On August 26, 2002 in Quebec City, an agreement was signed between Vermont and Quebec regarding phosphorus reduction in the Missisquoi Bay watershed. Scott Johnstone, (former) Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources of the State of Vermont and André Boisclair, the Minister of State for Municipal Affairs of Greater Montréal, Environment and Water signed the agreement. Vermont and Québec share Missisquoi Bay and it 3,100 km2 watershed.

The agreement states that Vermont will have 60% of the responsibility for reducing phosphorus loads to the Bay, and Quebec will assume 40% of the responsibility. Accordingly, the target phosphorus load for Vermont will be 58.3 metric tons per year (mt/yr), and the target load for Quebec will be 38.9 mt/yr. The target loads set by the agreement were based on the June 2000 report of the Quebec-Vermont Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Task Force, and a subsequent addendum dated October 2001.

The signing of this agreement fulfills a highest priority action of the Lake Champlain Management Plan, Opportunities for Action, which is being implemented by the Lake Champlain Basin Program and its partners. The Missisquoi Bay agreement is also incorporated into the Lake Champlain Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) plan which establishes maximum allowable phosphorus loads from each sub-watershed in Vermont and New York. According to the TMDL plan, a range of actions will be necessary in the Vermont portion of the Missisquoi Bay watershed in order to achieve the target phosphorus loads. These actions include wastewater treatment plant upgrades, best management practices on farms to reduce nutrient runoff, stabilization of stream banks and stream channels, and better stormwater management and erosion control on developed land and roadways.

• Phosphorus Loading to Missisquoi Bay from Sub-Basins in Vermont and Québec, 2002-2005 | Apport de phosphore vers la baie Missisquoi en provenance des sous-bassins du Vermont et du Québec, 2002 à 2005 November 25, 2008 English | Francais
• Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Task Force Report, June 2000 English | Francais [133 KB PDF]
• Addendum to Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Task Force Report, October 2001 English | Francais [11 KB PDF]
• Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Agreement, August 2002 English | Francais [375 KB PDF]
• Missisquoi Bay Watershed Phosphorus Load Monitoring Workplan, May 2005 English | Francais [288 KB PDF]
• Missisquoi Bay Phosphorus Reduction Action Plan 2003-2009, September 2004 English
• Reduction du Phosphore Baie Missisquoi, Bilan des actions 2005-2006, Juillet 2005 Francais | Executive Summary in English
• Plan d’action concertée de la Corporation Bassin Versant Baie Missisquoi, Bilan 2000-2005, Mars 2006 (Francais) [756 KB PDF]
• Corporation Bassin Versant Baie Missisquoi Rapport Annuel, 2005-2006, Juin 2006 (Francais)
• Final report to the International Joint Commission, October 20, 2004 (PDF file)
• Missiquoi Bay Basin / Bassin versant de la baie Missisquoi (Francais)
• Ici La Baie Missisquoi (Francais)