- Reclassification Update Summer 2021
- So Where Are We Now? (October 28, 2021)
- Echo Lake Reclassification Petition July 12 2022
Currently, all Vermont lakes located outside of the Green Mountain National Forest and those below 2500’ are, by default, classified as B(2). This type of classification is based on a lake’s water quality. B(2) lakes have a water quality of “good” or better than “good”.
There is an opportunity for Echo Lake and its watershed to be reclassified to an A(1) status to better reflect its excellent water quality. The Echo Lake Protective Association has formed a committee to bring awareness and hopefully support from its members, the town of Charleston, and the community at large for reclassification. A formal petition requesting this change will be submitted to the Agency of Natural Resources.
Also, located within Echo Lake’s watershed is Seymour Lake and the town of Morgan (with a small portion in Holland). A watershed is also known as a drainage basin; it is an area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet, such as a lake. If the Seymour Lake Association decides to support reclassification then they would be responsible for the part of Echo’s watershed that resides within Seymour’s watershed. If the Seymour Lake Association chooses not to reclassify then Echo Lake Protective Association would take on the task of gathering support for the reclassification of the entire watershed.
Restrictions to reclassifying: In an A(1) watershed it will be prohibited to have a septic system that discharges 1,000 or more gallons of water a day. All current best management practices for agricultural and forestry uses will continue to apply.
Benefits of reclassification: Reclassification to A(1) would ensure that Echo Lake receives a higher standard of protection. The State would be legally responsible for ensuring Echo Lake remains at an A(1) status making funds more readily available. This is crucial as Echo Lake’s phosphorus levels are significantly rising and must be addressed. Now is the time to act on this opportunity and help Echo Lake remain as clean and healthy as possible.
Reclassification Update
After a vigorous campaign to garner support to reclassify Echo Lake this summer (2021), the Echo Lake Protection Association is pleased to announce that a petition to reclassify Echo Lake to A(1) status was submitted to the Department of Environmental Conservation on September 20, 2021.
This petition was based on Echo Lake’s excellent water quality (aesthetics) and recreational fishing. Recreational Fishing was added after Vermont Fish & Wildlife confirmed that Echo Lake met the requirements for A(1) status. Those requirements are as follows: An A(1) fishing lake’s water needs to be managed to achieve and maintain excellent quality fishing with measures of wild salmonid densities, biomass, and age composition consistent with those expected in waters in their natural condition.
At the September 9, 2021, Charleston Selectboard meeting, the Selectboard voted unanimously to join ELPA as co-petitioners. This act of support was so appreciated and vital to Echo Lake’s success to be reclassified. ELPA would also like to thank all the association members and community residents that championed our pursuit to reclassify. It’s gratifying to know that so many care about Echo Lake and are willing to step up to protect it.
So Where Are We Now?
The petition was sent to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and on October 28, 2021, was marked “Administratively Complete”. This means that the petition has been determined to meet all the initially required documentation for a technical review of the petition.
The DEC will then hold one or more public meeting(s) to foster public participation in the petition process prior to deciding on whether to initiate formal rulemaking.
The formal rulemaking process will address any points of contention that may have been presented at the public hearings and have those conflicts resolved prior to moving the petition forward. At that time, any proposed amendments will be addressed and possibly adopted before the petition is passed on to the final stages of rulemaking. It is at the discretion of the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources to finalize the petition clearing the way for Echo Lake to be correctly classified as an A(1) lake.
Echo Lake Reclassification Petition July 12, 2022
From: Beling, John
Date: Tue, Jul 12, 2022 at 9:12 AM
Subject: Echo Lake Reclassification Petition
To: Holly Bull
Dear Holly,
Thanks very much for your message of June 22 requesting that DEC move forward with scheduling the public meetings associated with reviewing the Echo Lake Reclassification Petition that your lake association submitted in September of last year. Let me also acknowledge all the hard work that went into developing this petition and recognize the strong commitment of your group to maintaining or improving Echo Lake’s excellent water quality, a goal that DEC shares with you.
I appreciate the interest that the Echo Lake Protective Association has in moving forward with obtaining public comment on your lake reclassification petition. I also recognize that Echo Lake has a significantly increasing phosphorus concentration, and we share your goal of maintaining Echo Lake’s current excellent water quality and slowing or reversing this trend before the lake’s trophic status changes for the worse.
Reclassification of Vermont’s surface waters based on petitions submitted by the public is a relatively new approach for DEC, and it has taken us some time to develop our procedures and metrics for reviewing the content of these petitions. Our recent decision to enter into formal rulemaking in response to three stream reclassification petitions submitted by the Ripton Conservation Committee demonstrates that DEC is supportive of surface water reclassification actions under the right circumstances.
However, lake reclassification presents a unique challenge because any waters reclassified to Class A(1) for any use “shall include all waters within the entire watershed of the reclassified waters” as per the Vermont Water Quality Standards, meaning that the additional protections conferred from reclassification apply to all 14,575 acres of the Echo Lake watershed. One such additional protection that may be problematic is derived from Vermont’s statute on Water Pollution Control, where section 10 VSA 1259(d) states that:
(d) No person shall cause a discharge of wastes into Class A waters, except for on-site disposal of sewage from systems with a capacity of 1,000 gallons per day (gpd), or less, that are either exempt from or comply with the environmental protection rules, or existing systems, which shall require a permit according to the provisions of subsection 1263(f) of this title.
This so-called “1,000 gallon per day” rule is potentially problematic, as it will require residents and users of the watershed to make a potentially difficult decision between compliance with the statute and development of new properties and businesses that require new indirect discharge or septic systems with a design flow of greater than 1,000 gallons per day. If reclassification of Echo Lake were to be enacted under the current legislative framework, construction of new schools, restaurants, or large residential properties would be prohibited indefinitely in the lake’s entire watershed.
We therefore believe it is in the best interest of all Vermonters to avoid forcing communities to choose between these two goals, and rather to pursue a solution that allows us to protect high-quality surface waters while not overly restricting economic development and infrastructure improvement efforts. Indeed, it is our understanding that members of the Morgan Select Board and the Seymour Lake Association, both which are geographically within the Echo Lake Watershed, have expressed opposition to lake reclassification specifically due to the requirements of 10 VSA 1259(d), and this is the type of disagreement we do not want associated with an effort to increase protections for surface water.
The text in 10 VSA 1259(d) dates to the 1980s, and indirect discharge systems have advanced since then to the point where they can be designed and sited in a manner that does not necessarily lead to “discharge of wastes into waters.” Furthermore, we believe that the 1,000 gallon per day threshold is somewhat arbitrary, and this text could perhaps be replaced with an approach that requires new systems in Class A Watershed to be built in compliance with the Vermont Wastewater System and Potable Water Supply Rule for smaller systems and/or 10 VSA 1263(f) for larger systems, which will lead to similar outcomes to the current “1,000 gallon / day” text without overly restricting new construction.
To that end, DEC and the Agency of Natural Resources have begun to work with members of the Vermont Legislature to amend 10 VSA 1259(d) to use an approach more in line with the technology and realities of 2022, as well as one that isn’t a barrier to increasing lake protections via reclassification. We began this process to late in the 2022 legislative session to adequately brief concerned stakeholders and build the necessary support to see it through, but we will make more concerted effort prior to and during the 2023 legislative session so that this issue hopefully receives the attention it deserves and a “win-win” solution, that protects high-quality waters without severely restricting new development, is obtained.
Therefore, and considering this situation, DEC would like to ask for your patience as we will hold off on starting the “public participation” phase of our review of your lake reclassification petition for Echo Lake until we have worked with the legislature during the upcoming 2023 session to amend 10 VSA 1259(d) We will hopefully then be able to pursue lake reclassification without the barriers and local opposition created by this requirement. If the legislature decides to maintain the text of 10 VSA 1259(d) as currently written, I can commit that we will move forward with public meetings on these petitions during the summer of 2023 under the existing statute, and we will do our best to manage any disagreements around reclassification that arise at that time.
I recognize that my response may not be what you were hoping to receive from DEC, but we strongly believe that it is important to attempt to resolve the current situation surrounding the “1,000 gallon per day” rule before proceeding further with lake reclassification for the reasons described above. It is my sincere hope that other ongoing and nascent efforts to reduce phosphorus loading to Echo Lake taking place in your watershed will help address the increasing phosphorus trend in the lake, and I strongly encourage you to work with Oliver Pierson, the Manager of the Lakes and Ponds Program, to explore developing a Lake Watershed Action Plan for Echo and Seymour Lakes in the near future.
Thanks again for reaching out to ANR Secretary Julie Moore and myself about this issue, and we will keep you abreast of our efforts to amend 10 VSA 1259(d). It might also be useful if members of the Echo Lake Protective Association encourage your legislators to support this legislative amendment goal, so that we can proceed with lake reclassification under an improved framework as soon as possible. Thanks again for all you do to protect Echo Lake.
Sincerely,
John Beling
DEC Interim Commissioner
Renita Marshall, CPM®
Executive Assistant to Commissioner
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources | Department of Environmental Conservation
1 National Life Dr., Davis 3, Montpelier, VT 05620
Questions may be submitted to hbull@echolakeassociation.net