This is part 1 of a 4 part story of the 2 loon chicks that successfully hatched and fledged here on Province Lake. This was documented by one of our PLA Board members and co-Loon watcher Thom Townsend.
https://provincelake.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/28-Days-on-a-Nest-section-1.pdf
Hello PLA Membership,
Below is a link to another Advisory from NHDES regarding the stubborn bloom we are experiencing on Province Lake.
Hoping this goes away soon,
Jim Aiken
PLA
Unfortunately we are still seeing sporadic localized blooms at Province Lake and NH DES has reissued a local alert.
They write …
Hi All,
Province Lake has continued to have sporadic cyanobacteria blooms since NHDES lifted the advisory on 9/21/22. I am issuing a local alert, going into effect today, 10/3/22 to keep residents aware of the situation. Cyanobacteria bloom conditions can change rapidly, so it is best to be on the watch for developing conditions. Please see the attached alert document. NHDES will resample if bloom conditions persist on the water long enough for samples to be representative of current conditions.
This is not an official cyanobacteria advisory, and signs do not need to be posted. I will be in contact again if conditions change, and an official advisory is issued.
Please forward to other residents / community members around the waterbody, and provide me with any contacts (first and last names, and emails) of folks who would want to be directly included on future communications from NHDES.
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 PLA Members,
Recent NHDES testing found that Province Lake did not have any measurable bloom forming cyanobacteria present and decided to lift the cyanobacteria advisory today. While that news was welcome our members have continued to see sporadic visual signs of a cyanobacteria bloom as recent as today 9/21/22. We will be taking the red cyanobacteria warning signs down but NHDES guidance is to not go into the water if visual signs of a bloom are present. It is particularly important to keep dogs and children out of the water when a bloom is observed.
The official press release can be read here.
Thank you,
Jim Aiken
PLA
Hi All,
A cyanobacteria advisory has been issued by NH DES for Province Lake as of late on September 7, 2022. The official press release is attached below. There also is an info poster attached for your reference. You all need to use caution and make your own determinations on whether to recreate in the lake. DES will sample again in a week to see if the advisory will stay in place. The picture below is from this morning Sept 8.
A question was raised at the annual meeting about all the Canadian Geese on the lake and if anything can be done or is being done by the PLA or Province Lake Golf to help minimize them. Unfortunately, like ducks, the Canadian Goose is a protected migratory bird and can only be hunted with a hunting license and stamp during the normal hunting season or with a Fedreal permit. So, the short answer is that the PLA or golf course isn’t actively doing anything.
There are several things that we can do without a license or permit such as ….
DON’T FEED THEM!
Scare them off with loud noises.
Block their view of lawns
As part of the PLA’s mission we are to educate and communicate with our members and community information for the well being of the lake and the habitat of the lake. As such, attached are a couple of documents for your reading pleasure that explains these majestic birds and things that can be done. One is from NH DES and one from NH Lakes. Note that most of this applies to ducks as well as they can cause water quality issues.
Enjoy!
The PLA
The 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes and the Audit Report for fiscal year 2021 are now available on the website. Click on the “News and Important Info” tab above and then choose the “PLA Annual Meeting Minutes” from the drop down.
Enjoy!
The PLA
Hi All,
As you all should be aware, the Province Lake Association Annual Meeting will take place this coming Saturday the 23rd of July at 9:00 am at the Edge Lake Farm over at the golf course.
There will be a few items requiring a vote of the members. Remember, you must be a member to vote. So if you haven’t joined yet, you can join at the meeting itself. On a couple of the items, we felt we should give you information in advance to read. Those items are as follows:
The first item is for the Officers and Directors of the organization. All the officer terms and several board member terms are expiring and need to be renewed or replaced. In addition, we have a few open board positions we are proposing to fill. We thought it would be helpful if we were to send some information about each nominee so that you have a feel for who they are. As such below is a link to brief bios of all those to be voted on at the meeting. Nominees from the floor will also be considered at the meeting and should be prepared to discuss why they would like to be on the board etc..
The second item to be voted on is the approval of last years (2021) annual meeting minutes. You can review those before the meeting on our website at this link …… https://provincelake.org/news-2/annual-meeting-minutes/ They are the top bullet on the website page.
That’s it for now. Hope to see you there.
The PLA
We have several events for your calendar.
Our Annual Meeting will be Saturday, July 23 at 9.00 at Edge Lake Farm (PLG). We hope you will be able to attend and look forward to seeing you there. We will send a reminder closer to the date.
We will have a Rt 153 beach clean up on Saturday, July 9 at 9.00. It usually takes about an hour. We will meet near the entrance to the Donville Campground on Rt 153. Gloves and trash buckets/bags will be provided. Just bring yourself and the desire to help beautify our lakeshore following this coming weekend holiday. We will send a reminder closer to the date.
And remember, you can acquire PLA branded items to celebrate the holiday at https://provincelakeassociation.myspreadshop.com/
Have a wonderful July 4th celebration.
The PLA
Hi All,
While we all are getting ready for the summer season and cleaning up our beaches etc., we thought we should remind you all and/or educate you all to the fact that you need a permit to put new sand on your beach or if you want to build a new perched beach, you need one for that as well. Sand can only be replenished with a permit every 6 years and the sand can’t be added below the high water mark.
Here is a link to two NH DES info documents in regards to all this. Beach Sand and Beach Permitting In addition, here is a link to the wetlands section of NH DES that has a lot of information for you on beaches, docks, structures, permitting etc.. https://www.des.nh.gov/water/wetlands
As you all should be very well aware, we struggle with cyanobacteria blooms in Province Lake. The biggest contributor to that is the excess phosphorus we have in the lake and one of the major contributors to the phosphorus is sand and dirt running into the lake. As such, it is critical that we all do as much as we can to avoid sand and dirt runoff into the lake.
Thanks for your assistance in maintaining and improving the quality of the lake, and happy fathers day to all the fathers out there.
The PLA