Senate Agriculture hears Clean Water Performance Report as state charts progress, gaps in 20-year plan

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources on Thursday presented the annual Clean Water Performance Report to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, describing how state and federal dollars are being spent to meet long-term pollution-reduction targets for Lake Champlain and other waters.

“For the record, Julie Moore, secretary of natural resources,” Moore said, adding that the report “provides a really comprehensive look at these significant investments that Vermont is making in water quality.” The agency said the work covers sewage and stormwater infrastructure, municipal roads, and agricultural and forestry best-management practices across multiple state agencies.

The report frames the clean-water effort as a 20-year implementation plan. “This is a 20 year effort. We are in year 8,” Moore said. The plan is driven by total maximum daily loads, or TMDLs, which set pollution budgets that the state adopts and the Environmental Protection Agency approves. Emily Bird, Clean Water Initiative Program manager at the Department of Environmental Conservation, told the committee the performance report is intended to provide accountability to the legislature, the public and EPA on investments and results.

Why it matters: Vermont’s TMDLs set multi-decade targets for nutrients such as phosphorus, which can fuel harmful cyanobacteria blooms in Lake Champlain, Lake Memphremagog and other waters. The report aggregates investment, project output and modeled pollution reductions so state leaders can track progress, adapt programs and target resources where they are most needed.

Key findings and figures: the agencies reported more than $600,000,000 in state…