Water Report - 2017

2017 Water Report

We work with the State’s Department of Environmental Services on their Volunteer Lake Assessment Program. They have a great new link which you can go to to get results from any lake in the state.  Do a search on “Lake Information Mapper” and then find the lake you want on the map. 

We sample the lake water three times a year, once each in the months of June, July, and August.  The state participates in one of those samplings and takes additional information using equipment they have.  We sample at 5 locations: the two major inlets, the outlet at the dam, and at two different depths at the deep spot near Maxwell/Hamlin. 

The beaches at the two camps and the town beach are also checked for E-coli, once a month, outside of the VLAP program.  The measurements at the beaches were the same as last year, very good at the camps but slightly bad at the town beach.

Of the seven measurements made on the water samples three were rated as slightly bad, the others were all good.

• pH is the most problematic measurement because not only are we rated slightly bad, but the trend in recent years has been to get worse.  Last year it actually got slightly better.  This acidity is common in NH lakes, caused by a combination of acid rain and poor Acid Neutralizing Capacity attributed of our granite base.  The state average is 6.6 and the threshold for slightly bad is 6.5, we are at 6.3 at our worst, what they key off.  The lowest readings are at the inlets and the best are at the outlets, so I conclude it is not a problem of our making we just have to deal with the water we are given.
• Phosphorus: the state average is 12 ug/L and we measured 12 and 22 at the two inlets, 8 at both deep spots and 6 at the outlet.  High levels are common in stagnant water like that feeding into the lake.  The fact that it is better than the state average in the middle and gets even better as it leaves indicates to me that we don’t have properties on the pond that are hurting the pond with failed septic systems of fertilizing.
• Chlorophyll: the state average is 4.58 mg/m³, and we are at 3.49 so better than the state average, even though worse than we want to be.

This year, as part of the VLAP program we can and will voluntarily add testing for Cyano-Bacteria.