Cyanobacteria Alert Issued for Blackey Cove (Moultonborough)

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by ITD

I was speaking with someone over the weekend about this issue. Apparently there were about 8 houses with failed septic systems on the lake, those have been fixed. Rumor has it there is also a house on the lake whose owner was a prolific fertilizer. Not sure if that has stopped. Those are all issues that need to be addressed, but.....


I posted a link to a sewer line failure on rt 25 in Center Harbor a week or so ago that didn't receive any comments. The break released about 1,500 gallons of sewage. According to my measurement on google maps, the approximate location of break is about 1,500 feet from the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, much closer to a little stream that feeds the lake. From the pictures in the link you can see that most of the sewage ended up in the lake. What surprised me is the quickness of the contamination from 1,500 feet away. These issues are not just lakefront property owners issue.

I've purchased two lakefront properties in the past 20 years ( bought and sold one, presently living in another.) Each sale required a septic inspection, similar to Title 5 in Massachusetts. I thought this was for all NH RE sales but figured out from a post here, it is just required for properties covered by the wetlands act. That's a little shocking to me, if you sincerely want to clean up the water in NH, these inspections should be required for all RE sales in NH.

The Lake Kantaska issue should be resolved next summer which hopefully will resolve the Blackey cove issue. I would guess a majority of homes in Blackey now have been redone, meaning septic systems are relatively new and not failed. It would be nice to know that homes in the watershed, which can be miles from the lakes but still have a big impact, are held to the same standard. We'll see.

May I ask how the Lake Katasaka issue is being resolved?

[Pineedles]

ITD’s post of the sewer line breakage is interesting. That’s exactly where 40 -50 cows used to enter the lake many years ago on a daily basis, and we had no cyno bloom then. We also had many aging septic systems or very poor excuses for a system. We did have a big old Mt. Washington come into the harbor twice a day with its huge waves also. What we didn’t have, were property lots stripped of trees, and fertilized lawns. Hmmm, food for thought?

[John Mercier]

That ship has already left the harbor.

[tis]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

ITD’s post of the sewer line breakage is interesting. That’s exactly where 40 -50 cows used to enter the lake many years ago on a daily basis, and we had no cyno bloom then. We also had many aging septic systems or very poor excuses for a system. We did have a big old Mt. Washington come into the harbor twice a day with its huge waves also. What we didn’t have, were property lots stripped of trees, and fertilized lawns. Hmmm, food for thought?

Or did they not test the lake like they do now?

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by tis

Or did they not test the lake like they do now?

We would have noticed the blue color.

[tis]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

We would have noticed the blue color.

We would? I haven't seen it, only pictures. But it's really obvious?

[SAB1]

Originally Posted by Pineedles

ITD’s post of the sewer line breakage is interesting. That’s exactly where 40 -50 cows used to enter the lake many years ago on a daily basis, and we had no cyno bloom then. We also had many aging septic systems or very poor excuses for a system. We did have a big old Mt. Washington come into the harbor twice a day with its huge waves also. What we didn’t have, were property lots stripped of trees, and fertilized lawns. Hmmm, food for thought?

That's a totally different time period and really not comparable. There were a fraction of the number of people and BOATS on the lake then and the stress on the lake now is incredible. Most of the boats back then were fisherman and if you were lucky enuff to own a boat with 85hsp and water-ski you were styling!

[ITD]

Originally Posted by Biggd

May I ask how the Lake Katasaka issue is being resolved?

The plan is to treat the lake with Alum. I believe there is a fundraising effort going on now, plus money from the state. The lake association is very active in identifying and fixing problem areas on the shore also.


There is an association on face book.