LAKE CHAMPLAIN

A. LOCATION

• Vermont and New York, USA; and Quebec, Canada.
• 43:3-43:5N, 73:5-73:5W; 29.38 m above sea level.

B. DESCRIPTION

Lake Champlain has unusual characteristics. It occupies a long, deep, and narrow valley; it has a northerly flow; and for a period after the glaciation the lake was marine. It then became the sixth largest lake in the United States. Lake Champlain may have the largest shore development index of any lake in the United States.

The lake occupies a north-south fault zone, and extends 174 km from Whitehall, N. Y. to its outlet in Canada. The lake flows northerly through its outlet, the Richeleau River, into the St. Lawrence River near Montreal. The maximum width of the lake is 19 km. The drainage basin of the lake of 19,881 km² includes portions of the States of New York and Vermont and the Province of Quebec in Canada.

The basin was overridden by the Wisconsin glaciation during the Pleistocene. As the ice melted towards the north, proglacial Lake Vermont was formed and flowed south through the Hudson valley. When the ice margin retreated north of the St. Lawrence Valley, the Champlain basin was inundated with saline ocean water, forming the Champlain Sea. After glacial rebound of the land to the north, the marine incursion ended and the present Lake Champlain was formed about 12,000 years B. P. The uplift resulted in a complex and irregular lake basin with drowned valleys to the east and precipitous cliffs to the west. Large islands to the north, more than 70 islands in the lake, and peninsulae have divided the lake into five major basins. The southern lake is riverine and opens into the main basin. The Missisquoi River delta forms Missisquoi Bay to the northeast. The large islands to the north and natural causeways form Malletts Bay. Between these two bays, and to the east of the islands is the Northeast arm of the lake. Each of these five basins exhibits distinct limnological characteristics.

Lake Champlain has been the focal point for much of the early history of this part of North America. For nearly 150 years after being discovered by Samuel de Champlain in 1609, the lake was the focus of the British, French, and Indian wars; the lake was the scene of significant naval battles during the Revolutionary War and the war of 1812.

Approximately 9.830 km³ of water drain from 19,881 km² of land into the lake per year providing a refilling rate of 2.6 years at average lake level. The population in the basin is approximately 500,000. Although the lake appears to have been deteriorating since the turn of the century, the trend for inter- governmental cooperation is increasing. Environmental sense is strong among the inhabitants (Q).

C. PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS

D. PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES (Q)

D1 GEOGRAPHICAL

• Bathymetric map:
  Fig. NAM-38-01.
• Names of main islands Grand Isles* (208.4 km²), North Hero* (121.2 km²), Valcour* (4.0 km²) and Butler (2.3 km²).
  * The islands are connected to the mainland by bridges and roads. There are ca. 60 islands with areas <1 km².
• Number of outflowing rivers and channels (name) 1 (Richeleau R. draining into the St. Lawrence R.).

D2 CLIMATIC

• Climatic data at Burlington, 1944-1988

Fig. NAM-38-01
Bathymetric map [m](Q).

• Water temperature [deg C](7)

• Freezing period
  Northern and southern ends of the lake and the northeast arm: December-late April.
  Main lake: 11 February-8 April (complete freezing). With 160 years of record the lake failed to freeze over on only 12 years. Maletts Bay: December-May.
• Mixing type:
  Dimictic.
• Notes on water mixing and thermocline formation
  Mixing takes place in April-May and November-December in the main lake, and in May and October in Mallets Bay.

E. LAKE WATER QUALITY

E1 TRANSPARENCY [m](7)

E2 pH

E4 DO [mg l^-1](1, 7)

E6 CHLOROPHYLL CONCENTRATION [micro g l^-1](9)

E7 NITROGEN CONCENTRATION (1)

• NO₂-N+NO₃-N [mg l^-1]

E8 PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATION

• Total-P [micro g l^-1]

E9 CHLORIDE CONCENTRATION (1)

• Chlorine [mg l^-1]

E10 PAST TRENDS (7)

• Transparency [m]

Fig. NAM-38-02
Past trend of pH.

F. BIOLOGICAL FEATURES (Q, 1, 2, 10)

F1 FLORA

Main lake

• Emerged macrophytes:
  Spartina pectinata, Zizania aquatica.
• Floating macrophytes:
  Trapa natans, Nymphoides peltatum.
• Submerged macrophytes:
  Vallisneria americana, Myriophyllum spicatum.
• Filamentous algae
  Cladophora glomerata, Dichotomosiphon tuberosa, Ulothrix zonata.
• Phytoplankton
  Chlorophyceae (Ankistrodesmus); Bacillariophyceae (Asterionella sp., Cyclotella sp., Fragillaria crotonensis, Melosira islandica, Stephanodiscus sp., Tabellaria fenestrata); Cyanophyta (Anabaena planktonica, A. circinalis, Anacystissp., Oscillatoria sp.).

F2 FAUNA

Main lake

• Zooplankton
  Calanoid copepods (Diaptomus minutus, D. dregonensis, D. sicilis, Epischura lacustris, Limnocalanus macrurus, Senecella calanoides); Cyclopoid copepods (Cyclops bicuspidatus); Cladocera (Daphnia retrocurva, Leptodora kindtii).
• Benthos
  Mysis relicta, Pontoporeia hoyi, Manayunkia speciosa, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, L. claparedianus, Stylodrilus heringianus, Peloscolex variegatus.
• Fish
  Yellow perch*, rainbow smelt*, lake trout, sea lamprey, lake sturgeon (endangered), atlantic salmon.
  * Economically important.
• Supplementary notes on the biota
  Myriophyllum is now common in much of the lake. The water chestnut (Trapa) and the floating heart (Nymphoides) are now nuisances in the southern end of the lake and in some bays. Pontoporeia was reported to be in the lake in 1966 (11), and later by Dadswell (12). One specimen has so far been collected in an on-going survey in 1988- 1989 (13). 49 species of fish are reported living in the lake. Control measures are being implemented to control the sea lamprey, a species that is damaging the cold water fisheries (4).

F5 FISHERY PRODUCTS

• Fishery products other than fish:
  None.

F7 NOTES ON THE REMARKABLE CHANGES OF BIOTA IN THE LAKE IN RECENT YEARS

Atlantic salmon became extinct in the lake by the mid 1800's.

A number of foreign aquatic plants have invaded the lake. Three are nuisance plants: Eurasian milfoil, water chestnut, and yellow floating heart.

New York and Vermont began cooperative stocking of the lake trout in 1958 with encouraging success.

G. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

G1 LAND USE IN THE CATCHMENT AREA (4)

• Types of important forest vegetation
  Sugar maple, yellow birch, beech (6,532 km²), spruce, fir (2,168 km²), elm, oak, soft maple (1,778 km²), white and red pine (1,702 km²), red spruce (at high elevations).
• Main kinds of crops: Mostly dairy products;
  apple.
• Trends of change in land use in recent years
  Conversion of farm and pasture land to scrub and forests, and the spread of settled areas away from the population centres and along roadways and the lake shore.

G2 INDUSTRIES IN THE CATCHMENT AREA (4)

*1 Utilities, transportation and communication. *2 Banking, insurance and real estate.

• Supplementary notes
  The main industries in the Champlain basin are tourism and recreation (including skiing, fishing, boating, and camping), agriculture, and manufacture of technical durable goods. Meaningful dollar values are not available because of reports from overlapping interest groups and two States. The data mentioned above, extracted from the reference, is based on a sample from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and does not include data from Canada. The spectrum of employment provides a perspective of the industries within the basin.
• Numbers of domestic animals in the catchment area (14):
  Cattle 171,602.

G3 POPULATION IN THE CATCHMENT AREA (4)

*1 Population in the 11 counties of New York, Vermont, and the Province of Quebec, Canada adjacent to the lake.
*2 The U.S. Census defines urban as any incorporated place of 2,500 inhabitants or more.

H. LAKE UTILIZATION

H1 LAKE UTILIZATION (Q)

Source of water, navigation and transportation, sightseeing and tourism, recreation (swimming, sport-fishing, yachting) and aesthetics.

H2 THE LAKE AS WATER RESOURCE (15)

*Burlington area.

I. DETERIORATION OF LAKE ENVIRONMENTS AND HAZARDS

I1 ENHANCED SILTATION (16)

• Extent of damage
  Not serious (serious in portion of the lake during high lake levels).

I2 TOXIC CONTAMINATION (17)

• Present status:
  Little information available.
• Main contaminants, their concentrations and sources

* Fish species concerned: various species for Hg; lake trout for PCB's and DDT (there are Canadian data for plants, mollusca and invertebrates).

• Environmental quality standards for contaminants in the lake
  Federal Dept. Agriculture standards for Hg, DDT, PCB's in fish tissue.
• Food safety standards or tolerance limits for toxic contaminant residue
  Federal Dept. Agriculture standards for Hg, DDT, PCB's in food tissue.
• Supplementary notes (Q)
  Little is known about toxics in Lake Champlain. No data describe Hg, PCB's and DDT in fish tissues. Some data exist concerning levels of trace metals in lake sediments, and effluent monitoring for toxics is done at major industrial discharge at a paper mill in the southern part of the lake.
  Some toxic materials are known to exist in an abandoned canal in Burlington, Vt.
• Past trends of the above concentrations
  Little data available to detect trends, but limited data seem to indicate decreased mercury levels in fish during the past ten years.

I3 EUTROPHICATION

• Nuisance caused by eutrophication
  Cladophora aufwuchs along certain rocky shores; Excessive weeds in certain bays.
• Nitrogen and phosphorus loadings to the lake (2, 14)

*1 [kg yr^-1]. *2 [g m^-2 yr^-1].

• Supplementary notes
  Non-point sources include natural and agricultural sources. A report on the trophic status of Lake Champlain was presented in 1977 (2). The natural background loading of total phosphorus was estimated to be 0.115 g per m² of lake surface per year. Both New York and Vermont have enacted legislation requiring holding tanks on boats; have banned phosphate in detergents, and Vermont is requiring waste treatment plants to discharge no more than 1mg l^-1 of Total-P in waste treatment effluents.

I4 ACIDIFICATION

• Extent of damage:
  None.
• Supplementary notes
  Some lakes in the Adriondack Mountains are being severely damaged by acidification. Acid deposition appears to be killing the source trees in the higher elevations in Vermont. Detailed studies on mechanisms and political efforts by representation at the State and National levels are being made.

J. WASTEWATER TREATMENTS

J1 GENERATION OF POLLUTANTS IN THE CATCHMENT AREA (Q)

(d) Measurable pollution with limited wastewater treatment.

J2 APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTION OF POLLUTANT LOADS* (2)

* As estimated from phosphorus loadings.

J3 SANITARY FACILITIES AND SEWAGE (14)

• Percentage of municipal population in the catchment area provided with adequate sanitary facilities (on-site treatment systems) and public sewerage:
  100%.
• Percentage of rural population with adequate sanitary facilities (on-site treatment systems):
  Exact figures not available.
• Municipal wastewater treatment systems
  No. of tertiary treatment systems: 0.
  No. of secondary treatment systems: 38.
  No. of primary treatment system: 20.
• Industrial wastewater treatment systems
  No.of industrial wastewater treatment systems: 1 (pulp and paper plant).

K. IMPROVEMENT WORKS IN THE LAKE

Kl RESTORATION

Vermont and New York States are attempting to control nuisance aquatic weeds in bays and the south lake. Reduction of phosphate loading to the lake; both States have adopted a detergent phosphate ban, and in Vermont, selected waste treatment plants must remove phosphorus to 1 mg l^-1.

M. LEGISLATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES FOR UPGRADING LAKE ENVIRONMENTS (Q)

M1 NATIONAL AND LOCAL LAWS CONCERNED

• Names of the laws (the year of legislation)
  1. National Rivers and Harbors Act (1899)
  2. Flood Control Act (1936, and amended)
  3. Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1972, and amended)
• Responsible authorities
  1. Corps of Army Engineers
  2. Corps of Army Engineers
  3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Main items of control
  1. Dredging, filling, shore construction, discharges
  2. Flood control
  3. Water pollution
• Supplementary notes
  Both States have enacted a number of acts to protect the lake. These include banning phosphorus in detergent and requiring all watercraft to have holding tanks. All waters have been classified and no discharge is allowed to degrade the quality class.

M2 INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES

1. On August 27, 1988, the Governors of New York and Vermont, and the Premier of Quebec signed a Memorandum of Understanding to emphasize the increased cooperation and management of Lake Champlain.
2. In April,1989, the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program selected Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains as a Biosphere Reserve (Lake Champlain/Adirondack Massif Biosphere Reserve).
3. The Lake Champlain Committee is an organization with about a thousand members within the entire basin that examines environmental issues as they come up, engages in study, and is effective in protecting the lake.

M3 RESEARCH INSTITUTES ENGAGED IN THE LAKE ENVIRONMENT STUDIES

1. The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.
2. Plattsburgh State University College, Plattsburgh, N. Y.
3. St. Micheal's College, Colchester, Vt.

N. SOURCES OF DATA

(Q1) Questionnaire filled by Dr. E. B. Henson, Dept. of Zoology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

1. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Data Reports NH-VT, 1967-1986.
2. Henson, E. B., & Gruendling, G. K. (1977) The Trophic Status and Phosphorus Loadings of Lake Champlain. U.S. Environ. Protection Agency, Environ. Res. Lab., Office of Res. and Development, Ecological Res. Series, EPR-600/3-77-106. 141 pp.
3. Hunt, A. S. & Boardman, C. C. (1970) The Volume of Lake Champlain. Lake Champlain Studies Centre, Univ. Vt., Res. Rep. No. 3, with 1 map.
4. New England River Basins Comm. (1976) Lake Champlain Planning Guide. 233 pp. + Appendices.
5. Dunnington, F. (1978) Lake Champlain Islands Report, Nov. 1978. Prepared for the Water Oriented Recreation Task Force, Lake Champlain Basin Study, New England River Basins Comm. Tech. Rep. 25. 34 pp, maps.
6. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adm., National Weather Service.
7. Henson, E. B. & Potash, M. (1987) Sampling Strategies for Detecting Water Quality Trends in Lake Champlain. Completion Rep., U.S. Dept. Int., Office of Water Res. and Tech., Proj. No. 03. 44 pp.
8. Lake Champlain Transportation Co. Lake Champlain Ferries. Burlington, Vt.
9. State of Vermont, Dept. of Environmental Conservation, Water Quality Division (1988) Lay Monitoring Program.
10. Legge, T. N. (1969) A study of the seasonal abundance and distribution of calanoid copepods in Burlington Bay, Lake Champlain. Unpubl. Ph. D. Thesis, Univ. Vt., Dept. Zool. 133 pp.
11. Pantas, L. J. (1966) A study of the benthic fauna in Malletts and Shelburne Bays. Unpubl. M. S. Thesis, Univ. Vt., Dept. Zool. 85 pp.
12. Dadswell, M. J. (1974) Distribution, Ecology, and Postglacial Dispersal of Certain Crustaceans and Fishes in Eastern North America. Natl. Mus. Can., Publ. in Zoo. No. 11. 110 pp.
13. Henson, E. B. (1988) Assessment of the presence of Pontoporeia in Lake Champlain. Res. Grant, Univ. Vt. Comm. Res. and Schlor. Unpubl. Results.
14. Bogdan, K. G. (1978) Estimates of the Annual Loading of Total Phosphorus to Lake Champlain. N. E. River Basins Comm., Lake Champlain Basin Study, Eutrophication Task Force. 49 pp.
15. Burlington Water Dept., and Champlain Water District, personal communication.
16. Hunt, A. S. (1977) Shoreline Erosion, Lake Champlain. N. E. River Basins Comm., Lake Champlain Basin Study, Lands in Transition Task Force. 13 pp.
17. McIntosh, A., School of Natural Resources, Univ. of Vermont, personal communication.