Farmers in Quebec are the focus of program to protect Lake Champlain
Earlier this fall, Pascal Genest-Richard pulled up beside a farmhouse in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. The agronomist working for the Missisquoi Bay watershed association had come to check on the creek out back that runs between two fields of soybeans, whose contents eventually spills into the northern end of Lake Champlain.
A backhoe had just cleared accumulated silt and plants that were blocking up water in the farmers’ field but Genest-Richard pointed out where rain had already washed new soil back down the slope.
"What I'm trying to do here," he said, is "figure out a way to convince the people to plant a buffer strip along that waterway." That will let the water drain while retaining soil and fertilizer runoff from entering the water system.
Runoff from lawns and farms into the region’s lakes and streams can alter the lake's ecosystem, including adding fuel to harmful algal blooms which produce toxins that can do damage to animals and to people.
In Vermont this summer, Burlington issued a record number of beach closures on Lake Champlain due to blooms of slimy-looking blue-green algae. Towns in southern Quebec have seen disruptions to their water supply in the past.
"We got started in [Lake] Champlain because we had dogs dying," said Professor Gregory Boyer, a biochemistry researcher on the other side of the border, at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He helped start a monitoring program for algal blooms in Lake Champlain more than a decade ago.
"In defense of farmers," he said, there are other contributors worsening outbreaks across the region. "We are really starting to see changes in our water quality due to climate change, due to more people buying lake houses."
But nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus that are used in fertilizer draining into lakes is one of the most straight-forward factors to address, he said, which is why programs in multiple jurisdictions work with farmers to change practices and government subsidies are available to underwrite them.
Genest-Richard, of the watershed association consults with about 100 farmers, but one of the shining examples of best practices locally is the Pigeon Hill Winery, run by Manon Rousseau with her husband Kevin Shufelt.
"There's a lot of experimentation to be done," Rousseau said.
To minimize environmental impact, Pigeon Hill uses sheep for weed management and introduced chickens who eat pests, and unfortunately sometimes grapes. "As soon as the grapes start tasting good," she said.
Grass is allowed to grow right to the base of the vines and rows are set perpendicular to the slope of the field.
"When you compare this place to other vineyards," said Genest-Richard, "the soil in between the rows is kept in place by all the vegetation."
Every farmer, says Genest-Richard, uses a different combination of practices, but none are unaware of their impact on the local environment.
"It's not because they pollute, that they want to pollute," he noted. "In an ideal world, every farmer would not cause any negative consequences to their environment, they depend on it."
