The Lake Champlain Basin Programhas awarded 68 grants totaling $662,471 to communities and organizations in Vermont and New York that are implementing projects to improve the future of the Lake Champlain watershed. The grants support projects in four categories: Pollution Prevention and Habitat, Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention, Education and Outreach, and Organizational Support.
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, whose support was essential in securing the funds for the grants, said,"These grants to scores of communities, watershed groups and other organizations on both sides of the Lake are so important in promoting and protecting our 'Great Lake.' Supporting these crucial efforts at the local level is exactly why it's always among my highest priorities to bring funds to our Lake Champlain work."
Students collect macroinvertebrates as part of the Missisquoi River Basin Association’s Bugworks program supported with Education and Outreach grant funds.
“Local NGOs and municipalities will use these funds to complete projects in every corner of the Lake Champlain watershed,” said Bill Howland, LCBP Director. “Some local watershed groups partner up with public works crews to identify specific opportunities to prevent erosion from ditches and municipal parking lots. Other watershed groups help landowners to restore eroded streambanks through riparian plantings, reduce contamination at local beaches, and create programs that help students understand watershed problems and implement solutions.”
Denise Smith, Executive Director of the Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, said “Thanks to LCBP, we will be able to implement a water conservation project at a key location in St. Albans Town, and we will be able to implement a direct outreach and education program about water quality to small and backyard farmers in our region. The partnership between LCBP and small local watershed groups in the Lake Champlain Basin is critical to the success of the Lake Champlain clean-up efforts and improving water quality in the State of Vermont.”
The total of all requests, some $1,081,635, indicates the very strong interest and need for local projects in the Lake Champlain Basin. These grants were supported with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and National Park Service funds. This year, the Lake Champlain Basin Program requested assistance from 26 members of the public, representing a wide diversity of watershed interests, to carefully review and rank the applications before making grant funding recommendations to the LCBP’s Executive Committee.
Since 1992, the LCBP has awarded more than $6.5 million to 918 projects in New York and Vermont in the competitive Local Grants programs. Funded projects cover all actions in the Lake Champlain management planOpportunities for Action.To learn more about these grants, please search ourGrants Databaseor browse ourGrants Map. Read more about recently completed grant projects below.