Overview
The Vermont Water Quality Standards establish designated uses, management objectives, and minimum criteria that all surface waters must meet. Surface waters are classified independently for each designated use. The designated uses in the Vermont Water Quality Standards are:
- Aquatic biota and wildlife that may utilize or are present in the waters;
- Aquatic habitat to support aquatic biota, wildlife, or plant life;
- The use of waters for swimming and other primary contact recreation;
- The use of waters for boating and related recreational uses;
- The use of waters for fishing and related recreational uses;
- The use of waters for the enjoyment of aesthetic conditions;
- The use of the water for public water source; and
- The use of water for irrigation of crops and other agricultural uses.
There are four possible classifications of Vermont surface waters: B(2) – good; B(1) very good; A(2) public water source; and A(1) excellent. All waters at or below 2,500 feet are designated Class B(2) for all uses, unless specifically designated as Class A(1), A(2), or B(1) for any use. All waters above 2,500 feet are designated Class A(1) for all uses, unless specifically designated Class A(2) for use as a public water source. All waters must continue to meet the criteria for their classification, otherwise they are then listed as impaired, and a restoration plan must be developed and implemented.
Vermont’s surface waters are managed to, at a minimum, support uses valued by the public at water quality class B(2). Using different criteria, water bodies demonstrating excellent or very good water quality can be “reclassified” to A(1) or B(1) status respectively, giving those waters a higher standard of protection. All waters must continue to meet the criteria for their classification, otherwise they are listed as impaired, and a restoration plan must be developed and implemented.
The classification structure for all surface waters is established by the legislature and individual reclassification decisions are made through rulemaking by the Agency of Natural Resources Secretary pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 1253. The public may petition the Agency to reclassify a waterbody for any of the designated uses.
For Vermont’s lakes and ponds, the VWQS contain numeric nutrient criteria that water bodies must meet or exceed, to maintain water quality in full support of aesthetic conditions uses at the A(1), B(1), or B(2) levels. Simply put, if a lake meets or exceeds certain thresholds for Total Phosphorus concentrations or related nutrient response conditions, it is eligible for reclassification. These thresholds are defined in Table 3 of the VWQS, which is pasted below, and a water body must meet the data standard defined to demonstrate “full support of uses” in Vermont’s Surface Water Listing and Assessment Methodology for the A(1), B(1) or B(2) classifications. Specifically, a lake would need to have an overall mean summer total phosphorus concentration, based on at least five years of data over the last ten years, at or below the A(1) total phosphorus concentrations with 95% confidence based on a one tailed T-test, to be eligible for reclassification to A(1) status.
Reclassification does not mean there can be no land-based activities or active management in the watersheds, lakeshores, and stream corridors of watersheds that are (re)classified to A(1) or B(1) status. Instead, the activities must be carried out in such a way as to maintain the excellent or very good conditions of water bodies for those uses. Activities in the watersheds of Class A(1) surface waters can be continued with the exception of the following prohibitions in Class A waters:
- A direct discharge of any wastes that, prior to treatment, contained organisms pathogenic to human beings. (10 V.S.A. § 1259)
- New indirect discharge systems (e.g., in-ground septic system) with a design flow greater than 1,000 gallons per day. The design flow of an existing soil-based system that discharges to Class A waters may not be increased if the total design flow will exceed 1,000 gallons per day. In addition, for a permit to be issued, there must be no more than one soil-based disposal system per lot and no more than one lot per application. (10 V.S.A. § 1259)
- The Solid Waste Management Rules prohibit siting solid waste management facilities (§ 6-702) and application of biosolids or septage (§ 6-1306) in Class A watersheds.
Current Petitions
Pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 1253, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation received a petition to reclassify the following lakes:
Maidstone Lake
Petition Received: September 7, 2021
Reclassification to: (A)1 Status
Designated Uses: Aesthetics Uses; Swimming Uses
Public Meeting and Comment Period Notice
Response to Comments
Written Comments Received
Lake and Watershed Map Data: Maidstone Lake
Land Cover Map: The linked map set shows land cover data for Maidstone Lake with the following features:
- Lake and Watershed
- 100 foot buffer around the lake
- 250 foot buffer around the lake
- 100 foot buffer around the lake and tributary
- 100 foot buffer around tributaries
Lake Scorecard: The Vermont Inland Lake Score Card is a user-friendly interface developed by the Vermont Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to share available data on overall lake health with lake users. Links embedded in the Score Card open deeper views into the underlying data and point to steps Vermonters can take to protect their lakes.
Depth Chart: A depth chart for Maidstone Lake from 1951
Lay Monitoring Report: An annual report for Maidstone Lake providing the data used for the reclassification effort.
Water Quality Monitoring Data, collected by DEC
Echo Lake (Charleston)
Petition Received: September 28, 2021
Reclassification to: (A)1 Status
Designated Uses: Aesthetics Uses; Fishing Uses
Public Meeting and Comment Period Notice
Response to Comments
Written Comments Received
Lake and Watershed Map Data: Echo Lake (Charleston)
Land Cover Map: The linked map set shows land cover data for Echo Lake with the following features:
- Lake and Watershed
- 100 foot buffer around the lake
- 250 foot buffer around the lake
- 100 foot buffer around the lake and tributary
- 100 foot buffer around tributaries
Lake Scorecard: The Vermont Inland Lake Score Card is a user-friendly interface developed by the Vermont Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to share available data on overall lake health with lake users. Links embedded in the Score Card open deeper views into the underlying data and point to steps Vermonters can take to protect their lakes.
Depth Chart: A depth chart for Echo Lake from 2018
Lay Monitoring Report: An annual report for Echo Lake providing the data used for the reclassification effort.
Lake Caspian
Petition Received: December 13, 2021
Reclassification to: (A)1 Status
Designated Uses: Aesthetics Uses
Public Meeting and Comment Period Notice
Response to Comments
Written Comments Received
Lake and Watershed Map Data: Lake Caspian
Land Cover Map: The linked map set shows land cover data for Caspian Lake with the following features:
- Lake and Watershed
- 100 foot buffer around the lake
- 250 foot buffer around the lake
- 100 foot buffer around the lake and tributary
- 100 foot buffer around tributaries
Lake Scorecard: The Vermont Inland Lake Score Card is a user-friendly interface developed by the Vermont Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to share available data on overall lake health with lake users. Links embedded in the Score Card open deeper views into the underlying data and point to steps Vermonters can take to protect their lakes.
Depth Chart: A depth chart for Caspian Lake from 2018
Lay Monitoring Report: An annual report for Caspian Lake providing the data used for the reclassification effort.
Shadow Lake
Petition Received: February 11, 2022
Reclassification to: (A)1 Status
Designated Uses: Aesthetics Uses
- Petition
- Attachments
- Maps
Public Meeting and Comment Period Notice
Response to Comments
Written Comments Received
Lake and Watershed Map Data: Shadow Lake
Land Cover Map: The linked map set shows land cover data for Shadow Lake with the following features:
- Lake and Watershed
- 100 foot buffer around the lake
- 250 foot buffer around the lake
- 100 foot buffer around the lake and tributary
- 100 foot buffer around tributaries
Lake Scorecard: The Vermont Inland Lake Score Card is a user-friendly interface developed by the Vermont Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to share available data on overall lake health with lake users. Links embedded in the Score Card open deeper views into the underlying data and point to steps Vermonters can take to protect their lakes.
Depth Chart: A depth chart for Shadow Lake from 2019
Lay Monitoring Report: An annual report for Shadow Lake providing the data used for the reclassification effort.