The Vermont Agency of Agriculture will not require certain farms in the Missisquoi Bay basin to implement agricultural practices designed to improve water quality in Lake Champlain.
Chuck Ross, the secretary of the agency, rejected a petition from an environmental law firm calling on the state to enforce new best management practices to curb manure runoff from farms in the region.
Manure and fertilizer runoff from farms is the leading cause of phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain, according to the state. The nutrients cause toxic algae blooms that have become more frequent during the summer months in St. Albans Bay and Missisquoi Bay, and were blamed for a fish die-off in 2012.
The Conservation Law Foundation petitioned the state to enforce agricultural best management practices, or BMPs, that require farmers to plant cover crops and buffer areas, keep livestock away from waterways and contain manure on farms.
Many farmers support taking responsibility to improve water quality, but they fear the regulations would be too onerous without state financial assistance.
The new BMPs could reduce phosphorus runoff in Missisquoi Bay, but he said the petition may be premature because the state is adopting new agricultural standards as part of its plan to restore Lake Champlain’s water quality.
Under the lake cleanup program, the state will adopt new Accepted Agricultural Practices, which are designed to prevent water pollution from farms. The updates include creating minimum 25-foot vegetated buffers along streams, 10-foot buffers along ditches, additional livestock exclusion requirements in areas where erosion is frequent and a small-farm certification process.
Ross said the state does not have the resources to help farmers comply with the new BMPs. State law requires the agency to provide farmers with financial assistance.
The Agency of Agriculture will continue to accelerate compliance and enforcement activities in the Missisquoi Bay basin, he said. The state hired a small-farm inspector in November of last year who has already inspected 175 small farms in Franklin County, according to the agency.
The agencies of Agriculture and Natural Resources teamed up to begin inspecting farms in Franklin County this fall. The state has inspected 247 farms in the region, up from 211 in 2013, according to a report by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
Chris Kilian, vice president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation, was not available for comment on Tuesday.
