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WHO WE ARE
WHO WE ARE
The Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) coordinates and funds efforts that benefit the Lake Champlain Basin’s water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and cultural resources. The program works in partnership with federal agencies, state and provincial agencies from New York, Vermont, and Québec, local communities, businesses, and citizen groups.
The LCBP's focus areas include phosphorus pollution and cyanobacteria, contaminants, habitat restoration, and aquatic invasive species. The LCBP also administers the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership, which works to preserve, protect, and interpret cultural and recreational resources of the Champlain Valley and to foster the stewardship of those resources.
NEIWPCC—a regional commission that helps the states of the Northeast preserve and advance water quality—serves as the primary program administrator of LCBP at the request of the Lake Champlain Steering Committee and administers the program’s personnel, finances, quality assurance, and contracts. NEIWPCC is a program partner of LCBP.
Photo: Heather Darby
BALANCING HEALTHY WATERWAYS & FARM OPERATIONS
Since its inception, the LCBP has supported agricultural water quality work through research and implementation projects that are identified as priorities by the Program’s Technical Advisory Committee and the Lake Champlain Steering Committee. These projects are awarded through a competitive RFP process, and the results are often released at LCBP Technical Reports. Recent agriculture-related Technical Reports include:
CONTACT
Navigate the staff directory on the LCBP website.
STAY INFORMED
Sign up for the LCBP newsletter, Casin' the Basin.
View past issues of the LCBP newsletter at LCBP E-News.
Video from Series: Manure Injector with and without dragline video.
The Franklin and Grand Isle Farmer’s Watershed Alliance (FWA) produced a series of videos to demonstrate how farmers are using precision agriculture technologies to manage impact to natural resources and maximize return on investment. These technologies allow farmers to plant seeds, apply fertilizer, apply manure, harvest crops, and produce feed for livestock with a high degree of accuracy while recording valuable data. The filming was completed on private land with the participation of member farmers in Franklin County, Vermont, a critical source watershed.
Click here to view the video series.
Click here to view the video series.
WHAT CONNECTS US TO VAWQP
The Lake Champlain Basin Program continues to fund a range of agricultural projects. Organizations are encouraged to apply for LCBP funding in the category that is most appropriate for their project idea. Check out LBCP's RFPs, new and upcoming grant opportunities in the Lake Champlain Basin.
WATERSHED IN EVERY CLASSROOM
Watershed in Every Classroom (WEC) - The Champlain Basin Education Initiative (CBEI) offers interdisciplinary exploration of natural and cultural resources of the Lake Champlain Basin for teachers in all subject areas. The program provides inspiration, knowledge and skills to frame exciting watershed education in the classroom.
WHAT WE DO
FIELD PRACTICES / AGRONOMIC
LCBP recently supported Newtrient/stone tile drain-field practice modeling, Stone tile drain load assessment and literature review, the UVM Extension whole farm nutrient management planning pilot, and a new project involving the 4 tile effluent filters in Lake Carmi watershed is getting underway.
FUNDING TO ORGANIZATIONS
LCBP local grants are available to NRCDS, NGOs and other farm partners as long as they are a 501(3); examples include conservation plantings on farms, small farm BMP workshops, and purchase equipment for farms to share.
AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION PLANNING
LCBP provided funding to VAAFM to help create a partner BMP database, funded the development of FarmPREP and currently host the tool. Previous work included for nutrient management planning for Franklin County Farms.
TREE PLANTING AND BUFFERS
LCBP continues to fund many tree plantings to local organizations, especially watershed groups and conservation districts.
STORMWATER ASSESSMENTS
LCBP has supported grant applications for stormwater assessments in both residential and in schools across the Basin for more than a decade .
LAKE ASSESSMENTS
The LCBP has provided funds to the VT Lakewise program in the Education and Outreach budget for several years.
WORKSHOPS FOR FARMS
LCBP funded some agricultural workshops through local grants including a small farm BMP series with Friends of Northern Lake Champlain and additional agricultural training workshops through Conservation Districts and local watershed groups
FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT
The LCBP offers annual grants up to $25K for projects that preserve, restore or improve native species habitat.
TRAINING FOR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
The LCBP has provided training on grant writing and videography to all partners but none that are specifically for agricultural issues.
PUBLIC EVENTS
LCBP has participated in the Vermont Farm Show show for more than a decade, and other smaller events upon invitation.
TEACHER TRAINING
The LCBP through our partnership with the Champlain Basin Education Initiative continues to bring teachers on-site to working farms to develop a better balanced perspective on nonpoint source agricultural runoff, best management practices, farm economics and regulatory.
No-till drill sharing program implemented by Essex County Soil and Water Conservation District (Essex Co., NY) to increase the number of farmers implementing reduced tillage strategies to make contributions towards reducing nutrient loading of Lake Champlain.
Top Photo: Erosion of at a location of a future grassed waterway (2015). Bottom Photo: Grassed waterway (2017).
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICE MONITORING AND EVALUATION FINAL REPORT
Stone Project ID 14-130
June 23, 2019
Runoff from two study watersheds in a cornfield in Charlotte, Vermont was monitored between October 1, 2015 and April 22, 2019 to evaluate the effects of construction in September 2017 of a grassed waterway in one of the watersheds. Flow rate and water quality data were obtained from 51 runoff events prior to construction of the grassed waterway and from 41 events following construction.
The paired Charlotte study watersheds behaved similarly with respect to discharge, concentration, and load both before construction of the grassed waterway (calibration period) and after (treatment period). Neither mean total event discharge nor runoff depth differed significantly between the two watersheds in either study period. Significant differences in mean water quality between the watersheds were observed only for a few constituents. Before the grassed waterway was constructed, mean nutrient and sediment concentrations and loads tended to be higher in runoff from the watershed where the grassed waterway was planned; however, the differences were not consistent or always significant. The percentage of total phosphorus and total nitrogen present in dissolved forms did not differ significantly between the two watersheds in either study period.
Several VAWQP partners cooperated in this study in addition to the farms. For more details on specific outcomes, refer to this link for the final report.
PRECISION AGRICULTURE
Discover how precision agricultural technology assists farmers in shifting to practices that improve their efficiency and reduce impacts in the watershed. These technologies help farmers save money, meet TMDL guidelines, and collect data on multiple facets of farming practices. Realtime data is changing the way crops are planted and managed, allowing the farmer to become better stewards of the land.
DAIRY FARMING
Learn how Stony Pond Farm manages the landscape in a way that is healthy for their herd and for the watershed. The farm owners demonstrate their innovative approach using a bedded pack facility to protect water quality.
These videos were produced as part of the LCBP’s Clean Water Commitment series that explores how people working on the landscape are helping to achieve the goals of the Lake Champlain phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).
JUMP-IN!
JUMP-IN!
Participants are welcome to visit the LCBP Resource Room at the ECHO Leahy Center in Burlington to learn more about the lake.
The LCBP through its partnership with the Champlain Basin Education Initiative brings teachers to farms to learn about non-point source pollution, best management practices, regulatory impacts, and agriculture economics so that they can guide student water quality discussions in a balanced manner.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONNECTING WITH YOU!
Have questions or comments about this orientation section?
Contact Colleen Hickey, Education & Outreach Coordinator54 West Shore Road, Grand Isle, Vermont, 05448802-372-011 / 800-468-5277 (NY and VT) chickey@lcbp.org
Contact Colleen Hickey, Education & Outreach Coordinator54 West Shore Road, Grand Isle, Vermont, 05448802-372-011 / 800-468-5277 (NY and VT) chickey@lcbp.org
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