Lake Wise Services
Friends of Northern Lake Champlain is offering Lake Wise assessments for Franklin & Grand Isle County landowners who have shoreline property on Lake Champlain or Fairfield Pond. With support from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and guidance from Vermont's Lakes & Ponds Program, we've joined other organizations all over the region to provide these free assessments to improve shoreline habitat and protect water quality.
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lake Wise Program encourages landowners to voluntarily implement lake-friendly practices on their property. The Lake Wise Program was developed by Vermont’s Lakes and Ponds Program to recognize outstanding efforts by homeowners who live along a lakeshore to protect the water quality and habitat along the shoreline and within the near-shore area of the lake.
Four categories are assessed: The driveway and parking area, the structure (which includes roof, drainage, and septic), the recreation area (the lawn/footprint of non-natural, high-use yard areas), and the shoreline buffer area. All categories are scored on their ability to slow, infiltrate and filter stormwater runoff which carries nutrients like phosphorus & nitrogen, sediments, and pollution into the Lake.