As Vermonters patiently wait for spring temperatures, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to report when Vermont’s lakes and ponds lose their ice cover.

Also known as the “ice-out date,” this date marks when lakes or ponds become ice-free from shore to shore. Tracking ice-out dates helps DEC scientists decide when to begin seasonal water quality sampling efforts.

By pairing artificial intelligence with an existing water flow forecasting model, scientists hope it can be used to help predict water quality measurements across the U.S.

Strengthening Partnerships to Grow our Impact

Bi-national stewardship priorities for Lake Memphremagog, including challenges of pollution abatement, fisheries management, native species restoration, invasive species management and spread prevention are very similar to those faced by the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. For all of these bi-national tributaries to the Saint Lawrence River ecosystem conditions do not recognize borders and cooperative management is needed so that our two countries share environmental successes rather than failures.

“Beyond their value for wild trout and salmon, each of these parcels expands public access and offers opportunities for management to enhance flood resilience,” said Patrick Hurley of the Memphremagog Watershed Association. “The parcels include acres of floodplain habitat, intact wetlands, and potential to restore areas eroded by this past year’s extreme flood.”

The purpose of the 2024 Materials Management Plan (MMP or Plan) is to provide a framework for the State and its citizens to feasibly prevent waste from being generated, reduce the toxicity
and environmental impacts of our waste stream, and expand reuse, recycling, and composting efforts to attain Vermont’s statewide goals.

Watershed groups are community-based organizations working to protect and restore Vermont’s rivers, streams, and lakes.
Watershed groups work in their communities on a suite of restoration
and protection activities that improve water quality and lead to healthy
and resilient waters and watersheds.
This report highlights the activities and projects of 15 watershed groups
across Vermont. Each section of this report focuses on a type of watershed restoration work and includes a few of the many watershed group success stories during 2023.

Main river: There were no signs of water quality impacts from the landfill.
• Backwater areas: This year, we were able to paddle quite far into the northeast backwater to our usual
turnaround point about 400 feet in from the river, and roughly about 400 feet north of the closest edge
of Unlined Area A. We saw no signs of landfill impacts in the northeast backwater.