Editor’s note: This commentary is by Zack Porter, who is the Lake Champlain lakekeeper for the Conservation Law Foundation.
The health and economic impacts of coronavirus have been swift and devastating for Vermonters. Nearly 1,000 have been sickened and more than 81,000 have filed for unemployment insurance in the wake of business closures and furloughs. The state’s jobless rate has reached a record 23.8%.
As our collective focus shifts from grappling with a public health crisis to overcoming the greatest economic downturn in most Americans’ lifetimes, Lake Champlain can help drive our economic recovery. While it will take a suite of strategies to recover from this unprecedented crisis, investment in clean water and climate resilience must be at the top of the list.
What is the value of clean water to Vermonters living in the Champlain Basin? More than 200,000 people depend on the lake for drinking water, and many more depend on clean water for their livelihood and quality of life. A 2015 UVM study suggests that the “$300 million estimated annual tourist expenditures in Vermont’s four main lakeside counties generate an additional $72.75 million in spending and nearly 1,070 jobs.” These figures don’t include the countless jobs and millions of dollars in income generated by businesses, nonprofits, and remote workers located in the Champlain Basin because of its quality of life and natural amenities.
We benefit from thriving natural ecosystems in other ways, too. Healthy forests, wetlands and floodplains filter water pollution, store carbon, provide critical habitat to fish and wildlife, and reduce risk to communities on the frontlines of climate change and endangered by the ravages of natural disasters – like Hurricane Irene – that are certain to return.
Unfortunately, Lake Champlain’s water quality is far from what it should be.
Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an interim report card for Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation, which is charged with implementing the 2016 Total Maximum Daily Load – or clean water restoration plan – for Lake Champlain and its watershed. The EPA’s takeaway message could be summed up as “A for effort.” But the truth is that we are falling far short in our efforts to clean up the lake.
Every spring, the countdown begins anew to when reports of harmful blue-green algae and cyanotoxins caused by phosphorus pollution will reappear across our state. More than an eyesore, recent studies reveal the ecological and human health consequences of cyanotoxin exposure, even miles inland from polluted water bodies. Vermont is almost a quarter of the way into its 20-year plan to bring Lake Champlain’s pollution under control. Yet the state is only 8% of the way towards reaching phosphorus reduction goals basin-wide, and only 5% of the way in the Missisquoi River watershed, one of the focus areas of the EPA’s report card. At this rate, it would take more than 50 years to reach pollution reduction targets. And this is without projected budget cuts due to Covid-19.
Just as Vermont needs to be ramping up its programs to protect and clean up the lake, the state’s Clean Water Fund is at risk. On May 5, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources testified to the House Committee on Natural Resources, Fish, and Wildlife that the state expects an $850,000 shortfall in clean water funding for fiscal year 2020, and a 15-30% cut in FY 2021, largely due to decreases in revenue from the state meals and rooms tax.
While it may be tempting to cut clean water budgets after hearing those predictions, it would be the wrong approach. Investment in clean water and climate resilience can help create new jobs and put our economy back on track while protecting our natural environment. Nationwide, the restoration economy annually generates around 221,000 jobs, $6.27 billion in labor income, and $24.86 billion in economic output. Project planning, engineering, earthmoving, construction, forestry, and landscaping are among the many trades that stand to benefit from a focused effort on cleaning up our lake.
The Lake Champlain cleanup plan points the way to jobs, healthier communities, and clean water. As lawmakers chart a course forward to a more resilient future for Vermont, they don’t have to choose between the environment and economic stimulation. With focused state and federal investments, the restoration of Lake Champlain and its watershed is a win for our environment and for our economy.
