NEWPORT — The Memphremagog Watershed Association (MWA) recently announced the completion of the design for a largescale stormwater remediation project.
Located on Lake Road on what is now known as the Numia property adjacent to the Newport Marine Services, the project is designed to reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment entering the lake.
During rainstorms, untreated stormwater runoff from both Memphremagog Views and the former Bogner property come down the hills and directly enter the lake.
Over the years the sediment build-up has affected Marina operations, but it also carries with it phosphorus and other contaminants that harm the water quality of Lake Memphremagog.
When installed, the project will eliminate an estimated 19.8 lbs of phosphorus from entering our lake every year.
With the grant funding, MWA hired Watershed Consulting Associates (WCA) to design a stormwater retrofit to address this problem.
Having analyzed various sites and technical options, the most cost-effective site and design were selected.
The gravel wetland system is a low-impact stormwater design that uses chambers to filter out and remove sediment and phosphorus before they enter the lake.
Additionally, it will discharge the treated runoff away from the Marina operations.
MWA says implementing this project will be a major step forward for mitigating phosphorus runoff from a large, developed area in the city, and represents a successful public-private partnership for achieving shared water quality goals.
The City of Newport and MWA will be working together to identify funding sources to move forward to the construction phase of this project.
Pending funding, this project could be installed by the fall of 2021.
“The quality of the State of Vermont’s stormwater discharge has been an ever-growing concern within recent years,” said Thomas Bernier, Director of Public Works for Newport City. “Their implementation of new permits and standards for stormwater makes it very clear. We are also actively investigating improvements to other stormwater discharge sites from the city’s collection system.”
