 That's why I've been trying to let you know about the change. So Lauren is here in a similar topic, and before I introduce Lauren, I will say that the program committee is meeting tomorrow. If you still have suggestions, you would like to send them along to us. Either tell me or tell Bob or email. If you remember, you got an email about the meeting that you can send suggestions to Grace by email. So just let any of us know. We do consider all the suggestions. If we don't act on them, it's usually because there aren't enough sessions, or because we couldn't come up with a good speaker for that particular topic. Unless you suggest a speaker to us and we try to follow that. Sometimes speakers aren't available either on a Wednesday afternoon. And next week's program is a schedule for what year Denise Johnson and Bridget Assay. Is that how I say it? Is it? Okay. About our court system. Inside the black box, the Vermont and United States Supreme Courts. So a good topic. Timely. Lauren Sofer is here with us. She's the director of science and water programs for the Lake Shepherd Committee, which is an organization that is dedicated to working for Healthy Lake. And since 1963. Lauren also feels passionate about the lake, having lived near her for 30 years. She's a 2019 alumna of the Field Natural and Ecological Planning Graduate Program at UVM, where her master's focused on social ecological approaches to conservation. And Lauren is also, as she joined that LCC in July, is happy to be advocating for the lake in Vermont and New York. So please welcome Lauren. Thanks so much for your introduction. And I'm so happy to be here. I'm wondering if I want to hold this. Is that okay? Okay. So Bob over there is going to help with slide transitions. So bear with us as this is a new relationship for us. So welcome. Thanks so much for being here this afternoon. As Marge said, my name is Lauren Sofer and I'm the director of science and water programs at the Lake Champlain Committee. And I'm going to talk about the health of Lake Champlain in fairly general terms. If you have a clarifying question during the presentation, feel free to raise your hand and ask a clarifying question. If you think it's a more in depth question, let's save that for the end question period. That's 10 to 15 minutes. Is that correct? Okay. All right. So the Lake Champlain Committee is a by state nonprofit. It works in New York state and Vermont state. And we focus on creating a healthy accessible lake through science based advocacy, education and collaborative action. And we've been doing that since 1963. So we're really the first watershed based organization in Vermont. And we've had our hands in almost every single major topic related to Lake Champlain since then. And we were founded as a grassroots organization in opposition to turning the lake into an international seaway. And for a lot of reasons, we're happy that that didn't happen. One of the main reasons is that that could be a route for aquatic invasive species to get into our lake. And I'll talk more about that in a bit. And I think it's important to note that. Yes, we are an advocacy organization, but we always pair our advocacy with education and outreach to the public and that those two things really go hand in hand. Can everyone hear me? Okay. Are we good? Okay. So I'm going to quickly run through the seven topics that we'll talk about today. So in general, our watershed in Lake Champlain, nutrients and then related cyanobacteria, toxics, aquatic invasive species, climate change. And last but not least, how you can get involved, how you can take action as an individual. So what is a watershed? And that can seem kind of ambiguous, right? So one of the first ways to think about it is in terms of the area of land from which precipitation will run off into a particular lake, river or body of water. In this case, the Lake Champlain basin. And the basin is the outline that you see in the image to your left. So that thin outline is the area of the Lake Champlain basin, which is 8,234 square miles, quite a lot, all draining into that long and narrow Lake Champlain. And so eventually the water that reaches this lake is going to flow north into the Richelieu River and then eventually the St. Lawrence and then eventually the Atlantic Ocean. So everything that we do here impacts all of the other water. You know, we're all interconnected, especially through that watershed lens. So about 56% of the basin is in Vermont, 37% in New York, and then 7% in Quebec. So the Lake Champlain basin can be divided into 11 major sub-basins. And so you can see those in a different color. There are 11 different colors up there, and those are the 11 different basins. And we are currently in the Winooski sub-basins. So you can see in that top right image within the image how the basin, how this basin is in relation to all of the other sub-basins that we looked at in the slide before. Does that make sense? Okay. And you are here. We're in Montpelier. But you know, it's always important to know, I think, where you are in the watershed. And how many folks by raise of hands grew up in this watershed? Raise them high and proud. Okay. How many folks grew up in the Lake Champlain basin, so that bigger image that I showed? How many folks grew up in the Lake Champlain basin? Okay. Okay. So, and any folks from New York? Okay. All right. So we have some representation. And now I'm curious about what watersheds you did grow up in, and that's something to think about. Okay. So zooming in a little bit, Lake Champlain is the ninth largest freshwater natural lake in the United States. And it covers about 435 square miles. And something that's very unique about Lake Champlain is the ratio of the basin's land to the water. Okay. So acre per acre, Lake Champlain has 17.6 acres of land to one acre of water. Okay. Is that starting to make sense? That's a lot of land for a little water. And just looking at this image, right, the long and narrow Lake Champlain and then that huge area around it, that perimeter thin line is the basin. Okay. So that sets us up for understanding a lot about Lake Champlain and how, for example, nutrients may impact it. Okay. And then to put this into perspective a little bit, the lake is divided into different segments. And Mrs. Goybay, okay, up here, its ratio is very high, 36 acres of land to one acre of water, right? And then the bottom circle is South Lake A and South Lake B. And that ratio is 55 acres of land to one acre of water. Okay. So we're starting to make some connections here. Whoa. That's a lot of land to water. And then to put possibly turning the light off would maybe help. Thank you, Bob. Oh, we are in a movie theater. And then to put this into perspective a little bit more, the ratio for the Great Lakes, which is arranged because there are multiple Great Lakes, is 1.5 to 4 acres of land to one acre of water. Okay. So this leads us to talking about nutrients. And this is one of the major topics I'm going to cover this afternoon. And I think it helps to start with where do these nutrients come from? You know, again, sometimes these topics feel really ambiguous or, you know, gray. And there are four major locations. So one impervious surface runoff. Okay. Pavement. Sidewalks. Compacted soils. Rooftops. The second is farm field runoff. Barnyards. Pastures. Etc. And I'm going to focus more on the first two. But stream bank erosion. Okay. So if you have major floods coming through and the Winooski River, for example, there may be segments of it that don't have a lot of vegetation on the stream banks to hold in that soil. And so when a major flood comes through, that can send a lot of sediment and nutrients into the Winooski and then into Lake Champlain, right? Because we're all interconnected. So that's what I mean by lack of vegetated buffers under stream bank erosion. And then, of course, the lake itself and some of the lake bottom sediments, phosphorus remains locked into the sediments at the base. So what is phosphorus? That's what we're going to focus on in terms of a nutrient that impacts Lake Champlain. So it is naturally occurring, right? It's on that periodic table of elements. And the issue is that we have too much of it. It occurs in excess in our lake, okay? And the amount of phosphorus in the lake is going to change depending on what's happening in that year, the amount of precipitation and the amount of runoff. So you're going to see fluctuations from month to month from year to year. And phosphorus is a limiting factor for growth in Lake Champlain and a lot of other freshwater ecosystems in the Northeast. So this looks like a lot. And I'm going to try to distill this slide for you a little bit. So LCC, the Lake Champlain Committee, worked with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation to develop numeric water quality standards in the early 90s. And those standards paired with the environmental protection agencies, total maximum daily load recommendations, have created the numbers that we want to reach in terms of TMDLs for Lake Champlain by lake segment. Okay, so this map and chart over here is showing those numbers, although they are very small for each of the lake segments up there. And LCC has a long history of advocating for nutrient reduction. We've come a long way. And I think it's important to mention that because we could be in a worse position right now if some of these bans didn't take place. So for example, we promoted a ban on phosphorus and laundry detergent. In automatic dishwasher detergent and in lawn fertilizers. So the phosphorus in those various products are banned right and can no longer go into the lake. So just to give you a little historical perspective. And so to dive in a little bit deeper, okay. So the box around the left graphic here is the one we're going to focus on first. And this is showing the load for phosphorus based off of the type of land cover, okay. And so the one that I want you to focus on right now is that deep orange on the bottom. And that represents agricultural land. So it is the biggest contributor of phosphorus to Lake Champlain. So 38% of the phosphorus load is coming from agricultural lands. And then to focus on the graphic on the right acre per acre developed land contributes more phosphorus to Lake Champlain. Because, yeah, that's good. Okay, yeah, we can leave it there. Thank you, Bob. Next one. Thank you. And so I just want to spend some brief time explaining some of the legislation that's going on. It's all over the news and always has been in a way. But there has been a lot of recent legislation from 2016 on that has focused on the clean water regulations. And then most recently Act 76 has come out and it's referred to as the Clean Water Delivery Act. And that has established a long-term clean water funding source. Is it the total solution? No. But is it helping us to make progress? Yes. And it also is that Act is focused on how we implement and minister and fund clean water projects. And then the three acre general permit, and I know this is getting into the weeds, but it is all over the news a bit. And it impacts a lot of folks. So this new permit applies to properties with three or more acres of impervious surface. So that means that a lot of new properties are impacted. And within those properties are our schools. And so LCC is working with a lot of schools in New York and Vermont to reduce their stormwater runoff. And they fall under this new permit that was released in September of this year. And so this leads us to good old cyanobacteria. How many folks have read about cyanobacteria in the news? Yes. And sometimes it's also referred to as blue-green algae. And we'll talk about why that is not the case. It is bacteria, not algae. So an increase of cyanobacteria blooms is one of the impacts of excessive nutrients, which we just talked about, and climate change. And I'm going to take you through a bunch of slides to give you the full background on cyanobacteria so that you can walk out of here and maybe give someone an elevator speech on what it is. Yes, I have faith in you. So what are they? They are microscopic bacteria that live in freshwater and in saltwater. And the images that you see on the left are taken from under a microscope. And so the top one is anabina, and the bottom is gliotrachea. So they're actually quite beautiful, right? And while often referred to as algae, as I just mentioned, they are cyanobacteria, and they use sunlight to make their own food. Many types can regulate their buoyancy. So that first image that I showed you is cyanobacteria that moved up in the water column, so some species can regulate their buoyancy, and they respond to heat and light, and so they'll move up in the water column during the day and form on the surface. And although as individuals they are microscopic, they can cluster together to form colonies, and that's what folks are seeing with the naked eye. Okay? And under certain conditions, but I want to emphasize not always cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins, and that's what makes cyanobacteria a public health issue. Okay? So we're working on recognizing it. And typically what we say about cyanobacteria is you want to recognize it, you want to avoid it, and you want to report it. So we are still in the recognize it category here. And a bloom is a concentration of cyanobacteria that discolors the water. So you can see here, this whole section is a bloom, okay? And you see that change in the watercolor, and then it's even extending with some streaks into this area. And here that discoloration is also cyanobacteria, those streaks along the shoreline. Okay? And so, you know, is the bloom on the top giving off cyanotoxins? Maybe, maybe not. The only way to tell is by doing a water sample. Okay? So you can confirm that a bloom is present visually, but you can't confirm that it is producing toxins unless a test is done by the state. Does that make sense? So it's two separate things. Next slide, please, Bob. And so, what are some of the factors that are bringing the bloom to be? And there are three. Nutrients, high levels of phosphorus, and nitrogen or not, and or nitrogen, warm temperatures and especially water temperatures that are above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that's not to say that blooms can't occur in cooler water temperatures. They can. They're occurring right now. And then in terms of weather, calm, still or hot conditions, or after a big storm has flushed nutrients into rivers and lakes. Okay? So that can reintroduce more phosphorus into the lake, which would impact bloom conditions. And what do they look like? So when cyanobacteria starts to appear in the water, it's almost as if, you know, those round sprinkles that are multi-colored or poppy seeds, it kind of looks like those spread out. In the water surface. So they're not yet starting to come together and form any sort of mat or scum. Okay? So that's when it first starts to appear. And then it can form into streaks, clumps, globs, a thick scum on the surface of the water. It really looks like a lot of different things. And, you know, the more, it's like practicing an instrument, the more you see them, the better you'll get at recognizing the conditions. You know, and right here you can see on the left three very different iterations, right? And then the color varies. Typically you'll see this bright green or blue or turquoise. But sometimes you'll see red, purple, brown or white. But mainly green and blue. And what can you confuse it with? Turns out a bunch of things. So on the left we have green algae. And typically, you know, looking at that image, you may think, oh, that's cyanobacteria. And what you can do is what we call a stick test. So you take a stick on the beach and you stick it under that mat and you try to see if the algae is hanging off of it in long strips. If it is, it's likely filamentous green algae. Not always. There are some species of cyanobacteria that would also hang off of the stick. But it's a good first step to differentiate one from the other. Polyne. And this often bookends our season. So you may have spring polyne or fall polyne that you can confuse with cyanobacteria. And then duckweed, which, you know, if you've paddled in a marsh or pond, you've likely seen duckweed floating on the surface. And it's got, you know, two leaves that kind of look like small lily pads on it. But duckweed, it would be smaller than, you know, my pinky fingernail. So you could see it with the naked eye. But it's a bit bigger than a lot of the cyanobacteria species. And then avoiding it. And I want to emphasize that cyanobacteria can produce liver toxins or neurotoxins. And the area that's most concerning out of all the potential health effects is the bottom right. So if you were to experience dizziness or tingling fingers and toes, numb limbs, those are the sort of symptoms that you would want to see a doctor for if you had recreated in a cyanobacteria bloom and been exposed to cyanotoxins. And then it's really important that children and pets avoid blooms because they're more vulnerable. They have a smaller body size. And they're more likely to maybe drink the water when they're in it, or just be attracted to that color of water or the smelliness of it, right? You can imagine your beloved dog being curious about some of this cyanobacteria. So it's really important to be on the lookout for dogs. And hunting dogs as well, right? We're in the middle of hunting season for a lot of waterfowl. And it's important that hunters are aware of the conditions before they send a dog out into the water to retrieve. And then we have a really robust, robust system for reporting cyanobacteria blooms online. So if you have internet access, you can submit a bloom. And that goes for Lake Champlain or any other interior lake in Vermont. And so up there is a screenshot of the Vermont Department of Health cyanobacteria tracker. And the Lake Champlain Committee plays a large role in that because we run the citizen science monitoring program. So our monitors are reporting on a weekly basis from one or more locations about the bloom conditions at their site. So you can scroll through here and look at all of the bloom reports for this season and you can submit your own. And I just want to emphasize that fall blooms are real. This photograph is from Lake Memphermagog at the Newport City Docks. And you can see the foliage on the water and the foliage in the background changing. So blooms are starting earlier and extending later in the season. So it used to be that blooms would end in August. Well, we're seeing blooms in September and October. And did I say that photo is from last week? So the warmer water temperatures are giving cyanobacteria more time to grow and create larger populations. And then for this year, our watershed experienced a really wet spring. So a lot of nutrients were flushed into the lake. And then that was followed up by many intermittent storms which washed even more nutrients into the lake. So as I mentioned earlier, the phosphorus load can really change based on the time of year or from year to year. And so now we're going to transition into another major topic and another major influencer on the health of the lake. And that's toxic substances. And I'm going to touch on a handful of them, but there are a lot more that exist beyond what I cover in this presentation. So let's talk about PCBs first. Polychlorinated biphenyls say that ten times fast. And why I mentioned PCBs and mercury first is because they accumulate in the flesh of many fish in Lake Champlain. And that has a big impact on the fishing industry, right? And so this bar graph to the left is showing the EPA fish tissue criterion for mercury. And so the criteria is that orange line across all the bars. And the only fish that's falling below is yellow perch, but walleye, lake trout, smallmouth, bass, all have mercury levels above the EPA standard. So that's a problem, right? And this has a major impact, as I said, on the fishing world. And toxics may originate from Lake Champlain, or they're coming from the watershed, but they're also coming from outside the watershed. And that's important to keep in mind. And they pass through the food chain, right? And they reach their highest levels in the fish that eat other fish, right? So at the top of that food chain. And then a few other examples are, well, I said mercury and PCBs, but also road salt. And I wanted to emphasize with PCBs that the largest known concentration was cleaning from Cumberland Bay. And that was following a lot of advocacy from Lake Champlain to do so. And that project, that cleanup project, cost us $35 million. It's not us, LCC, but the state, right? So that's a pretty big issue that has been addressed. Oh, yeah. That is road salt. Yes, thank you for asking. It's hard to show pictures of mercury and PCBs, but that road salt is distinctive. Okay, and then we have another suite of toxic substances, and we refer to them as new generation contaminants. So pesticides, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, and microplastics. And I think the most important takeaway here is sewage treatment plants are not set up to filter these new generation contaminants out, okay? So all these things can go right through our system and end up in the lake. So what can you do? Well, you can take action as an individual, right? And not purchase products that contain microplastics. You know, there are some of those face scrubs out there to have microplastics in them. So, you know, and for pharmaceuticals and personal care products, if you have an expired medication, maybe take it to your local law enforcement office or a local pharmacy or hospital that is doing drug take back. Because if you dump it down your toilet or your sink, guess what? It goes right to the lake. I wish that I could say otherwise, but right now our technology is not at a place where it can filter out those contaminants. And then aquatic invasive species. We have a bunch of them. And they are defined as plants, animals, or other organisms that are introduced to a non-native ecosystem. So to the Lake Champlain Basin. From outside of the Lake Champlain Basin, okay? And they cause harm to our environment, to the economy, and to human health. And on the top there, oops, sorry Bob. That's okay. I was just going to say what the two species were on the last slide. So the top is Asian clam. And the bottom is water chestnut. And I'll get into those in more detail in a couple of slides. Thanks Bob. And so where are they coming from? Well, our surrounding water bodies. So Lake Champlain has 51. And the Hudson River has about double more. And a majority of those whose origins we know are coming through our canal systems. And so the Champlain canals to the south, here, okay, in the Hudson River. And then the Chamblee, Chamblee, Chamblee canal is to the north. I'm not saying that French word correctly. And so it's important to keep those both in mind. But the Champlain canal is really where most of the invasives are coming through. And I think the most important thing to understand about invasives is what's the big deal? Well, they're out competing our native species for resources. They prey on native species. And oftentimes they don't have a natural predator in our ecosystem, right? So for example, on the top there, does anyone know what that invasive species is? Yes, indeed. Ah, very good. So, you know, zebra mussels prey on our native freshwater mussels. And that's a big problem because a lot of them in Vermont are threatened or endangered, okay? And then on the bottom there, we have Eurasian watermilfoil. So zebra mussels came in in 1993, on the top there. And on the bottom, the Eurasian watermilfoil entered Lake Champlain in 1962. So I'm going to review a handful of aquatic invasive species, the first being alewives. And they arrived in Lake Champlain in 2003. And they are a small member of the herring family. And the adults are five to eight inches long. And their life cycle is very much boom and bust. So sometimes you'll see thousands of them washed up on a shoreline. And they're spread as baitfish. So important to emphasize not transferring baitfish from one water body to another. And they are located right now in Lake Champlain in Lake St. Catherine. Water chestnut. Okay, this is an ongoing battle, water chestnut. And you can tell from that image to the left, which is from Black Creek Marsh in St. Albans Bay, that it's quite dense. And you can imagine that density of leaves. Okay, so those are the rosettes. The leaves are floating on the surface of the water, are shading out native species. So that's one major impact that an invasive can have on an ecosystem. And it got here from ornamental plantings or from an aquarium release. And those are two things that we have a lot of control over, right? So next slide, Bob. So this is a map showing where water chestnut is located in Lake Champlain. And let me just walk up here. So the three colors are red, yellow, and blue. If the lake is colored red, then it's in pretty poor condition as it relates to the density of water chestnut. And you can see that we've made progress. This is 1999 on the left. The middle is 2007. And the right is 2017. And so that area of red has gotten smaller, okay? But you may notice yellow stands for fair and that there are some new populations in the north, right? Those dots at the top. So while we've made some progress in the south, we have some new populations in the north. And it's really important for water chestnut, the way that you can manage it is actually by mechanical harvesting and pulling it out physically. And so we have to continue doing that always for these sections and then have to keep an eye on those northern sections. Mostly in spring and summer? Yes, a good time to harvest is in the summer, yeah. And what's interesting is that the fruit and seed can stay dormant in lake sediments for around a decade, okay? So that's another reason why we just have to keep up with the mechanical pulling every single year because if you let it go for a year, guess what? It's going to expand. And it's actually kind of fun to get out there. So fish hook water flea. It arrived in Lake Champlain in 2018 and it is the organism that's circled on the top. The bottom image is spiny water flea, which is also an invasive. And you can differentiate them from really the end of that long tail spine, that little fish hook, right? So you can see that the spiny doesn't have that at its tip. And I didn't put an image of this in here, but these water fleas can really weigh down fishing lines. You can pull a fishing line out of the water and see them all attached onto it. And so it's really important to clean fishing lines in between water bodies and really after every time you fish. And decontaminating your boat, too. You know, these are tiny organisms and they can fit into a lot of nooks and crannies. So how many folks have heard of the clean, drain, dry approach by raise of hand? Okay. So what I mean by that, and I'll talk about this again in a little bit, but whenever you're bringing a boat into a water body, it's really important to clean, drain, and dry it because organisms can travel. They can hitchhike on boats if you don't do that. So I think the state has made a lot of progress in helping folks to do that and having stations at a lot of the boat launches. But I think it's always important to remember that as an individual you can make a huge difference. Yeah. What do they clean them with? So what I've seen in Shelburne Bay is kind of like a huge container, moving container. And I think they are often power washing. And then what I do, like I'll just wipe down with a rag or something after like if I'm kayaking with my boat on the La Plata, for example, in Shelburne. I'll just make sure that everything is washed off in the water and then I really dry it down. Yeah. Sure. So yeah, I think that water can be carried in a boat from one water body to another to just make sure that it's drained, you know, any place where water may be housed within a boat that it's drained in a water body before entering another water body. Does that make sense? Okay. And now we're going to talk about two species that aren't yet in the watershed, but easily could be. Okay, so the first is Asian clam. And the reason that it's such a concern is that it is, it was found in the Champlain Canal, right? So that canal to the south that I pointed out earlier in 2007. And then found in Lake George, New York in 2010. And in Lake Balmousine, Vermont in 2016. So these water bodies are interconnected, right? So it very easily could appear in Lake Champlain. And they can hitchhike on boats like many of the other invasive species. So it's most important in this situation to have early detection of Asian clam and then to have a rapid response to it. Because if you don't do that, you can easily have hundreds of thousands of Asian clam. Okay. So one single adult can produce 35,000 larvae a year. Okay. That's one adult. And in terms of competition, this is another example of how they can biofowl our water systems and outcompete our native species like our freshwater mussels. And they can totally change nutrient cycling in the water and actually aid in creating cyanobacteria blooms. So all of these elements are really interrelated. And then just in terms of identification, you can see that they're triangular, right? And that they have really thick ridges down them. And they're about thumbnail sized. They can be a little bit larger, a little bit smaller, but in general, around that size. And then the map on the bottom is showing Asian clam distribution across the United States. That's a great question. And I would say yes. Yes. Because you wouldn't see that. Yes. And you know, I'm curious as to... It's one thing to observe Asian clam when it's already established in an adult, you know, on a lake bottom. There's another to find the larvae. And I don't know specifically how finding the larvae would be addressed. And I think that's a great question. I think the clean drain dry is one of the ways. But it's possible to still miss them, you know? So the second species that is not yet here but quite close is hydrilla. And so you can see it has world leaves. So all the leaves are coming from one spot on the stem here in a circle, right? And they're up and down. And all of those leaves are submerged. So they're underwater. And they're also hitchhiking on boats. Are you hearing a common theme, hitchhiking on boats? And they have been found in New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Connecticut. And in fact, they were stopped from entering Lake Champlain in South Hero, Vermont. I believe earlier in September, yes. So we were able to stop it with this whole clean drain dry protocol. You know, so we can do it. We can find them and get them out before they enter. And to emphasize it one more time. So clean drain dry. And then think before you dump. You know, I talked a little bit about pharmaceuticals. Before it, yes, it's easy to put those down, the toilet or the sink. But, you know, it's much better for our water if it's delivered to a safe place. And then early detection and rapid response, which I talked about with Asian clam. Okay. So I don't know, great question. In terms of what happens after the middle man, I don't know the answer, but I do know, and I actually just did this a couple of weeks ago with my own medication. I went through everything that was expired and I took it to, since I'm close to UVM, I took it to the UVM hospital and the pharmacy, similar to, you know, United States Postal Service box. It kind of looked like that, except it was in the pharmacy and I just dropped everything in there. It's anonymous. And I don't know where it goes after that. It's in the police department. Yes, yes. So Amalia also said, am I saying that correctly, Amalia? Okay. Amalia mentioned that you can drop off medications at the police station. So that's another great idea, hospitals, police stations. And I'm guessing some pharmacies also. Some pharmacies does. Okay, great. Thank you. So, you know, if you're thinking, ah, what can I do when I walk away from this talk today? That could be one of them, if it applies. Yeah. But there are certain medications that you take that absorb everything and it comes out in the urine. Yeah. That's a great question. I think kind of to be determined. I don't think our technology is there yet. In some cases, the technology is there for other contaminants like microplastics. You can buy a special screen, you know, that gets down to that width and can stop microplastics. But in terms of, you know, the chemicals in some of our medications, if it's coming out of our bodies, it's coming out of our bodies. And, you know, maybe that's the next science genius award, you know, for someone who can figure out how to filter those chemicals out. So, you know, the big elephant in the room, climate change, right? So, climate change is related to everything that I talked about today. And we are seeing an increase in the frequency and severity of storms. Okay. And what that means is that we will likely see an increase in flooding and erosion-related runoff, which I talked about a little bit earlier. And then if we have an increase in erosion and runoff, then we likely have an increase in nutrients in our lakes. Okay. Also, our winters are shorter and warmer and with more rain. The bar graph to the left is actually depicting when the ice closes on Lake Champlain. And so, these are, each bar is in a 10-year segment. So, to the left is 1816 and to the right is 2019. And you can see the number of years in the decade that the ice did not close. Okay. So, the number of years of these is a year and the yellow is much more significant on this half, right? Are folks seeing that? Whereas over here, it was closing. An example of this trend, okay, is what happened in 2011 in Vermont. Can anyone remember? Irene, yes. So, Lake Champlain stayed for over two months in spring 2011. Okay. And then, the lake peaked at an all-time high of 103 feet. Okay. 103.27. What is it? 103. It's like 90. I want to say 95. Don't quote me on that number, but I can find out for you. It's in the 90s. That flood stage was followed by Tropical Storm Irene, okay, on August 28th. And we received up to 11 inches of rain. And since Tropical Storm Irene, we've had 10 more federally declared natural disasters. Okay. So, I think this just helps us to put it all in perspective, right? Frequency and severity are increasing. And all of those images, they're from different locations around the state, but are showing the impacts of those frequent and severe storms. That's a nice sound. Okay. And so, it turns out that we can all take action. You know, I think sometimes it can feel like a lot. To hear in the news everything that's going on and it can feel like you can't make a difference. But you really can. And I'm going to name a few of those. There's a whole long list here, and I'm happy to share this presentation if folks want to look at it on their computers at a later date. So, the first is one that we covered, Dispose of Pharmaceuticals. The second is what we call Scoop the Poop. And, you know, that can seem like not really a big deal. Like, why is it important if you have a pet to clean up the dog waste? So, a couple of reasons. Dogs are not eating native vegetation, right? It's not like a deer or a bear or a moose or, you know, any other species. We're feeding them bagged dog food. And so that food has more nutrients in it and then the feces actually has more bacteria in it as well. And that's washing into our lakes, okay? And then there's quite a high concentration of dogs. And so, you know, our ecosystem is not designed to hold all the native species plus all the dogs. And, you know, I'm a dog owner. I love dogs, but, you know, it's really important to be a responsible owner and clean up after pets. So, that's one way. Another way is to not pee in quotes on your lawn. And the pee stands for Phosphorus. And so, to really look at those labels and make sure that there isn't Phosphorus in a lawn fertilizer. And then, you know, avoiding single-use plastic, whether it's a water bottle, you know, that's not reusable or the lid to a coffee cup or cutlery or a plastic bag, all those things will not break down in our lifetimes, you know? Once they're here, they're pretty much here to stay. They may break down into smaller pieces, which we call microplastics, but, you know, just reusing containers is a pretty simple way to reduce one's impact. And then... And so, we call... These items are listed under what we call our Lake Protection Pledge, and I actually have some copies of that over here that you're welcome to take home, and you can also take the pledge online. But I think the most important thing is, hey, can I pick one or two things on this list and think about them and how I might make changes in my life? You don't have to do all of these things. Maybe just start with one. And then... Next slide. Bob, I think we've been doing really well. You know, I think we've done a great job in our slide changing. So, Lake Champlain is a public resource, and really, we all own it. And that means that it's ours to take care of, too. So, it's really a collective effort, and I think sometimes it can become about pointing fingers, but I don't think pointing fingers is where we're going to find solutions. So, I think, you know, clean water is a right and a responsibility, and we need to engage and invest in water protection now and into the future. You know, yes, we are getting funding, but that funding needs to continue and we're not getting enough funding. And I think, you know, Vermont is a representative democracy. It's pretty easy to get to the governor or to talk to your local legislator or public official, right? And those phone calls and those letters and those emails really do matter. When they hear from their constituents, you know, they are driven to take action. So, I think always keep that in mind. You know, maybe writing a letter this week or next week. And to keep the environment in mind when you vote. You know, we're moving into the next election cycle and what are the things that matter to you when you enter the polling station? And join us. And by us, you know, I mean like Champlain Committee, engage in your watershed, you know, tell people about what you learned today so you can join LCC as a member or volunteer. And then we are always looking for monitors, cyanobacteria monitors. They are our rock stars. We have over 100 of them. And then we'll get to interact next year. And I think it's a great way to get outside, to be connected to the watershed. And again, it doesn't just have to be on Lake Champlain. It can be on inland lakes as well. And thank you. Questions. This is a monarch that I believe he was actually eating this plant right here, which is called American eelgrass. And oftentimes I've heard it referred to as a weed. In fact, it is not a weed. It is a native species. And a lot of waterfowl rely on it as a food source. So you'll see it washing up on shorelines right now. And you can kind of see it's got these long, narrow leaves. It's special to see that monarch resting. So thank you. How am I on time? Okay. Thank you. You know, how about... No. No. I will repeat it for you. How about that? Okay. And it's in full bloom. And it's really like a curtain right now. When it goes below zero, does it go dormant or does it destroy it? Yeah, that's a good question. So... What is your first name? Louise. First, what happens to the cyanobacteria in the wintertime when the temperatures drop? And I don't... I'm going to give my best guess, but I'm not positive. So I think two things can happen. I don't know if they are able to go dormant. They might be able to. But my guess is that some of them also cannot survive the cold temperatures and do die. But I'm wondering if there are some species that are able to go dormant, and I don't know the answer for sure. Great question. I can find out. March. I have two questions. March has two questions. When you were talking about phosphorus, you said that detergents with phosphorus in it and some other products. Is banned? How so? How banned? Yeah, that's a great question. So the Lake Champlain Committee helped. Yes, I need to repeat the question. So March is wondering for the bans on phosphorus in automatic dishwasher detergent and laundry detergent and fertilizers. Who did that? And the Lake Champlain Committee played a large role in that. And I think other folks as well, but there was a well before my tenure, I'm not sure what other agencies were involved, but I'm guessing that state agencies were involved as well. So are you saying those products are banned for sale in Vermont? Is that basically what you're saying? I think that they are banned for sale in Vermont. I think you could still purchase them probably from out of state. But, yeah. And a second question. The harvest of the water chestnut. Do you have volunteers that do that? Yeah, so March is asking do we have volunteers that help with the harvesting of the water chestnut? And I'm really glad you asked that because I meant to go into detail about that. So we work on that on an annual basis. And so we had a huge contingency of volunteers this year. So Eco AmeriCorps helped out as well as some Lake Champlain Committee volunteers and then the Department of Environmental Conservation. So we had like 20, 30 folks all in Black Creek Marsh physically pulling out the water chestnut. And that happens in the South Lake as well where you saw that whole area covered in red. And so that's definitely a great way to plug in if you want to volunteer. And we were all out there on canoes and kayaks gathering in laundry baskets actually. Thanks for that question. I wanted to ask about plastic straws. Ah, plastic straws. I'm going to switch sides. They themselves destroy paper based straws. But we all have plastic straws in our homes that they're still in. Yes, OK. So Emma is asking about plastic straws. Yes, so there's quite a famous photo of a sea turtle with a plastic straw up its nose. And so I think there are a couple of things. If you're out at a restaurant, you can kindly ask to not have a straw put in your drink. In a restaurant that you frequent all the time, frequently use, maybe have a conversation with the manager at the restaurant or the owner and say, hey, what do you think about not using plastic straws or only offering them by request? Something like that. You know, I think it's one of those pieces where it's up to the individual sometimes and then sometimes it's out of your control. In our little closet, will we save kitchen stuff to make sure we don't have any plastic straws in there? Yeah, and just make sure that you're disposing of them safely. You've been raising your hand in the back for a while there and then I'll come to you. I think that's a multi-pronged answer. And that you're going to get a different answer from every individual possibly. I think that I would prioritize a lot of the pieces that I spoke about today. So, you know, and what I mean by that is maintaining what we have but also improving what we have. It costs money to manage aquatic invasive species. And so I think we need to continue to monitor for them and manage for them. You know, I think that cyanobacteria is a huge public health issue and that more funding is required for that as well. Because, you know, right now the state doesn't have enough employees to do as much as the Lake Champlain Committee does in terms of having all those volunteer monitors out there. But what if they did have more money to put towards that? And unfortunately a lot of it does come back to money, you know, like these issues take man and woman power and that has to be paid for. And I also think infrastructure, you know, or water in a lot of areas or water infrastructure is very, very old. It's obsolete. And that, you know, that's a very expensive but that money has to be put into that. And, you know, there is a focus on a lot of the more populated areas but to also make sure that more rural areas are brought up to speed as well, right? I showed that picture of the basin, you know. Greensboro is in the Northeast Kingdom, Greensboro Bend, but the Lamoille River, guess what the headwaters are in Greensboro Bend and so time and energy has to be given to all areas of the basin. I mean, I would love to see that happen. Yeah, does that, you know, it's tough. It's a great question. Yeah, yeah, you know, and I think it's important. Phosphorus is getting a lot of attention and I think we need to continue giving phosphorus attention but make sure that other pieces don't fall off of the wagon too, if that makes sense. You know that even those new generation contaminants, we may not have some in our water bodies now but we potentially could and to really make sure that, you know, we have a rapid response to that if it does take place. Yeah, Ann. What you've done with the Lake Champlain Committee, the research, the science, the awareness, the education, the number of volunteers, it's really outstanding. I worked for the State Department of Environmental Protection and I know what we are all up against because the state has been loath to really take action, particularly in the area of passing laws with teeth that would manage the agricultural areas. It's not a popular thing in their mind but it has to be done. Agricultural input is a large percentage of the phosphorus going into the lake. Also, a dedicated source of money for lakes management must be done. And again, the state has not wanted to do that and correct me if I'm wrong but I think that a year or so ago the national government said unless the state does a better job we are taking over the management program and has that triggered any better responses to lakes management? Yeah. Thanks, Ann. So Act 76 may have been in response to that, you know, a bunch of different acts have taken place recently and that act is specifically designed to funnel money into water quality for Lake Champlain and to reorganize the structure in terms of how it's approached. So, and this is a little vague because they're still trying to figure it out so pardon my sounding a little vague. But they, instead of the top-down approach they are asking local folks to take on more of the responsibility like, for example, regional planning commissions and to look at the TMDLs the total maximum daily load for their area and address it with projects from the ground up through money that is funneled through the state and federally. Is it going to work? We don't know. It's new. And it's kind of, it's one step at a time. Yeah. It's tough. Yeah, in the back. My question is sort of related. Do you have farmers represented on your board? If so, what kinds of recommendations are they making to you? Yeah. So Sally's recommendation or question is do we have farms represented, farmers represented on our board and if so, what are they make, what recommendations are they making to our organization? That's a great question. And honestly, a lot of my friends are farmers. My boyfriend's a farmer. So, you know, I think that it's really important to always loop in farmers in the conversation. Do we have any on our board? I have no idea. I don't know that answer. Our executive director definitely could answer that question. But I definitely think that they have a voice at the state house. And I think there is always room to compromise. And I think addressing these issues often comes down to relationship building, knowing your neighbor, knowing the particular river that you may be near or body of water that you're near and how you can plug in at that level. Does that make sense? Because if we don't have relationships with one another and we go to this pointing fingers thing, it doesn't get anything done in my opinion. And you know, my master's project was in Greensboro Bend, which is in the Northeast Kingdom and it was very rural and socioeconomically. There are some tough things going on and to make any sort of change in terms of conservation and impact on the Lamoille River, which is what runs through Greensboro Bend, you have to have conversations with people about what they care about and how they think a difference can be made. As an outsider, I don't have that issue. I can bring in expertise. I can bring in my background in ecology and provide background information, but I can't be the only one that's making the decision. Is that a try to answer your question? Yes, right. Thank you, Mark. Okay, maybe we can fit too. I'm going to go in the front first and then maybe we can... I thought first is natural and we have too much of it. Yes. And then you said like the whole Northeast and how does it occur? What does it do? Yeah, so the question is about phosphorus and where does it come from? And so yes, it is a naturally occurring element and it can exist in multiple forms and some of those forms are trapped or attached to particle sediments. So on the lake bottom or on soils along a stream bank and those are less accessible, but some of them are mixed into water and that's coming through our sewage treatment plants, other inputs, fertilizers runoff, right? And so that phosphorus is what's really influencing things like the cyanobacteria blooms. Does that make sense? So there are different forms of it and some of them impact the lake more readily. So most of it that is impacting the lake is we have people that take them and put it in things and that makes it too much of it to come into the water. Yes, so there is a heavy human influence on excessive phosphorus in the lake. Yes. Okay, last question. Man River, I think recently was found to have gotten a new invasive species, rock snot. Rock snot. Did it work or did it miss? I'm not familiar with what rock snot is. Do you have one in the Hampshire? You don't know anything about it. I don't know one place. A good hub for learning about invasives is in Vermont, vtinvasives.org and it profiles terrestrial invasives, aquatic invasives. And so if it's present in Vermont, it's likely up there but I'm not familiar with it. Man River is in your watershed though. Yeah, it's a good point but I don't know. Okay. Yeah, thanks. Okay, and so one last piece is the good old one-up sheet from LCC. So if you're interested in becoming a volunteer or receiving our e-newsletter, especially during the cyanobacteria bloom season, we write weekly reports on the blooms occurring up and down Lake Champlain so it's a good way to stay informed. So yeah, if you're interested, please fill out the form and we'll add you to our list. Thank you so much for having me.