PLA Members,

The cyanobacteria blooms we have been monitoring since this past weekend have unfortunately worsened.

NHDES has now issued a cyanobacteria advisory for Province Lake.

Signs are being placed around the lake at all public access points.

The NHDES warning is as follows:

“A cyanobacteria WARNING (ADVISORY) has been issued for Province Lake, Effingham/Wakefield. The sample reviewed today had cyanobacteria (Dolichospermum) in concentrations up to 504,000 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.”

Regards,

The PLA Board

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

Oct 6 2022 DES Press Release

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

Province Lake Alert Oct 3 2022

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.

NH DES Press Release 09072022

NH DES Infographic Cyano

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

2022 PLA Board Nominees Bios

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

Hi all,
It appears summer will arrive this weekend. Enjoy what looks to be a glorious summer weekend. We’d like to share a few items of interest to get you in the summer frame of mind.

Our membership mailer has gone out and we hope you will support the PLA as we work to keep our lake waters healthy. Your contributions make all the difference. You can also join on our website at https://provincelake.org/about/membership/

Our PLA apparel shop is fully stocked. You can design and select the items you want that show you are a Province Lake supporter at https://provincelake.org/photos/apparel/#!/

We have a full contingent of lake host inspectors. They will be at the Towle Farm Boat ramp (thank you Towle Farm CC!) this summer to inspect boats coming into and going from the lake. This is so important in keeping those nasty invasive species out of our lake. Stop by and say hi to our hosts when you have the chance.

We will also be doing the weed watch cruises again. If you would like to be a weed watcher, send us an email. We can provide training and information to assist you in identifying any invasive weeds.

We will be doing our water sampling program in conjunction with the NH Lay Lakes Monitoring program. In addition to routine sampling, we will be on the alert for any cyanobacteria blooms, also referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs). Attached is a very interesting video sponsored by AWWA Water Talks where Dr. Haney of UNH discusses cyanobacteria https://youtu.be/EaAWfpxCVBM. If you see a bloom, you can report it to NH DES by calling or texting the hotline at (603) 848-8094 or email HAB@des.nh.gov , as well as contacting us directly. And remember, you can help mitigate against cyanobacteria blooms by keeping your septic systems in good working order, stopping erosion of sediment into the lake or drainage areas, not fertilising your lawns with high phosphate/nitrate fertilizer and not encouraging waterfowl with food handouts. Our partner, AWWA, has a number of programs you can check out for ideas and assistance at https://awwatersheds.org/programs-activities/

Thanks for loving our lake!
The PLA