Lake Champlain Sea Grant and partners host Flood Resilience Workshop for Franklin County, Vermont

In January of 2024, Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s Hazard Resilience Team partnered with Northwest Regional Planning Commission, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, Missisquoi River Basin Association, Franklin County Natural Resource Conservation District and Friends of Northern Lake Champlain to host a flood resilience workshop for Franklin County municipal officials. There were 17 attendees from towns throughout the county. The program included exploration of river dynamics using the flume table – a river modeling tool – and a floodplain mapping activity.

Lake Champlain Sea Grant and The Nature Conservancy led the flume table portion of the program. Participants explored how rivers behave and respond to human impact through observation, inquiry, and a hands-on building activity. A participant shared, “it was a really valuable and informative experience! It was also great to connect with other community members in my area of service.” 

As Lake Champlain basin communities continue to recover from this past year’s floods, flood resilience is top of mind for many residents. Municipal officials have an important role to play in building their communities flood resilience. Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s Hazard Resilience Team is excited to create more opportunities for flood resilience education with municipal officials.  

Interested in having a similar program in your community? Reach out to Lake Champlain Sea Grant’s Flood Resilience Educator, Sarah Noyes spnoyes [at] uvm.edu, to learn more.