollutant reductions associated with clean water projects installed across state and federal funding programs and regulatory programs in Vermont.

Tracking and accounting together enables the estimate of mass pollutants reduced from projects and monitor progress towards achieving water quality goals, such as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) described above.

Community Engagement in the Planning and Implementation

Opportunities to Contribute to the Health of the Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages

Organizations, towns and individuals can become involved by exploring the Clean Water Portal for project ideas, partners and funding sources

Explore the Portal

Find Grants

Find your partner to join in restoration and protection efforts

Lake Champlain Islands – Grand Isle and Franklin County Natural Resources Conservation Districts ( GINRCD and FCNRCD)

Georgia, Swanton shoreline – Friends of Lake Champlain ( FNLC ), FCNRCD

St. Albans Bay, Stevens, Rugg and Jewitt Brooks - FCNRCD, FNLC

Malletts Bay, Indian Brook – Winooski NRCD ( WNRCD )

Burlington and Shelburne Bay - WNRCD and Lewis Creek Association ( LCA )

Charlotte and Shelburne shoreline, LaPlatte River, McCabes Brook - WNRCD and LCA

·Lake Iroquois – Lake Iroquois Association, LCA

· Basin wide: Chittenden Cty and Northwest Regional Planning Commissions; Clean Water Service Provider

Stormwater treatment in the Potash Brook watershed

A stormwater treatment structure in a parking lot that infiltrates stormwater and includes plants

Explore the Data Behind the Northern Lake Champlain Basin Plan

Priority Listing of Vermont Waters

For the purposes of identifying and tracking important water quality problems where the Vermont Water Quality Standards (VTWQS) are not met, VTDEC has developed the Vermont Priority Waters List. This list is composed of several parts, each identifying a group of waters with unique water quality concerns that are either impaired or altered:

Impaired Part A (303d list): These waters are assessed as impaired due to one or more pollutants for which a TMDL is required to be developed. This list is developed in even-numbered years and submitted to EPA for approval according federal Clean Water Act regulations. Part B: These waters are assessed as impaired by a pollutant but because other pollution control mechanisms are in place, no TMDL is required to be developed. Water Quality Remediation Plans are one potential tool for addressing impairments. Part D: These waters are assessed as impaired by a pollutant and have a completed TMDL that has been approved by EPA.

Altered Part E: These waters are assessed as altered where aquatic habitat and/or other designated uses are not supported due to the extent of invasive aquatic species. Part F: These waters are assessed as altered due to hydrologic factors. These often include a lack of flow, water level or flow fluctuations or some other modified hydrologic condition.

Find an area of interest in the map below and learn about the health of the waters. The data supporting the assessments can be found here .

Assessment