The Orleans County Conservation District, along with our partners and the Greensboro Lake Association, are excited to host the Caspian Lake Watershed Action Plan Community Input Meeting on Wednesday August 30, 5:30-7:00pm Fellowship Hall in the Church in Greensboro.
The purpose of this meeting is to review the field assessment work completed and the list of prioritized restoration projects that emerged out of a year of field assessments and gather community input. We will have aviable the ESRI Storymap reporting the work, identified priority projects and maps detailing resource concerns and collected data- all to make local lake goers more familiar in the challenges facing Caspian Lake.
An LWAP is an assessment and planning tool that identifies the greatest threats to water quality, wildlife habitat, and the overall health of the lake ecosystem. The process evaluates the shoreland, tributaries, drainage ditches, wetlands, hydrologically connected roads, and working landscapes to create a priority list of issues and projects. The result is a planning guide that prioritizes restoration and protection actions for the watershed. The plan is shared with the community and local partners for their input.
While the Caspian Lake is still exceptionally clean, based on 30 years of lay water quality monitoring data collected by the Greensboro Association, the lake is experiencing a significant increase in both spring and summer total phosphorus concentrations. This documented trend is cause for concern. According to a 2018 study of Vermont Lakes done by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Scientist Kellie Merrell and others, Vermont's cleanest and clearest lakes on average have nearly doubled in spring total phosphorus since the 1980s.
This meeting is open to the public: lake residents, town residents, lake users, town officials, and anyone else who loves our lakes or is concerned about water quality. Please join us!