LCSG’s BLUE Stormwater Program Recognized with GMWEA Service Excellence Award
Lake Champlain Sea Grant has been leading the BLUE Stormwater program in Burlington, Vermont for 3 years in collaboration with the City of Burlington, Fitzgerald Environmental Associates, Just Water Consulting, and UVM. Starting in 2024, BLUE expanded to also offer services in Williston, Vermont.
This year, the program was recognized with a Green Mountain Water Environment Association (GMWEA) Service Excellence Award. Founded in 1994, GMWEA is a nonprofit membership organization that supports Vermont's drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater sectors. The Stormwater Award was presented to the BLUE team at the 2025 Annual Spring Meeting in Killington, Vermont.
"We work with residents to find custom stormwater solutions that work for them,” said Michelle, Land Use & Water Quality Educator and BLUE coordinator, “We try to find win-win solutions that keep water onsite that may also help prevent erosion, pooling, or basement issues.”
The BLUE program is unique in that it offers free consultations with residents on their properties, then shares site-specific recommendations for ways to manage stormwater from rooftops and driveways. Some of these recommendations include: dry wells, swales, permeable driveways and patios, and rain gardens. The BLUE team also develops many resources for residents including the detailed design guidance for residential stormwater management practices, plant lists for different soil moisture and sunlight conditions, and StoryMaps.
Since 2022, the BLUE program has conducted over 250 educational site visits and recommendations leading to more than 30 residential stormwater management installations. The program has provided more than $32,000 in rebates to residents who installed projects that cumulatively treat 23,500 square feet of impervious area.
“I’m happy to say that our basement is dry! We now have a new driveway that allows water to seep into the ground as well as new gutters that direct water away from the house and toward our gardens,” said Marielle, a Burlington resident who installed a rain barrel and permeable paver driveway in 2024.
Areas like driveways, roofs, and sidewalks don’t soak up water like natural areas, leading to excess, nutrient and sediment-rich water either pooling on the property or flowing into waterways as runoff. Residential GSI practices help store and filter stormwater that would otherwise flow directly to Lake Champlain and its tributaries as runoff or pool onsite.