Three varieties of blue green algae were identified in an outbreak that was discovered in several areas of Lake Memphremagog last weekend.

King Boyd, vice president of the Memphremagog Watershed Association (MWA) gave the bad news to about 30 people who attended a  MWA meeting at North Country Union High School Wednesday evening. The Vermont Health Department confirmed the find this week.

According Boyd, the question if any of it was toxic remains unknown. However, the cell count was well above the state’s vigilance level; 4,000 cells per milliliter. The issue is expected to be discussed during a MWA meeting that will be held at the Newport City School Monday. The purpose is to se up a response group that has access to the proper testing equipment.

Later in the meeting, Milly Archer, water quality coordinator from the Vermont League of Cities and Towns spoke about such things as riparian buffer zones.
A buffer is a swath of vegetated land between a body of water and adjacent land. According to Boyd ,a buffer zone provides habitat for wildlife and filters sediments such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and other contaminants in runoff. It also helps prevent erosion and keeps the shore temperatures cooler.
Boyd said erosion is one of the biggest problems in many of the state’s lakes. He said it leads to excessive sedimentation that causes nutrient enrichment, elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrates. Those things are undesirable because they can lead to prematuring of lakes, which is what’s happening in Lake Memphremagog. Boyd said that during the last legislative session, a bill that would protect shoreline vegetation never made it to a vote. However, he expects it to come up again.

Vermont is the only northeast state without some kind of regulation that protects shoreline vegetation, he said. “It’s my understanding Vermont had one in the 70s.”

He said that bill was replaced with legislation that gave towns and municipalities the power to govern their own shorelines and rivers. Boyd said there are some issues that need to be considered when making such a bill. The one that was being discussed during the last legislative session said existing uses would be exempt. However, it was unclear on how far that would go.

During her presentation, Archer said the state requires two stormwater permits. One is issued prior to a construction project and the second, an operational permit, is given after the project is complete. Neither are needed on anything that is built on less than an acre of land.

Archer explained there is only 10 percent storm water run off under natural ground cover conditions. But, as people change the land, that increase.

Communities can fill in the gaps by creating local ordinances  with low-impact strategies for stormwater control, she said.

  Away to prevent stormwater runoff is to place barrels on the sides of buildings to collect rain that comes through gutters. Archer said that water could be used for such things as watering gardens or flushing toilets.

At the end of the meeting, Ben Copans, the watershed coordinator  for the state Department of Environment Conservation, said he has been working with local residents to come up with a watershed management plan for the Lake Memphremagog watershed and the Tomifobia and Coaticook rivers in Quebec.

"That goal of the plan is to identify and protect the high-quality waters and the watershed, as well as deal with such things as blue green algae,” he said. The plan is to involved community members who address the issues.
This includes lake shore residents, farmers, and municipal officials, he said.