Early indicators have led local scientists to conclude that recent flooding is not impacting Lake Champlain’s health as much as last year’s storms, although there are still concerns for the watershed’s well-being. The July 10 and 11 storm added large amounts of phosphorus to the lake, which can drive cyanobacteria blooms later in the summer, said researchers aboard the Marcelle Melosira July 18.

Lake Champlain Sea Grant, University of Vermont and the Lake Champlain Basin Program presented information about the lake’s health, discussing stormwater runoff, microplastics and bacteria and how they affect the basin. The presentations were aboard the Marcelle Melosira, the University of Vermont’s research and teaching vessel.

A new way to study

The Marcelle Melosira, named after donor and former Sen. Patrick Leahy’s wife and the previous research vessel, began sailing Lake Champlain July 23, 2023. It’s docked outside the Rubenstein Ecosystems Science Laboratory on the Burlington waterfront.

The “one-of-a-kind” boat hosts cutting-edge technology and research equipment, according to Kris Stepenuck, Lake Champlain Sea Grant associate director.

The Marcelle Melosira runs tests to monitor water clarity, track invasive species and erosion. UVM professors and students, Lake Champlain Basin Program researchers and others use the vessel depending on what they’re monitoring at that time. College interns also help the researchers on the boat.

The hybrid boat can run for up to three hours on electric energy, according to interim Capt. Taylor Resnick. He is aboard the Marcelle Melosira on Monday to Friday, collecting data on the lake and how the basin − with waterways from Cabot to Rutland, and from Saranac Lake to Quebec − all play a role in lake health.

The boat is 20 meters long and 6 meters wide, with a capacity of 32 people. It was projected to be a 60% reduction in fossil fuel use from the previous vessel. The boat is equipped with:

• First-of-its-kind winch technology.
• Echo-sounding technology to ID and map underwater species distribution.
• Multi-net plankton and fish larvae sampler.
• Profiler to study large particles and zooplankton.
• Echoview software to process hydroacoustic data.
• Gas analyzer to measure gaseous compounds.
• Corer for sampling lake bottom sediment.

Watershed Alliance offers K-12 programs on the R/V Marcelle Melosira, which give elementary, middle and high school students and teachers the opportunity to learn firsthand about the study of limnology − the study of inland aquatic ecosystems − and to collect their own data on Lake Champlain with the aid of professional educators and lab research staff.

Looking at lake health post-flooding

Matthew Vaughan, chief scientist for the Lake Champlain Basin Program, spoke on the State of the Lake briefly, but refocused to talk about how flooding in the lake’s basin affects the water quality.

With high water flow comes different debris floating down rivers and into the lake. Sea Grant Director Anne Jefferson pointed out that water pollution comes in many forms. Bacteria, microplastics and trash from landfills are all serious concerns when looking at water health. She also said that there are unintentional effects of flooding; for example, someone’s Tupperware − something not intended to be trashed − floating out of their house during flooding.

Bacteria is a large concern when evaluating the lake’s health. Too much of a harmful bacteria can make the water unsafe, leading to closed beaches. While bacterial blooms happen naturally with warm weather and stagnant water, flooding exacerbates it.

“It’s about six times more phosphorus that we can capture on our floodplains than during those smaller, regularly occurring events,” Rebecca Diehl, research assistant professor in the UVM Department of Geography and Geosciences, said about this most recent flood.

Bacteria blooms could be seen from the Marcelle Melosira where the Winooski River meets the lake. It was impossible to miss the murky haze tinting the water, revealing where sediments and bacteria are flowing. Two UVM fellows performed a Secchi disk test, dropping a black-and-white disk attached to a measuring tape into the water to check the clarity. Once the disk becomes invisible to the naked eye, the measurement is recorded. They dropped the disk in the murky runoff water and in the clearer, more standard water. The difference in clarity was about a meter.

The researchers emphasized that it’s still early to have all the data about the effects of the recent flooding. They will continue to monitor the watershed and keep the public up to date with their findings.

Protecting our waters

On July 23, Sen. Peter Welch, D, Vt., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., introduced the bicameral Lake Champlain Basin Program Reauthorization Act − legislation that would reauthorize the Lake Champlain Basin Program for 10 years at $55 million to support interstate conservation and the health of the Lake Champlain Basin.

The bill would establish the Lake Champlain Basin Program to “formally administer the program to promote climate resilience and mitigation through ecosystem restoration,” according to a press release.

Jefferson said that prevention is the best course of action. Removing bacteria or microplastics is extremely challenging, especially at such a large scale. Learning about the watershed and finding the best solutions to preserve it is the work they’re going to focus on.

Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.

The combination of inflation and increased work-from-home opportunities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted migration patterns across the United States, the effects of which are still being felt in 2024, according to the latest Census Bureau data.

In the first year of the pandemic, migration out of densely populated, expensive cities like New York and San Francisco was especially notable. Many moved to Sun Belt states where the weather is warmer and the cost of living significantly lower.

But by the second year of the pandemic, it became clear that not everyone who was moving wanted to go far. A 2022 analysis of movement out of crowded cities from Stateline showed that many people leaving city centers moved to nearby suburbs in the same state. In Texas, for example, moves out of Houston rose 62% in the first month of the pandemic; meanwhile, the western suburb of Katy saw more new residents move in than any other part of the country.

According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, released in September 2023, 53.5% of people who moved in 2022 did so within the same county and an additional 24.3% remained in state, meaning more than three-quarters of movers stuck close to home.

Many young people in particular are remaining in the state, town, or even house that they grew up in. Before the pandemic, the number of younger adults living with their parents was on the rise and those patterns have continued. A late 2023 survey released by Lending Tree found that 57% of millennials and Gen Zers live in their hometowns.

Many people choose not to leave the state they were raised in for reasons ranging from wanting to be close to family, to not having the resources to leave, to sticking with a lower cost of living.

In order to determine where people stay put in your home state, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the most born-and-bred residents in Vermont using data from the Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by the highest percentage of residents who were born in the state according to the latest data, which is 2022 five-year estimates. The percentage of residents who were born in another state, a U.S. territory, and another country is also included.

Read on to find out where the most loyal Vermont residents live.

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