A few towns in NH have enacted health ordinances to require regular maintenance and inspections (if system is so old it is not a state approved design) for their waterfront districts.

While I’m not often in favor of more regulations at the local level in this case it’s helping a town to protect its tax base and helping lakefront owners to protect the value of their property.

Thinking out loud I might not even be against a state mandate to require lakefront properties to maintain their systems. The state has done such things, such as “forcing” ADU (accessory dwelling unit) zoning on all NH towns.

https://www.deering.nh.us/sites/g/fi..._ordinance.pdf

https://www.chesterfield.nh.gov/buil...tem-regulation

I'm curious about the source of that information.
Locally, when our wastewater treatment facility reaches 80% of capacity there is a requirement to increase capacity. The WWTF is supported by user fees, so this is not a tax issue. I would expect the same from the EPA and DES oversight of the Franklin facility. In the old days, if there was overflow of untreated sewage into the river, there were fines and other repercussions.

I remember Jeanne discussing it on our PublicTV channel. She sits on the WRBP advisory board for Belmont.

Something about the need for more money to cover delayed maintenance and the system seeing development pressure needing a future expansion.

Even when they pump my septic, I think the waste gets transported to Franklin to be processed.

The State could mandate a pumping threshold... it is usually a three to five year period depending on the condition found each time it is pumped.

But I find it hard to believe that they have large amounts of septic leaching without E.coli being detected. Fecal contamination is usually one of the primary signs of a septic system failure.

I think the amount of, and rather heavy, rainfall events are transporting nutrients into the lake bodies, and a mixture of natural and man-made factors are stirring the sediment releasing it.

In the winter, even natural upwelling would be a factor.

I doubt the State Legislature will take any action... or at least any significant action. But spending more on education is also doubtful to make any significant inroad to the situation.

I'm not a big fan of government intervention but these things require lots of money. Most private individuals won't give up their $$$$$$ freely to help the masses, only when it helps them directly.
Most of the people that own these McMansions will spend tons of money to beautify their property but won't cough up a buck to help the overall health of the lake without being forced to. :(

When Wolfeboro was shut down by the state they had to find a solution as to what to do with the effluent. One of the possible options was Franklin, however, that didn't work out because it didn't have the capacity.

Cyanobacteria Alert Issued for Blackey Cove (Moultonborough)
 

I think you will find the issue isn’t the McMansions. They are mostly new(er) construction with newer, state approved systems. The issue is the older camps w/cesspools & Gerry rigged systems. (I heard of one that was a 55 gal drum w/effluent pumped to a real small sand bed.). I think the idea previously presented of starting to police all systems that are not state approved and don’t just limit it to waterfront is a good one.


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

In March, New Durham passed new regs to enable most of the above ideas. Time will tell how well it works but should help to protect Merrymeeting, and Winnipesaukee as most Merrymeeting water eventually passes to Alton Bay.

Simply stated, any septic system that does not have an approved plan of record recorded with the town, or that has been in use for 20 or more years, needs to have a certified installer inspect the system to certify that it's working as designed.

I think you will find that it is not septic systems.

Natural run off is one of the biggest destroyers of water quality and those big green lawns with lots of pesticides is a bigger issue than the old small camp septic systems. With all the heavy rain we had this season it increased the problem.

Million$ Misappropriated...?
 

Thanks. I used a "Google Lens" search to find similarly-affected lakes.

What appeared were distressed lakes in the northern tier of US states. (Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, NH, Maine). States south of us didn't appear overly affected. :confused: I haven't searched Canadian lakes yet.

Which brings me to my Florida county's approach: Because of tourism decline due to disappointing fishing catches, my County's Board got a grant to replace ALL septic systems with "E-1 pumps". Local ocean waters were to be cleansed of poor--or absent--methods. Costs were added to our water bill--effectively doubling them! :rolleye1:

Anchored visitors in this County are already required to maintain a log of pump-outs for weekly Marine Patrol inspections or pay fines.

Five years later, now that 99% of waste facilities are "fixed", I asked an activist neighbor (a fishing guide to Gulf- and Atlantic-ocean waters) how things had "progressed".

Disappointed, he said the problem was not our local waters, but the Mississippi River watershed! :eek2:

(Whose source is the northern tier of US states)... :rolleye2:

If only the water fleas ate it....

Another possible cause to consider are wake boats:

https://www.sierraclub.org/minnesota...nd-10000-lakes

Wake boats are a huge problem. The study cited above briefly mentions New Hampshire. After reading the article, it seems like we are behind on increasing wake boat regulation to help protect the lake.

I agree that they are not the total cause but, they are part of it. You may be able to solve the “green lawn” problem thru education (but I doubt it) but there is also phosphates and other nutrients from entering thru bad septic systems and I don’t believe education will correct this either.


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

A septic system failure would result in fecal contamination that the DES would need to issue an alert on and immediate action would need to be taken.

What causes the blooms is nutrient loading.

Nutrient loading can be the result of nutrients that are trapped in the bottom soils and released during an upwelling (which is why it can happen below the ice), or any time that water is ''stirred'' by either weather or other activities.

Surface run-off is the most noted nutrient loading factor, and can come from a lot longer distance than one might expect, especially during times of heavy and frequent run-off.

In domestic waste water, this would be most often from things like laundry detergent. It contains a lot of whitener (phosphorus)... that maybe overloading the soil around the leach beds... but also may be just running to a grey water system. The soil during heavy and frequent precipitation will ''wash'' the nutrients from the soil.

The same thing happens with our raised garden and container planters, just in a truncated timeline due to the smaller volume of soil/potting medium being able to harbor less.

So it may not be directly related to the lakefront property... the lake front property at one time being the ''last defense''. It may be travelling down our roads and entering through any spot that it can enter a stream, brook, or intermittent run-off point.

We may be just seeing the beginning of the outcome of decades of nutrient loading.

Agreed, and more development means less natural filtration and more nutrient loading.

Does this mean we're creating more problems using bubblers to protect docks? I always wondered if these circulators are raising the overall temp of the lake, and is there a long term impact.

Bubblers that pump cold air into the Lake to move water or circulators should expose the Lake to colder temperatures, not warm the Lake. Ice acts as an insulator against the cold of winter below the ice, so anything that exposes warmer deep water to cold air should lower, not raise, the Lake temperature. In any case, the net effect of all these devices is trivial compared to the large body of water represented by the Lake.

No, bubblers have little impact.

Blackey River
 

Here's a photo from 360 feet above the stream that feeds from Lake Kanasatka into Blackey Cove. Looks like there are sandbags holding back the slime. The second photo shows where the green water changes to blue.

Not necessarily. The state monitors E. coli at swimming beaches where 88 E. coli/100 ml is the max in any single sample. For recreational waters not designated a swimming area the magic number in a single sample is 406/100 ml. A result less than 406 would not attract the states attention, assuming that they were even sampling in that area, and would still point to potential infiltration from a faulty system(s) that would/could add nutrients, including phosphates, to surface water.

Anyway, my original point is that all potential sources need to be addressed. The balance of your last post seems to say this.



Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

That's a beaver dam, not sure if someone added something on top of it, but if water gets through, the slime gets through.

I think as another localized source, even if they were... we should notice a bloom always near the bubbler - which doesn't seem to be the case.

Nutrient loads are strongest near a sourcing. The blloms in various parts of the lake seem less likely to be a point source and more a dynamic of generality.

Imagine that I was able to run a dye through the bubbler; you would see that right near the bubbles surfacing the dye would be vary noticeable, but as it diffused through the larger body, it would be impossible to see.

The bubbler would need to be moving the nutrient load from the soil toward the surface.

A functioning system... running perfectly as designed... will still nutrient load.
That is why the old saying ''the grass is always greener over the septic system.'' The part of the system they are talking about is the leach field. It provides nutrients and water to the surrounding soil, something that turfgrass loves.

Heavy and frequent rain would upset the designed ''perc''.
Saturated soils would allow the nutrient-laden water to move sideways... though not as fast as surface run-off.

But what I was noting, when the bloom dies off and sinks to the bottom of the lake... the nutrients are sent right to the lake bed as decomposition takes place. They never get removed from the system, just concentrate over time.

This is like gathering all my leaves together and composting them. Instead of the nutrients being spread all over the property, I have concentrated them in my compost and spread them in my raised beds.

Cyanobacteria problem
 

This thread could go on forever, and never solve the problem. Everybody has their idea of a problem, but no one seems to have identified THE problem. I am not a water-issues scientist, nor any other academically-trained professional schooled in this subject, but, as someone who has lived most of his life on the shores of Winnipesaukee, I feel safe in saying that any and all solutions must be explored in hopes of finding a cure, because, if not, the consequences will be terminal to the region. Simply put, if the Lake "goes", so "goes" all the , tourist-oriented businesses, and the entire Lakes Region economy.

If mandated septic system testing is a part of the answer - DO IT, if regulations of fertilizers and other landscape procedures within a certain distance of the Lake is part of the answer - DO IT, if boating control in certain fragile shoreline areas is part of the answer - DO IT. This problem will not go away on its own, it needs to be confronted and managed.

Now, before anyone gets too upset with me, I freely admit I do not have any answers - but, I do know doing nothing is not even part of the answer.

The problem with the lake is too many people and too much money !

Minnesota: The Forgotten "Northern-Tier State"...
 

"Nutrient loading" is another term for "sequestration": which means that compounds of primarily nitrogen and phosphorus "lie in wait" to be stored, distributed or disturbed at a later time. (E.g., "carbon sequestration").

Excerpts from the above article regarding Wake Boats:

1) "The downward angle of the propwash from wake boats causes algae blooms by stirring up sediment and reintroducing sequestered phosphorus and nitrates into the water column. Lake water is warmed by this increased turbidity, making aquatic ecosystems less hospitable for native flora and fauna. Often native plants are uprooted and fish nests destroyed".

2) "Some shorelines are naturally hardened and able to withstand wake boats operating nearby..."

A suggestion for the ultimate boating use for The Broads?

:idea:

I haven't seen anybody mention the geese. I never saw so much ---- in my life and their population is growing by leaps and bounds.

Yes. This is a large factor along with a non caring attitude some possess.

Sort of.
Sequestration is when the process by which nutrient loading is stored.

When I collect my leaves and transport them to the compost pile, I am nutrient loading my compost pile. As my pile matures, it is sequestering the nutrients.

So the run-off is nutrient loading, and the lake bottom is trying to sequester the nutrients.

When a bloom occurs, but is swept downstream... the nutrient load moves. When it dies and sinks to the bottom, it moves from suspension and is sequestered in the lake bottom. When we disturb it, we remove it from sequestration and make it active once more.

But if no new nutrients were entered into the system... no nutrient loading would occur.
The existing nutrients would move from sequestration, to active , and back again in a continuous cycle based on the level of disturbance.

We've nutrient loaded the system to the point that natural process is overturned... and thus the blooms.

Same thing happens in my garden... as my raised beds lose nutrients to the plants, unless I return those nutrients with the compost, my production drops. Excess nutrients, if I am not careful, can be washed out by the heavy and frequent rainfall. Because my surrounding ground ''perc''s so well, that nutrient transfer simply makes the weeds around the raised beds grow better.

Lawns. They love the lawn at Middleton Meredith. And it is right in the flyway between the bay and Waukewan.

Luckily, run-off is captured in our holding pond toward the front.
You can see how well the vegetation grows there.

We can run around the block a hundred times and find a lot of culprits. I went to water quality meeting a couple years ago and was shocked to find there are still town drainage basins that dump into into the lake. Impervious barriers are a problem. Look at center harbor for example. Basically it’s uphill from the dock to the grocery store and everything is tar from the water up. So all the nutrients wash right over the tar to the lake. Anyone fertilizing up there is contributing. What they need is a ban on fertilizer within x miles of the lake. Shut it down. You get caught big time fines. That includes landscaping companies.

The problem you would be creating is X-miles from.
It would be easier just to ban chemical fertilizer. The State has banned other items for environmental reasons. No body really cares that MbTe is no longer causing a water quality issue... we didn't hear an outcry when it was removed.

Laundry detergents would be a bit harder from a purely political sense.

That would lower the additional loading, but the sequestration limits may have already been hit. So I am not sure how to handle stirring the bottom up releasing the nutrients back into the system could be resolved cost effectively.

When does the bloom dissipate?
 

I am also shocked that this bloom is occurring in October/November. I always thought these could only happen in the summer when the water was warm. I am evidently uneducated about this topic. When will the bloom die off? Is there anything that can hasten its demise at least on a seasonal basis? Can a bloom be traced back to a specific source or is it a combination of factors throughout the waterbody. Blackey Cove is a nice spot. Sad to see. Have these blooms occurred frequently in this area?

They have reported them even in the winter... sometimes even under the ice.
We just don't pay as much attention to them at that time.

It will die off when it runs out of nutrients.
At that point, it will sink to the lake floor and decay with the nutrients being sequestered into the lake bed.

Can't Identify The Solution?
 

In 2017, Blackey Cove residents missed the solution to their own pollution problem:

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums...3&postcount=19

Moultonborough needs a recreation center--first...:rolleye2:

The solution isn't to expend more money.

Nor does having extra finances mean that you are creating more of the problem than someone else.

Not saying there is no issue…but after doing a little research, I have found some instances of fresh water lakes / ponds that have serious Cyanobacteria blooms that have no camps on its shoreline and are far removed from any man made influence for its cause and occur through natural causes….apparently in some instances Mother Nature is the cause…. Not saying this is the reason here, just food for thought…

Dan

Nutrient loading and sequestration are natural process that age a water body.
Their concern is that you are aging the lake faster and that may have some economic consequences.

By lowering water quality, several different economic interests see declines.

Advancing Lake Eutrification...
 

Canada's government has given Manitoba 27 years to clean up the world's most blue-green
lake. The cost will be in the billions of Canadian dollars.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manit...2013-1.1326764

Cyanobacterial toxins are mainly released from the blue-green algae when the cells of the bacteria break open or die. Their destruction can be caused by cooler weather, rainfall and windy conditions. Some of the toxins can attack the liver or the nervous system, while some will only irritate the skin.

"Failing to clean up after pets and activities along a shore, such as when homeowners chop down trees and then fertilize grass or flowers they've planted, can be harmful as well.

Trying to control a nutrient problem is more complicated than you might think, Schindler says.

'If you let a lake get too far, I'd say it's equivalent to trying to get toothpaste back into a tube.'"

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/how-...akes-1.1326761

1) Also found was that nitrogen isn't the culprit that phosphorus is.

2) After 67 years, I've now been surrounded by cottages with deep-green lawns. (Including one "residence" that can accommodate five families). :eek2:

3) Detecting sequestered phosphorus in knee-deep water can't be difficult. Perhaps an ambitious high-schooler can provide a "kitchen compound" that will precipitate phosphorus out of a lakewater sample?

4) This forum was paying attention in 2017:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

5) Anyone got peripheral neuropathy (beside# me?) :confused: