The meeting presentation from the January 18, 2014 Watershed Action Planning meeting and the resultant draft action plan are posted below in PDF format.  We are looking for questions/comments/recommendations etc. from any and all that read these.  Since we are looking to finalize the action plan and keep the planning process moving forward we request that any comments etc. be sent to president@provincelake.org no later than Friday the 7th of March 2014.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and interest in helping to protect our lake.

The Watershed Steering Committee

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The survey results of the Watershed Survey conducted on May 18, 2013 and the survey results of the Septic Survey conducted on August 24, 2013 have been completed and are linked below for your reading pleasure.  The Watershed Survey also includes a Summary document which is a short 2 pager.

The full text versions of both have some very good information about the watershed and the lake and both are a pretty easy and short read.

Enjoy and should you have any questions, you can e-mail us at PLAwatershed@provincelake.org or call us at 207-200-3234.

Province Lake Watershed Survey Report       

Province Lake Survey Summary Sheet 2013

Province Lake Septic Survey Final Report

The Province Lake Association (PLA) in conjunction with the Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA), FB Environmental Associates and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NH DES) will hold a Province Lake Watershed Action Planning Meeting on Saturday January 18, 2014 from 9 am to noon (registration at 8:30) at the Greater Wakefield Resource Center, 254 Main Street, Union, NH. Forrest Bell and Jen Jespersen from FB Environmental Associates will present a summary of our Watershed Management Plan which includes the results from the Watershed and Septic Surveys conducted this past summer. More importantly – we would like to gather your input about what you think the critical components are to incorporate into the plan as we move towards the future of protecting Province Lake.
This meeting is the next phase of work resulting from a watershed assistance grant awarded by NH DES to the PLA. The end result will be a management plan for the Province Lake watershed. Once the plan is complete, future grant funds will be available to support local projects for the implementation of the recommended action items.
Community leaders from the three towns surrounding Province Lake (Effingham, NH, Wakefield, NH and Parsonsfield, ME) are encouraged to participate. A key to local economic vitality (including property values and tourism) is clean water. Having the perspectives of the community decision makers is essential to creating a useful and relevant document that will help guide future planning decisions relating to protecting the water quality of Province Lake. The best and most effective plans are those with the most community input.
All interested community members are encouraged to lend their voice to this process. Please share this invitation with your friends, neighbors and/or other interested parties. Snacks and lunch will be provided. To facilitate our planning, we request that you please RSVP by calling the Province Lake Association at 207 200-3234 or e-mail to president@provincelake.org . Additional information regarding the Watershed Plan can be found on the this website.

If you were around the lake on the 3rd of September in the afternoon, you may be asking why were there 3 pontoon boats tied together and anchored in the middle of the lake and who are all those college age people with orange life jackets on those boats?  Before we answer those questions, we at the PLA need to first give a huge thank you to fellow members Bill Brady, Mary McLoughlin, Laurie Grenier, and Marion & Tony Chouinard for the use of their pontoon boats.  Bill & Mary and Laurie just gave us the keys to use their boats and Marion actually also volunteered her time to pilot her boat … THANK YOU!

Now for those questions … The answer is quite simple … the boats were carrying about 10 UNH students, 2 UNH professors, 2 UNH teaching assistant as well as representatives from the PLA, AWWA and NH DES.  The UNH attendees were all part of Dr. Jim Haney’s and Dr. Alan Baker’s  Field Limnology class and they were gathering samples and doing all sorts of tests on Province Lake.

Dr. Haney instructs a student on how to conduct a test.

The students worked diligently on completing tests while at the lake as well as gathering samples for further analysis back at the UNH labs.  They were testing for Total phosphorus, lake water microcystin toxins, Chlorophyll-a, phytoplankton and zooplankton, dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity, Secchi disk depth, tissue analysis of mussels and fish, and they took a core sample of the lake bottom.  I am sure there were other things also being tested for.  All of this data will be used first for the students and their course requirements, but will also be supplied to the PLA so we can in turn use the data in the Watershed Management Plan modeling that is being conducted by FB Environmental.  This was a great opportunity for the lake and we thank Dr.’s Haney and Baker for using our lake as part of their studies.  Following are photo’s from the day … and more photo’s can be seen in the Photo’s section of the website.

Dr. Baker assists students in reading the results.

Teaching Assistant Jon Dufresne explains how to get the next sample.

Dr. Haney reads the results.

Dr. Haney prepares the YSI Multiprobe.

Dr. Haney explains the gravity sediment corer.

Back to the Davis’ to collect mussels and other interesting stuff!

Part of the Watershed Plan that the Province Lake Association is coordinating includes gathering information about house/camp septic systems.  A mailing of a septic survey went out in late July followed by a volunteer walk on the 24th of August to help fill in some of the ones that were missing.

We at the PLA would first like to thank all of those volunteers that walked up and down the area roads meeting people and completing surveys for those that were not mailed in or completed on-line.  We also would like to thank all of those who took the time and effort to complete a survey either before or during the August 24th walk.  We received 220 surveys, which is about 70% of the possible ones we could have received.  That is a HUGE success and again, thank you!

As anyone within 250 feet of the lake or a tributary should be aware, by completing the survey, you were entered into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate to Mulligans Woodfire Tavern at Province Lake Golf.

We at the PLA are pleased to announce that the winners of the gift certificate are JOHN & MARION QUIGLEY on Bailey Road …. CONGRATULATIONS!

Carl Davis Presents Gift Certificate to the Quigley’s

Don’t forget, if you want to stay informed on what is going on with the Association, the Watershed Plan, etc., the fastest and best way is to be a member and become part of the membership e-mail distribution.  Just click the Donate button now or complete a paper membership form and mail a check to us.  You can also stay posted at the website and on facebook.

If you were attending the annual meeting, you will be aware that FB Environmental gave the audience a very detailed update on the watershed management plan.  The presentation that they did can be viewed here:

Watershed Plan Update July 20 2013