Through a grant provided by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, the Lamoille Natural Resources Conservation District will continue support for the Vermont Clean Water Act (VCWA) and the Lamoille Tactical Basin Plan and Winooski Tactical Basin Plan. This is the fifth year of funding for these efforts and will extend through June of 2023.

The grant provides support for Conservation Districts throughout Vermont to conduct targeted outreach, coordinate monitoring programs to support science-based water quality investments, and organize local workgroups, among other services. As part of this body of work, Conservation Districts, Regional Planning Commissions and other partners will be closely coordinating activities to provide complementary support for the State’s Tactical Basin Planning process.

Tactical Basin Plans help identify and focus efforts needed to protect or restore specific watersheds through the state. The Lamoille Natural Resources Conservation District has been focused primarily on the Lamoille Tactical Basin Plan and the Winooski Tactical Basin Plan covering the watersheds drained by Lamoille and Winooski Rivers by working to identify priorities, document progress, and conduct outreach necessary to develop priority projects and garner greater local support and awareness of the Basin Plan’s goals. Local identified water quality priorities in Tactical Basin Plans are well positioned for development and funding from the State’s Clean Water Initiative. Basin Plans help provide the umbrella for other various planning initiatives, including Storm Water Master Planning and River Corridor Planning, and ultimately provide a vehicle to strategically address regional water quality priorities. Strong attention has been paid to reducing the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) of Phosphorus in the Lake Champlain Basin as spelled out in the State’s Clean Water Initiative and the new goals of the Clean Water Act 76 and the Clean water Service Providers (CWSP) who are informed by the Basin Water Quality Councils (BWQC).

The State Natural Resources Conservation Council (NRCC), the state agency that serves Vermont’s 14 Conservation Districts, will be overseeing this effort and working closely with the VT Department of Environmental Conservation. For more information, please contact the Lamoille NRCD Manager at lccddirector@gmail.com or 802-521-3004.