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Stormwater Runoff
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.
Preventing Stormwater Runoff
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.
More about Stormwater
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