Water Report - 2015

We continue water sampling on our pond in cooperation with the NH State Department of Environmental Services (DES) Volunteer Lake Assessment Program (VLAP).   We do testing once each month during June, July, and August, one with the state’s participation.  A two page report on our pond and a much longer report on the lakes in our region, including data on Thorndike Pond, is available at the DES website at the link shown on the bottom of the page.

The single most important measurement is total phosphorous and for this Thorndike Pond is characterized in the report as “slightly bad” but levels have been stable for the past two decades and are at about at the state average. 

Water clarity is one of the most apparent measurements to residents.  For Thorndike Pond water clarity varies between readings but is about at the state average and has been improving slightly.  The reading taken in June of 2014 was 2.9M, slightly worse than last year’s average.

pH measurements continue to show that our pond is “slightly” acidic and reported to be “lower than desirable”, but is not much different from the state average.  It is the result of “acid rain” and a poor neutralizing capacity of our pond attributed to our granite bedrock.  It is not a problem we can fix or one of our doing.

Jim Banghart

VLAP Coordinator for the TPCA

http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/vlap/annual_reports/2013/documents/thorndike-jaffrey.pdf