The Province Lake Watershed survey update is now available on the website at the below link. The ground work survey activity was completed in the spring of 2025 being led by AWWA with the assistance of many PLA volunteers as well as technical experts. Letter’s have been mailed to all households that have erosion issues. Home owners who receive a letter are encouraged to contact AWWA to set up a site visit to discuss best practices to implement to help curb the erosion. There are no requirements for this, but the PLA strongly recommends action be taken.
Author Archives: Jon Samuelson
2025 WATER QUALITY REPORT NOW AVAILABLE
The 2025 water quality report that is created from the sampling the PLA does through out the year with UNH is now available at this link …. 2025 WQ Report
2026 ANNUAL MEETING PRE-READ MATERIAL
Hi All,
We hope you all are enjoying the nice summer we are having, although we could use some rain. This is just a quick note to first remind everyone that the Annual Meeting will be on August 8, 2026 at 9am-noon at Edge Lake Farm. The agenda is in the link below.
In addition, there will be a few items to vote on at the meeting. First, we will have a vote on the Officers & Directors of the PLA for the upcoming year. A short bio on each person being voted on is in the link below. Second, we will vote to approve the minutes from last year’s meeting. Those minutes can be viewed on the website at this link …. https://provincelake.org/news-2/annual-meeting-minutes/
As a reminder, only members can vote on things. If you haven’t joined yet, you can at the meeting or in advance at this link on our website … https://provincelake.org/about/membership/
Mark your calendars and if you haven’t already, please join the association. Many of you from last year have not renewed yet. You can check if you have on our website or reply to this email and we will let you know.
Regards,
The PLA
PROVINCE LAKE COMMUNITY BREAKFAST IS BACK.
Come join us on July 5, 2026 for a community breakfast at Nutter Farm from 8 to 11. Suggested donation is $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12. Cash or check at the event or pay in advance via PayPal by filling in the form at the link below.
Nutter Farm is at the corner of Bailey Road and Rte 153.
RTE 153 BEACH PLANTING PHASE 2 – JUNE 30, 2026
Hi All,
As most of you are aware, we have been awarded some grant monies to place a vegetative buffer along 600 feet of the beach on Rte 153. This buffer helps reduce pollutants from getting into the lake. We completed 300 feet of this last year and will finish the rest this year.
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!
See the flyer below on timing and how to volunteer. Please consider joining some of your fellow lake goers and come and help for any amount of time that you are able to on June 30th.
Regards,
The PLA
https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/planting-volunteers-wanted-2026.pdf
LOON EGG ANALYSIS
Province Lake Community,
As-per our previous email dated November 5th, the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) had analyzed non-viable loon eggs from nesting areas on the lake and had found elevated levels of contaminants (PCBs, Chlordane).
Both PCBs and Chlordane are “forever chemicals” – once they enter the environment, they do not break down (even after decades).
PCBs were used in many industrial processes. However, once their environmental and health impacts were known they were banned for most uses in 1978. You can read more about PCBs here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_biphenyl
Similarly, Chlordane was used as a pesticide until it was banned in 1988 after its environmental and health impacts were determined. You can read more about Chlordane here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlordane
It is currently unclear why Province Lake would have higher than expected levels of these long-banned chemicals.
At the below link, please find a copy of the LPC’s press release regarding these results. Elevated levels were also found at Pool Pond, in Rindge NH.
The LPC’s recommendation is that tests be performed on fish from the lake, as the loon egg testing is a good bioindicator of what may be happening in other species.
This work has yet to be scheduled or performed. Individuals will need to make an informed personal decision about whether it is safe to consume fish from the lake.
Kind regards,
The Province Lake Board
CYANOBACTERIA WARNING LIFTED – SEPTEMBER 23, 2025
Hi Folks,
Well, the cyanobacteria warning for Province Lake has been lifted. The water has been looking quite good lately. See details from DES below.
Regards,
The PLA
———- Forwarded message ———
From: DES: Harmful Algal Bloom Program<DES.HAB@des.nh.gov>
Date: Tue, Sep 23, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Cyanobacteria WARNING REMOVED – Province Lake
To: DES: Harmful Algal Bloom Program <DES.HAB@des.nh.gov>
Hi all,
The cyanobacteria warning at your waterbody has been REMOVED, please see below for details.
| Waterbody | Province Lake, Effingham/Wakefield |
| Status | WARNING |
| Issued | 8/13/2025 |
| Removed | 9/23/2025 |
| Notes | There have been no reports of bloom conditions. Additionally, NHDES staff visited Province Lake on 9/22/25 and no bloom conditions were observed. There were very low levels of cyanobacteria present in three samples that were collected, which are representative of background levels. Please report through the Bloom Report Form if you bloom conditions reappear. |
Please visit the Healthy Swimming Mapper for the most current information about bloom location, status, and severity.
NHDES advises lake users to not swim in or near the vicinity of where bloom material is visible. Please also keep pets and livestock out of areas where bloom material is observed. It is suggested that local authorities post the 2025 cyanobacteria sign at public access points while a warning is in place to alert the public of current conditions.
Please forward this email to other residents / community members who may benefit from this information. If they would like to be added to the email distribution list, please have them sign up 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,
The CyanoHAB Team
Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Bloom Program
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 hab@des.nh.gov
LOON UPDATE FOR PROVINCE LAKE
Hello Province Lake Community,
Our Loon Ranger, Donna Luce, has been in contact with Caroline Hughes of the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC), and received some biological updates on the loons in the lake. As you are aware, they came on August 13 to band any of the loons they could get. During that banding, they were able to band 2 of the juveniles, one from the island family and one from the Hobbs Brook family. We originally stated that those were Taylor and Hobbs. However, we have now been informed that the juveniles that were banded are both female. As such, that means that Taylor and Brook were tagged. We had thought that Brook was the one that did not survive from the Hobbs Brook family, but it seems that it was Hobbs that did not survive.
That same evening, they also took blood samples from the loons. Caroline also shared the following message in regards to the health of the loons …
“From the preliminary blood work, all of your loons seem to be in good shape! In addition to the preliminary health checks that we have already run, your loons’ blood will be used in our malaria study. It may also be used in our cyanobacteria study, and in collaborating organizations’ environmental contaminants study. We will be glad to report any further results to you as we receive them, but it will likely be several months.”
That’s all for now and we will keep you posted.
Regards,
The PLA for our Loon Ranger
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO HELP THE PLA
Hello fellow lake lovers. We STILL need you.
Although the unofficial end to summer has passed, there is still time for those who have not joined the PLA to join for this year. We run our membership on a calendar year basis, so a donation can be made anytime between Jan and Dec.
These past 4 weeks have been a tough time, with the Cyano bloom curtailing most of our recreational lake activities. But, …your lake association continues it’s work to try to make those blooms become a thing of the past.* Working with AWWA and several volunteers, the first 300 foot segment of a vegetated buffer for erosion control along Rt 153 is complete. The next 300 feet will be done in 2026.* Another beach cleanup is complete, preventing that trash from entering the lake.* The Lake Host inspectors have concluded their season.* We are awaiting State reimbursement on one grant, and are actively working to hire an engineering firm to analyze and propose solutions to reduce run-off of sediment from the major tributaries.* The results of the spring watershed survey will be available soon and we will then target the largest phosphorus contributing areas for mitigation.* We will be reaching out to NH Lakes Association and NH-DES for suggestions on what we as a lake community can do.* There is an upcoming septic system survey being prepared.
The larger the PLA membership list is, – the more impact we can have when reaching out for assistance and advice.
It is disappointing that of the approximately 540 names we have on our contact list, only 160 have joined or about 30%. Also, although we have gained 11 new members this year, we also have lost 11 from last year as our membership is exactly at where we ended 2024. Many of you have been members in the past. Can we get you back? As you know, we also are always looking for volunteers. Many folks aren’t able to devote their time, which we understand, but a great alternative is to join the PLA. It is a small price ($25 for the basic membership) to say you are at least doing your part to help. Also, your donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
You can find information on how to join at this link .. https://provincelake.org/about/membership/
For those who have already joined, thank you. You can verify your membership by viewing the membership page on our website or replying to this email and asking.
Thanks in advance for your support.
Regards,
Jon Samuelson
VP & Membership Chair
CYANOBACTERIA WARNING REMAINS – SEPTEMBER 10, 2025
Hi All,
DES sampled the lake again on Tuesday and informed us late yesterday that the Warning remains in effect. They didn’t supply a lot of information other than that they sampled several spots and the counts were again too high to even count.
As we always warn .. if it looks bad, stay out.
Regards,
The PLA