Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission Supports Completion of Water Quality Improvement Projects
Beebe Lane at Lake Iroquois improved to reduce phosphorus runoff
By Dan Albrecht
Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC)
The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), in its role as the Clean Water Service Provider (CWSP) for the Northern Lake Champlain Basin, recently supported completion of two new projects in Chittenden County in 2025 to reduce phosphorus runoff into Lake Champlain.
CCRPC provided 100 percent of the needed funds for a stream restoration project at the Wolcott Family Natural Area in Colchester managed by the Winooski Valley Parks District (WVPD).
The CCRPC also contributed some funds for improvements to Beebe Lane, which provides access to the public beach on Lake Iroquois, a project primarily funded via a Congressionally directed EPA Community Grant obtained by the Lake Iroquois Recreation District.
The funds provided by the CCRPC came from a Water Quality Restoration Formula Grant to the CCRPC provided by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Clean Water Initiative Program. It is worth emphasizing that the projects could not have been constructed without private and municipal landowners granting access and long-term agreements for operations and maintenance of the projects.
The projects funded used a variety of new and old technologies to reduce sediment and phosphorus erosion from the landscape. The Wolcott Family Natural Area stream restoration project used a new concept called “beaver dam analogs” to slow stream flow. The improvements at Beebe Lane consist of tried-and-true gravel road stormwater treatment practices such as cross-culverts, grass lines swales and ditch turnouts.
Since receiving its first Formula Grant from DEC in late 2022, in addition to construction grants, the CWSP has also worked with its Water Quality Council to fund the scoping and design of numerous other non-regulatory water quality projects by other key partners such as the Grand Isle County Natural Resources Conservation District, the Town of North Hero, the Lewis Creek Association, the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, the Vermont Land Trust and the Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District. Several new projects are planned for construction in 2026 including two shoreline stabilization projects, two stream restoration projects and one large stormwater pond project.
For more information please visit www.ccrpcvt.org and https://www.ccrpcvt.org/northern-lake-champlain-cwsp/.