The Department stresses pollution prevention rather than pollution management to reduce toxic materials in Lake Champlain. Approximately 188,000 people, or 32 percent of Vermonters and New Yorkers living in the Lake Champlain Basin, depend on the lake for their drinking water. By drinking untreated lake water, people can become infected with pathogens such as giardia and cryptosporidium, which can cause gastrointestinal sickness. Public drinking water facilities filter and chlorinate water to eliminate these pathogens. These organisms pose the greatest threat to the users of private water systems, who may drink untreated water, and to swimmers who may accidentally swallow water.
Municipal beaches are sometimes closed due to high pathogen counts in the waters.
The number of beach closings should soon decline because Vermont has an ongoing program to separate stormwater lines from sewer lines, eliminating the flow of raw sewage into the lake during major storms. In 1990, there were 57 combined sewer overflow systems in 14 Vermont communities along Lake Champlain. The Lake Champlain Basin is an area of great natural diversity supporting many kinds of plants, animals, and natural communities. Together, this physical environment and the living organisms comprise a lake ecosystem with complex interrelationships, many of which are poorly understood. The continuing health of the Lake Champlain ecosystem will have a large impact on the region's economy and Vermonters' use and enjoyment of the lake's natural resources.