Urban stormwater runoff is a growing problem within the Lake Champlain Basin. This is especially true for communities within greater Chittenden County, Vermont, which are experiencing significant residential and commercial growth. Land is being converted from farms and forests to cities and suburbs. Urbanization is problematic for lakes and rivers because it can create: higher stream flows during storms and lower stream flows during dry periods; streambank erosion due to increase in peak storm runoff; and higher levels of pollutants in stormwater, such as phosphorus, pathogens (E. coli, for example), sediments, and toxic substances. One acre of developed land, with roads parking lots, office parks, and lawns, typically sends three times as much phosphorus to the lake as one acre of agricultural land. These pollutants often end up in Lake Champlain via stormdrains and runoff making stormwater treatments essential to accommodate population growth.

Many citizens, communities, state agencies, and organizations have begun to prevent polluted stormwater runoff, although there is more that must be done. Recent examples include:

• The LCBP funded the National Wildlife Federation and Lake Champlain Committee to create the "Stormwater and Smart Growth" handbook. Click here to download (7 MB PDF).
• The city of South Burlington created the Basin's first-ever storm water utility to manage runoff from snowmelt and rainstorms.
• A volunteer stormwater monitoring project in Burlington is collecting data. Samples are analyzed at UVM's Rubenstein lab and posted online to provide the public with information about water quality.
• Storm drain stenciling in New York and Vermont by the Lake Champlain Committee and others to remind residents not to pour pollutants such as paint and motor oil down storm drains.
• Creating and enhancing stream protection ordinances in communities such as Colchester and Williston, Vermont.
• A "Scoop the Poop" campaign in Burlington that reminds residents to clean up pet waste (a source of pathogens).
• Creating guidelines for stormwater pollutant reduction for cities. The Burlington Conservation Board wrote guidelines with funding from the LCBP.
• Cleaning up urban brooks by numerous volunteer watershed and river groups in the Basin.
• Projects by the Boquet and AuSable River Associations to prevent runoff from roads, which were funded through the LCBP.
• Projects such as one by the National Wildlife Federation, which is helping growing communities build local capacity for managing stormwater. Funded through the LCBP.

• Burlington Bay Project
• Burlington Volunteer Stormwater Monitoring Project (includes data)
• Clean and Clear Program Stormwater Page (State of Vermont)
• Construction Permiting for Stormwater (VT DEC)
• Redesigning the American Neighborhood Stormwater Project in South Burlington (UVM)
• Smart Waterways: Chittenden County Stormwater Website
• Stormwater Division (VT DEC)