Plants need 2 main things to grow: sunlight and nutrients. Winnipesaukee's water quality is good, so getting light is not a problem. The key is nutrients. The easiest, and btw legal way, to deal with the problem you are having is to be active on your frontage. If you utilize the water enough that leaf litter doesn't settle and accumulate, then there are no nutrients to feed the vegetation and it dies back or doesn't grow. If you want to be a little more aggressive and the area in question is exposed during drawdown then you can rake detritus off of exposed dry lakebed in the fall without a permit. You do need a permit if you are going to remove vegetation from the water. I will tell you up front that if it is native vegetation and you are not completely overrun, or if it is an obviously natural transition, ie. you are located at the mouth of a stream or river, it is very possible that a permit will not be granted.
Right about now I know there are a few people thinking that this is a prime example of government over-regulation, that it's just a few plants and won't hurt anything, and that people have a right to enjoy their property and that may require removing some weeds. I know this because I hear it frequently on the phone and in the field. I understand all of these sentiments, but there are reasons for the regulations. Property taxes on waterfront can be a tough pill to swallow, but the simple truth is once you cross the waterline, it is property belong to the public of the state of NH. No one pays taxes on the lakebed, only the land abutting it. A littoral property owner does have more rights than a non-littoral owner but those rights are not unlimited; they are still subject to the greater good of the public. Removing vegetation from the lake is analogous to walking onto your neighbors property and cutting down the Lilac bushes because you don't like the smell. Most people wouldn't dream of doing it that to their neighbor, but many would not hesitate to remove weeds from the lake. Another point that people often make is that theirs is just one property on a big lake. Well yes, the individaul asking the question is only concerned about one property, but if the State allows it on one property then the State must allow it on all similar properties and the cumulative result can be severe. And while it may be a big lake much of it is too deep to allow vegetative growth. The vegetation needs to be in the near shore areas and this is a relatively small portion of the lake.
The state of NH is charged with protecting the public waters and preventing the destruction of wildife habitat and water quality. Plant life is wildlife habit and is also the filter protecting water quality. Many aquatic insects are dependent upon aquatic vegetation for food and cover. No plants, no bugs. no bugs, no fish. Eventually this takes you to no fishermen buying licenses, food at local restuarants, paying to stay in a hotel for a weekend... you get the point.
Going back to the earlier statement that plants need light and nutrients... The nutrients don't show up because the plants are there; the plants grow because the nutrients are available. Plants take advantage of the situation that exists. The plant with the competeive advantage wins out. If you remove the plants, the nutrients will still be there but the competive edge changes. If you have a situation where the nutrients are easily mixed into the water column, such as through surface run-off then the advantage goes to a species such as algae because of its abiltiy to proliferate quickly. If you have nutrients present in the sediment then the advantage may go to exotic Milfoil it it happens to float into the area because it's growth rate allows it to shade everything else out quickly. Comparatively speaking the native vegetation is not so bad.
Sorry, not trying to rant, just anticipating some arguments and trying to lay everything out on the table in advance.
Fred Rat - If you still decide to remove these plants and you are going to take your chances on doing it without a permit... Do it with a rake in the calm part of early morning or late evening so that any suspended materials can settle out more quickly. PLEASE do NOT dump 50 lbs of herbicide in the lake... not even the "enviro friendly" kind...
Good luck.
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