Vermont Legislators,
On behalf on the Franklin Watershed Committee, I wanted to welcome you to the 2021 legislative session. These certainly are challenging times and I hope you and your families have been able to stay safe and healthy!
As you are aware, in 2018 Lake Carmi was designated as Vermont’s only Lake in Crisis. This designation brought about a series of initiatives that included:
While we have made some amazing progress, our work is far from over. This past summer, we continued to see the adverse impacts of the high phosphorus loading our lake has experienced over the years that led to blue green algae blooms that started in early July and lasted until early November. During this time, large sections of our lake’s shoreline were covered in a green slime that kept community members and camp owners from enjoying the water at Lake Carmi.
As you begin your work this legislative session, we would like to offer some thoughts for your consideration and potential action:
Respectfully submitted,
Robert L. Evans
President, Franklin Watershed Committee
On behalf on the Franklin Watershed Committee, I wanted to welcome you to the 2021 legislative session. These certainly are challenging times and I hope you and your families have been able to stay safe and healthy!
As you are aware, in 2018 Lake Carmi was designated as Vermont’s only Lake in Crisis. This designation brought about a series of initiatives that included:
- The development and implementation of an (in lake) aeration system
- Enhanced water quality testing/data gathering through enhanced collaboration with UVM (in lake buoy/monitoring device)
- Completion of Critical Path Projects spanning across multiple sectors that include: agriculture, groundwater, natural resources, roads and the lake
While we have made some amazing progress, our work is far from over. This past summer, we continued to see the adverse impacts of the high phosphorus loading our lake has experienced over the years that led to blue green algae blooms that started in early July and lasted until early November. During this time, large sections of our lake’s shoreline were covered in a green slime that kept community members and camp owners from enjoying the water at Lake Carmi.
As you begin your work this legislative session, we would like to offer some thoughts for your consideration and potential action:
- Review and revise the 2018 Lake in Crisis Response Plan based on current lake conditions, watershed activity, latest understanding of phosphorus loading to the lake, and additional projects needed to reduce or mitigate this loading.
- Ensure all state agencies responsible for completing all Critical Path Projects designated in the 2018 Lake in Crisis Response Plan provide an executive summary that details the status of each project, total cost of each project, resources utilized and identifies any future work needed to meet targeted goals.
- Ensure the in-lake monitoring system (buoy from UVM) remains deployed on the lake from the summer of 2022 until our TMDL goals have been met.
- Due to our Lake in Crisis designation, consider a moratorium on all over land manure spreading in the Lake Carmi watershed until our TMDL goals have been met. We acknowledge the significant investment the state has made on injection manure applications in the watershed, yet a large number of acres continue to see overland manure spreading. We also acknowledge the impacts this may have on our farming community and would ask funding be provided to provide manure disposal alternatives for the farms impacted by this moratorium. At a minimum, a complete ban on all exemptions of winter manure spreading until our TMDL goals have been met.
- Continue to provide Lake in Crisis funding currently set at $50,000 (annually) to assist in the development, coordination, implementation, and oversight of local projects that would enhance water quality at Lake Carmi.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert L. Evans
President, Franklin Watershed Committee
