Progress is being made to clean up Vermont’s only lake in crisis. Cyanobacteria blooms caused by excessive phosphorus in the water have long plagued Lake Carmi. Initial readings following last fall’s alum treatments look promising; the water is now the clearest it’s been since 1980. “We are cautiously optimistic,” said Franklin select board vice chair, Brooks Sturtevant. The cyanobacteria blooms have long dampened summer fun at one of the state’s largest lakes. Alum is the latest solution in a decades-long search for one. “The state of Vermont’s been working with landowners up at Lake Carmi for years and years and years as a result of a number of years of effort and a couple of things that we tried and failed,” said the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s deputy commissioner, Neil Kamman. “We implemented a treatment last year that would basically inactivate the phosphorus that’s inside the lake from creating those blue-green algae blooms.”Sturtevant said there’s hope this most recent treatment will be the one to work. “We feel good about the treatment. The state presented a really well-run program and the impact in terms of water quality and the impact on the fisheries, because that was a concern for the townspeople,” he said.The 1,400-acre lake has a state park and several homes along its shores. The town has seen people leave because of the blooms and the smell that permeates for much of the summer.But its location makes it a big draw to the area.”The lake is a centerpiece of the town. Many people reside on it, and it is something that the townspeople want to see improved,” Sturtevant said. “The people that live on the lake, obviously, because that has led to people leaving, unfortunately, and that’s a big part of our tax base.”According to the DEC, the treatments could last for the next 20 years. “There are very few places in Vermont where a treatment like that is suitable and it’s very expensive,” Kamman said. “But if the conditions are right, that’s the thing to do. If the conditions are right, it will last for quite a while.”A DEC team will visit Lake Carmi every two weeks. The University of Vermont is also studying the efficacy of the treatments.
Progress is being made to clean up Vermont’s only lake in crisis. Cyanobacteria blooms caused by excessive phosphorus in the water have long plagued Lake Carmi.
Initial readings following last fall’s alum treatments look promising; the water is now the clearest it’s been since 1980.
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“We are cautiously optimistic,” said Franklin select board vice chair, Brooks Sturtevant.
The cyanobacteria blooms have long dampened summer fun at one of the state’s largest lakes. Alum is the latest solution in a decades-long search for one.
“The state of Vermont’s been working with landowners up at Lake Carmi for years and years and years as a result of a number of years of effort and a couple of things that we tried and failed,” said the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s deputy commissioner, Neil Kamman. “We implemented a treatment last year that would basically inactivate the phosphorus that’s inside the lake from creating those blue-green algae blooms.”
Sturtevant said there’s hope this most recent treatment will be the one to work.
“We feel good about the treatment. The state presented a really well-run program and the impact in terms of water quality and the impact on the fisheries, because that was a concern for the townspeople,” he said.
The 1,400-acre lake has a state park and several homes along its shores. The town has seen people leave because of the blooms and the smell that permeates for much of the summer.
But its location makes it a big draw to the area.
“The lake is a centerpiece of the town. Many people reside on it, and it is something that the townspeople want to see improved,” Sturtevant said. “The people that live on the lake, obviously, because that has led to people leaving, unfortunately, and that’s a big part of our tax base.”
According to the DEC, the treatments could last for the next 20 years.
“There are very few places in Vermont where a treatment like that is suitable and it’s very expensive,” Kamman said. “But if the conditions are right, that’s the thing to do. If the conditions are right, it will last for quite a while.”
A DEC team will visit Lake Carmi every two weeks.
The University of Vermont is also studying the efficacy of the treatments.
