Lake & Watershed Action Plan

Lake and Watershed Action Plan

Lake Fairlee was selected as one of two Vermont lakes to develop a Lake and Watershed Action Plan. A $30,000 grant, funded by the Vermont Clean Water Initiative Program (CWIP) through the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has made this possible. The final report is now available.

Click HERE for a copy of Lake Fairlee Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP)

Zoom Presentation of the Lake Fairlee LWAP Final Report - 10:00am, Tuesday June 20, 2023
From Lisa Niccolai
Hello friends of Lake Fairlee:
The final Lake Watershed Action Plan for Lake Fairlee is nearly complete! The White River Conservation District and Mary Nealon from Bear Creek Environmental have been working hard to pull together many different sources of data to create a comprehensive plan for the Lake Fairlee Watershed. Throughout the process we have invited this group of stakeholders to learn about the LWAP process and to share our findings. Please join us for a final presentation:
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White River Conservation District is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85241794457?pwd=S28vN3FmUG5jeGhDdGx5UjhpcG5EUT09

Meeting ID: 852 4179 4457
Passcode: 990304

Lake Fairlee Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP) is available
June 16, 2023
The White River Natural Resources Conservation District is working with Bear Creek Environmental, and other project partners to conduct lake watershed action planning within the Lake Fairlee watershed in Vermont. The Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP) aims to address key water quality issues and to promote the long-term health and sustainability of the Lake.

Click HERE for a copy of Lake Fairlee Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP)

The plan covers:

Nutrient Reduction
Shoreline Protection and Restoration
Project Idenfification and Prioritization
Conceptual designs and cost estimates
Public Outreach
Funding and implementation.

Lake Fairlee LWAP Project Update – Meeting Video & PowerPoint, Sidenote Article
February 22, 2023
Lisa Niccolai, Conservation Specialist, WRNRCD and Mary Mary Nealon, Bear Creek Environmental presented an update on the Lake & Watershed Action Plan.
Agenda:
1. Brief introduction and update about what has been happening since the kick-off meeting (Lisa Niccolai, White River NRCD)
2. Lake Wise summary (Lisa Niccolai)
3. Data collection roads, shoreline and tributaries (Mary Nealon, Bear Creek Environmental)
4. Project Identification and prioritization (Mary Nealon)
5. Questions and Next Steps (Lisa Niccolai)
Click here to watch the Zoom meeting.
Click here to view Mary Nealon's PowerPoint slides.
Click here to read Li Shen's Feb. 26 Sidenote Article, Watershed Action Plan; Halting Lake Fairlee pollution requires cooperation of many.

The Purpose of a Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP)
A Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP) is designed to identify and communicate the problems and fixes within a lake watershed to best protect water quality, wildlife habitat, and the lake’s ecosystem health. These plans answer the questions “what issues threaten the health of our lake the most?” and “what can we do about them?”

LWAP Description
A Lake Watershed Action Plan (LWAP) is an assessment to identify the greatest threats to the lake ecosystem, including impacts on water quality and wildlife habitat from stormwater runoff and from altered, cleared, or converted shorelands. LWAPs are designed to answer specific concerns about each lake, for example, what land uses within the watershed cause the greatest stress to a lake ecosystem. Each lake has different land use patterns and understanding exactly which ones are causing degradation to the lake will help guide restoration and protection efforts. The LWAP assesses and compares the varying land uses and provides a ranking of the greatest threats to the lake along with recommendations for fixing the problems. A LWAP combines an assessment of a lake’s shoreland, tributaries, and hydrologically connected roads and leads to an individual planning guide that prioritizes restoration and protection actions for that lake. A LWAP can also help identify cumulative impacts on a lake ecosystem, thereby helping lake stakeholders “see the bigger picture” and identify situations where the combination of individual stressors may be leading to declines in lake health.

A LWAP is an investigation into potential threats to the lake’s ecosystem health, and the process should be participatory with the lake association or similar local organizations, lake users, shoreland owners, the Towns, and other stakeholders or interested groups and people. A LWAP Final Report will also include a list of prioritized problems and solutions and provide a table of projects.

A Watershed is…all the land area that drains to a common body of water. This includes the streams and runoff from all land uses in the area draining into Lake Fairlee. Lake Fairlee's watershed is predominantly in W. Fairlee, but includes parts of Thetford, Fairlee, and even a small corner of Vershire and Corinth.

For a comprehensive look at what constitutes a LWAP, download the Vermont DEC's Technical Guide for Conducting a LWAP
To view a recording of the 11/18/21 LWAP kickoff meeting led by Lisa Niccolai, Conservation Specialist, White River Conservation District and Amy Picotte, Lakeshore Manager, VT DEC, go to this link: LWAP Kickoff Meeting. You may need to download the recording to your computer to watch.