Lewis Creek Update: Water matters event planned

This spring the Chittenden Regional Planning Commission, Lewis Creek Association and Responsible Growth Hinesburg are teaming up to raise awareness of water issues in the LaPlatte River watershed. This year’s Water Matters event will be held on Thursday, March 30, at the Hinesburg Town Hall from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Save the date!

Members of conservation commissions, selectboards and planning commissions in the three LaPlatte Watershed towns of Hinesburg, Charlotte and Shelburne, and all folks interested in managing stormwater for improved local water quality—and ultimately a cleaner Lake Champlain—are invited to attend.

Charlie Baker from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission will emcee the event. Neil Kamman from the Department of Environmental Conservation will present the state’s brand-new online “Clean Water Roadmap.” This is a tool designed to track progress in water quality improvement using best available computer modeling information. Krista Hoffsis, Lewis Creek Association and South Chittenden River Watch Program Coordinator, will present the LCA’s LaPlatte region water quality scorecard, a map tool depicting the actual monitoring results of stream pollution trends in Shelburne, Hinesburg and Charlotte. Stream-sampling work has been provided by South Chittenden River Watch with financial support from VT DEC, Shelburne and Charlotte.

Finally, we will learn about Lewis Creek Association’s Ahead of the Storm program (AOTS) that is hosting water quality improvement locations around the watershed to showcase new water-quality improvement practice designs. With funding support from the Lake Champlain Basin Program and LCA, nine AOTS sites were identified on the CVU campus by consulting engineers at Milone and MacBroom working with CVU student scientists. We will hear from CVU students and learn about CVU’s specific water quality improvement designs as well as their implementation and long-term stewardship plans.

At 8:30 p.m. we will enjoy dessert and conversation before the evening ends.