Province Lake Association

Effingham, NH – Wakefield, NH – So. Parsonsfield, ME

Province Lake Association

CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT – AUGUST 23, 2023

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

AWWA & SILVER HILL HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION HELP SLOW EROSION

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/

CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT – AUGUST 17, 2023

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”.  

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

CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT – AUGUST 10, 2023

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

CYANOBACTERIA BLOOMS / CAUSES / WHAT CAN WE DO

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

CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT – AUGUST 3RD, 2023

Province Lake was resampled today, 3 August 2023. The cyanobacteria density continues to exceed the state limit of 70,000 cell/mL, so the advisory will remain active. Cell densities from five different sampling locations ranged from 12,600 to 1,268,000 cells/mL. The primary taxa present is Dolichospermum. There are now two species of Dolichospermum blooming. Previous to this week there was only one. While some areas had lower density, my sampler today said she visually observed cyanobacteria at every location she sampled. At the lower density sites it appears as flecks in the water, at the higher density areas it is a visible bloom / scum. See the picture attached taken today. 

This re-occurrence of even higher densities of cyanobacteria after last week’s low values collected during a significant rain event, demonstrates why we do not close advisories when samples are not collected under representative conditions. Advisories are lifted when the bloom passes. This is determined by having no significant reports of continued blooms during the week before sampling, and the cell count declines below 40,000 cells/mL. The samples also need to be collected under representative conditions – this does not include rainy or extremely windy days. When it is windy or rainy the cyanobacteria get physically mixed back into the water column and we cannot reliably determine if they are persisting at unsafe levels in the water. These are the protocols we use for all lakes across the state.   

I understand that folks are frustrated with this long advisory. I am doing my job to protect public health by providing this information. The consequences of cyanotoxin exposure can vary from dermal, eye, nose and mouth irritations, gastrointestinal symptoms, tingling, numbness and seizures, and in serious cases organ failure and death. That being said, NHDES does not close waterbodies. If you chose to swim or wade in the waterbody during an advisory the risk will not be zero, but it will be higher in areas where you can see flecks, discoloration, clouds of material in the water, or ribbons of surface accumulations. Cyanobacteria blooms are dynamic. The cyanobacteria grow lake wide and pile up on different shorelines based on wind, wave, boat action and lake morphology. It is important to do a careful visual inspection of the water prior to recreating, even if there is no active advisory or alert. The variation in cyanobacteria densities from the five locations today demonstrates how dynamic bloom events are. We cannot perfectly characterize the risk around a waterbody. We do our best to sample as much as we can, but these are challenging and dynamic events to characterize as they can change hour to hour and day to day. If there is a single sample from a waterbody above the advisory level, there is enough cyanobacteria present in the system to potentially cause acute health risks to people and pets. 

As homeowners on the water, you can take some steps to prevent cyanobacteria blooms in the future. Province lake has a watershed management plan already, and you can check in with the lake association to see how the implementation process is going. Get involved if you can. Please also be aware of the Shoreland Protection Act, and its restrictions on the use of fertilizers along the shoreline. Properly maintain your household septic system, getting it inspected and pumped regularly. Maintain a buffer of natural vegetation on the water edge to filter it before it enters the waterbody. For more information about actions homeowners can take to minimize nutrient runoff into the lake, check out NH LAKES’s LakeSmart Resource Library. You can also participate in their free, voluntary, non-regulatory LakeSmart Program, where a qualified professional will come out to your property and walk through ways you could better protect lake health through decisions you make on your property. Check out Soak Up the Rain program from NHDES for projects to address any storm water run off from your property. 

We at NHDES are working on a statewide strategic cyanobacteria plan. A great deal of this plan will focus on the development and implementation of watershed management plans, so Province lake is already a step ahead in having one written already. You can follow the progress of this plan by visiting this webpage. This has been a record breaking year for cyanobacteria across the state – this is related to the fact that this is one of the hottest seasons on record. Cyanobacteria grow better in warmer temperatures, and benefit from increased nutrients from all the storm water runoff we have had this year as well. Unfortunately, climate change will continue to increase the cyanobacteria problem globally. 

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 theHealthy 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

CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT – JULY 27, 2023

Hi All,

NH DES tested again today and unfortunately decided not to lift the Advisory.  See official notice below ….

Province Lake was resampled today, 27 July 2023. The cyanobacteria density was low in all samples, however it was pouring during sampling so these are not representative samples. Folks reported continued bloom conditions to varying degrees around the lake earlier this week, so the advisory will remain active. 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.  

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

CYANOBACTERIA ADVISORY STILL IN EFFECT – JULY 20th, 2023

PLA Members,

Please see the message below from the NH DES. Unfortunately, our cyanobacteria advisory remains in effect:

“Province Lake was resampled today, 20 July 2023. The cyanobacteria density continues to exceed the state limit of 70,000 cell/mL, so the advisory will remain active. Sample densities ranged from 7,600 cells/mL to 118,399 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.”
Regards,
The PLA Board