Hi Province Lake Community,

Unfortunately the cyanobacteria just doesn’t want to go away this year.  NH DES has issued another advisory as can be read in the official notification below.

Regards,

The PLA

Hi All,

Unfortunately, another cyanobacteria WARNING (ADVISORY) has been issued for Province Lake, Effingham/Wakefield. The bloom was first reported on 29 September and an alert was issued. Since then, we have continued to receive reports of green accumulations along shorelines, and flecks of material lake-wide. See the image attached, taken 3 October. Samples collected 3 October and reviewed today had cyanobacteria (Dolichospermum) in concentrations up to 492,400 cells/mL in areas of highest observed accumulations. Advisories are issued when cell counts exceed 70,000 cells/mL. NHDES advises lake users to not wade or swim in the water during an advisory. Please also keep pets and livestock out. The advisory is not based on a toxin evaluation and is intended as a precautionary measure for short term exposure.  

NHDES will resample in a week. I will reach out to you before then for updates. If you have information on where accumulated material is being observed at that time, please let us know to guide our sampling efforts. Advisories remain active until the bloom subsides.   

To the health officer or other official responsible for posting signs, please post our red cyanobacteria advisory signs at all public access points. Please let me know if you do not have any to post or if you need replacements.  

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.  

Best,

Kate Langley Hastings
Cyanobacteria HAB Program Coordinator
Watershed Management Bureau, Water Division
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095
603-848-8094   kate.l.hastings@des.nh.gov
she/her

Hi Province Lake Community,

Good news .. the Advisory has been lifted.  The official NH DES notification is below.

The PLA

Hi All,
The cyanobacteria WARNING (ADVISORY) that was issued on 7 September 2023 has been REMOVED for Province Lake, Effingham/Wakefield as of today 14 September 2023. The highest observed density was 8733 cells/mL. While the bloom accumulation has dissipated, NHDES advises that lake-goers look out for discoloration or surface accumulations in the future. It was slightly windy during sampling today, and after all the rain the cyanobacteria may return with several sunny days. Please continue to monitor your individual shoreline for changing conditions.

The red cyanobacteria advisory signs can now be removed from public access points.

Thank you all for your communication. If you see cyanobacteria in the future, please report it here!

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.

Best,

Kate Langley Hastings
Cyanobacteria HAB Program Coordinator
Watershed Management Bureau, Water Division
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095
603-848-8094   kate.l.hastings@des.nh.gov
she/her

Hi Folks,

Well, we at least didn’t have the advisory in effect over the long holiday weekend, but unfortunately with this warm weather, the Cynao is blooming again.  Below is the official notice from NH DES.

The PLA

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately another cyanobacteria WARNING (ADVISORY) has been issued for Province Lake, Effingham/Wakefield. The bloom was reported again yesterday, 6 September, appearing as green swirls along the surface of the water. Today when we arrived to sample, the bloom had progressed to thick yellow / green material at Ames park. See the image attached, taken today 7 September. Samples collected and reviewed today 7 September had cyanobacteria (Dolichospermum) in concentrations up to 833,335 cells/mL in areas of highest observed accumulations. Advisories are issued when cell counts exceed 70,000 cells/mL. NHDES advises lake users to not wade or swim in the water during an advisory. Please also keep pets and livestock out. The advisory is not based on a toxin evaluation and is intended as a precautionary measure for short term exposure. 

NHDES will resample in a week. I will reach out to you before then for updates. If you have information on where accumulated material is being observed at that time, please let us know to guide our sampling efforts. Advisories remain active until the bloom subsides.   

To the health officer or other official responsible for posting signs, please post our red cyanobacteria advisory signs at all public access points. Please let me know if you do not have any to post or if you need replacements.  

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.  

Best,

Kate Langley Hastings
Cyanobacteria HAB Program Coordinator
Watershed Management Bureau, Water Division
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095
603-848-8094   kate.l.hastings@des.nh.gov
she/her

Hi All,

Finally some good news and just in time for the long holiday weekend.  With the unofficial end of summer arriving this weekend, we are pleased to announce that the Cyanobacteria Advisory that has plagued us most of the summer has finally been lifted.  However, we all must still keep our eyes open as a bloom could return.  You can read the official notice from NH DES below.  Have a great Labor Day weekend.  And the weather forecast is looking wonderful.

The PLA

Hi All,  

Some good news today! The cyanobacteria WARNING (ADVISORY) that was issued on 6 July 2023 has been REMOVED for Province Lake, Effingham / Wakefield as of today 31 August 2023. It was very windy during sampling today, but with no reports of visual accumulations over the past week and today’s samples being low density, we are hopeful that the cyanobacteria density has significantly declined. While the bloom accumulation has dissipated, NHDES advises that lake-goers look out for discoloration or surface accumulations in the future. Please continue to monitor your individual shoreline for changing conditions.  

The red cyanobacteria advisory signs can now be removed from public access points. 

Thank you all for your communication. If you see cyanobacteria in the future, please report it here!  

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.  

For more information:  
Report a CyanoHAB 
Healthy Swimming Mapper 
Frequently Asked Questions

Best,

Kate Langley Hastings
Cyanobacteria HAB Program Coordinator
Watershed Management Bureau, Water Division
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095
603-848-8094   kate.l.hastings@des.nh.gov
she/her

Hi PLA Community,

Not surprisingly, the Cyanobacteria Advisory will remain in effect.  The notification from NH DES is below.

The PLA

Hi Everyone,

Province Lake was resampled today, 23 August 2023. Unfortunately, the cyanobacteria density continues to exceed the state limit of 70,000 cell/mL, so the advisory will remain active. Samples ranged from 350,800 – 2,800, however out of the six samples four were above the advisory level. Please keep signs posted at public access points. NHDES will arrange for sampling again next week. If people ask for updates on the current cyanobacteria advisory status, please direct them to the Healthy Swimming Mapper. If you click on the advisory symbol, you can see our most recent sampling date. When advisories are lifted, the red symbol for the waterbody will no longer be on the map.  

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.   Best,

Kate Langley Hastings
Cyanobacteria HAB Program Coordinator
Watershed Management Bureau, Water Division
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095
603-848-8094   kate.l.hastings@des.nh.gov
she/her

The Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA) recently worked with the Silver Hill Homeowners Association to complete shoreline erosion work along Bonnyman Road.

These projects reduce shoreline erosion into the lake, helping to prevent additional phosphorous loading (which contributes to cyanobacteria blooms).

Great work and thank you to all of those involved!

Should your property have an erosion issue, contact AWWA for a free technical assistance assessment. https://awwatersheds.org/

Hi All,

Province Lake was resampled today, 17 August 2023. The cyanobacteria density continues to exceed the state limit of 70,000 cell/mL, so the advisory will remain active. The samples ranged from 180,400 – 11,400 cells/mL, however most were in the 100,000 cells/mL range. Please keep signs posted at public access points. NHDES will arrange for sampling again next week. If people ask for updates on the current cyanobacteria advisory status, please direct them to the Healthy Swimming Mapper. If you click on the advisory symbol, you can see our most recent sampling date. When advisories are lifted, the red symbol for the waterbody will no longer be on the map.  

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.  

Hi All,

Unfortunately the Cyanobacteria Advisory remains in effect.  Below is the note from Kate at NH DES.

The PLA

Province Lake was resampled today, 10 August 2023. Unfortunately, the cyanobacteria density continues to exceed the state limit of 70,000 cell/mL, so the advisory will remain active. The cyanobacteria density has decreased from last week. Samples ranged from 110,400 cells/mL – 1,800 cells/mL, though most were around 40,000 cells/mL. Please keep signs posted at public access points. NHDES will arrange for sampling again next week. If people ask for updates on the current cyanobacteria advisory status, please direct them to the Healthy Swimming Mapper. If you click on the advisory symbol, you can see our most recent sampling date. When advisories are lifted, the red symbol for the waterbody will no longer be on the map.  

Please forward this email to other residents / community members who need this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up through this form to be directly included on future communications from NHDES. If you prefer to no longer receive these sampling updates, simply respond, and indicate “unsubscribe”.  

For more information:  
Report a CyanoHAB 
Healthy Swimming Mapper  
Frequently Asked Questions

Best,

Kate Langley Hastings
Cyanobacteria HAB Program Coordinator
Watershed Management Bureau, Water Division
New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
29 Hazen Drive, P.O. Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095
603-848-8094   kate.l.hastings@des.nh.gov
she/her

Hello Province Lake Community,

I think I speak for everyone when I say that being under a Cyanobacteria Advisory for this long is very frustrating.  This summer’s weather with repeated heavy downpours has made this year especially bad at our relatively shallow lake.

One of our members was kind enough to gather all of this information about Cyanobacteria Blooms and what we can all do to make our lake less prone to them.

When we reduce phosphorus we reduce the nutrients that contribute to Cyanobacteria Blooms.  In the link below, please read and share this information with friends and neighbors.

Thanks,

Jim Aiken
Province Lake Association 

Cyanobacteria Prevention

The minutes that were taken at the annual meeting on July 22, 2023 are now available on the website at the link below.

We hope you find them informational and we hope to see more of you next year.

2023 Annual Minutes