Hello LSC.

We'd like to invite you to join us - the Lake St. Catherine Association (LSCA), and our partners the Poultney Mettowee Natural Resources Conservation District (PMNRD), Castleton University, and Fitzgerald Environmental Associates to a very important meeting to discuss the Lake St. Catherine Watershed Action Plan on Thursday, July 14th at 5:30 PM at the Wells Lakeside Park on Little Lake.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) describes the purpose of a Watershed Action Plan as:

A Lake and Watershed Action Plan (LWAP) is designed to identify and communicate the problems and fixes within a lake watershed to best protect water quality, wildlife habitat, and the lake’s ecosystem health. These plans answer the questions 'what issues threaten the health of our lake the most?' and 'what can we do about them?'

After many years of successfully managing and participating in individual lake programs to protect Lake St. Catherine, which include: water testing (Lay Monitoring Program) in-lake invasive species control (Milfoil Control Program), invasive species prevention (Greeter Program), and stormwater management (Lake Wise Program, LSC Stormwater Master Plan), the LSCA is now poised to integrate these programs into a broader watershed plan with a focus on the prevention of pollutant loads (phosphorus, nitrogen, sediments) that enter into the Lake from sources outside the waterbody. The LSCA plans to use the success of these building blocks to expand its work in the watershed and focus on prevention for the future as part of a comprehensive long-term plan. The resulting plan will leverage current LSCA investments in water quality and pollution prevention, be driven by accepted best management practices, elevate under-assessed areas and gaps, and will identify issues, opportunities, and projects to guide locally-led water quality implementation work in the Lake St. Catherine watershed.

The findings from the creation of the LWAP will guide our long-term efforts to increase water quality, and projects identified can then feed into the DEC Watershed Projects Database and be considered for funding under the Clean Water Initiative Program (CWIP) and other sources.

One of the first steps in this 3-year process is to hold a meeting with Lake St. Catherine stakeholders to describe what LWAPs are, to outline our work plan, to discuss how the Lake St. Catherine watershed will be assessed, and to inform you on how you can help and participate in planning for the future of Lake St. Catherine.

We are proud to have earned this grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to fund the Lake St. Catherine LWAP, and we look forward to putting in the good, hard work it will take over the next 3 years and beyond. 

For the preservation, protection and maintenance of our beautiful Lake St. Catherine - we hope you will join us. 

Thank you!