Volume LXXIX~ November 2024

Harbor Happenings

Fall is a time of transition in the watershed and at the Center for Lake Studies. As the leaves fall from the trees, the last of the boats are pulled from lakes and ponds and our water quality buoy has settled into its winter location in Sunapee Harbor. At the same time, the Center remains a hub of activity as we welcome school groups, scientific collaborators, community groups, professional workshops, conferences and volunteers. Maintaining water quality and the environment of our very special watershed is a year-round endeavor! We are grateful to all of our members, volunteers and collaborators who make our work possible.

Membership contributions support the majority of our operations. Join us and become a member today! If you’re already a member, we appreciate your commitment and ask that you renew your membership this year, if you have not already.

If you’re not yet a member, we invite you to join us in support of our mission.

Renew Your Membership!

Become a Member!

November is Native American Heritage Month

The land and lakes of the Sunapee Region are all part of N'dakinna, the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Pennacook, and Wabanaki peoples past and present. LSPA acknowledges and honors, with gratitude, the land and waterways and the alnobak (people) who have stewarded N'dakinna throughout generations.

To learn more check out the following links:

Native American Heritage Month

A Land Called N'dakinna

N'dakinna: Our Homeland...Still - ArcGIS StoryMaps

National Park Service - Native American Heritage Month

General Election is November 5th: Vote like your lakes depend on it!

The General Election is days away. Please visit nhlakes.org/VOTE to find out who’s running in your district or the district of your favorite lake and how to contact them to tell them how important our lakes are. You’ll also find questions you can ask to gauge their commitment to clean and healthy lakes.

With your help, we will build a coalition of leaders that will initiate and support lake-friendly policies!

Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving. LSPA is asking for your support. Your support is essential and very much appreciated. Donations can be made here.

The crew installed a turbidity curtain (see orange curtain in photo) to catch sediment during the drilling process. This robust approach for the new crib is the most cost-effective and long lasting (60+ years) answer to the perpetual cycle of expensive crib replacement every 15-20 years. This solution is also preferred by NH Department of Environmental Services, as the lake’s waters can move without obstruction on the lake bottom.

Lake Turnover

The sensors on LSPA's Water Quality Buoy (located at a site with ~10 m depth) show that fall turnover started on October 7th; it takes several more days for the full water column down to the lake’s maximum depth at 34 m to fully mix.

Lake turnover is the process of a lake’s water turning over from top (epilimnion) to bottom (hypolimnion). During the summer, the epilimnion, or surface layer, is the warmest. It is heated by the sun. The deepest layer, the hypolimnion, is the coldest.

When the surface water begins to cool it becomes denser, causing it to sink. This dense water forces the water of the hypolimnion to rise, “turning over” the layers.

Water Quality Buoy Moved to Winter Location

In early October, LSPA Watershed Director Geoff Lizotte, LSPA-Virginia Tech (VT) Calhoun Fellow Katie Hoffman and Adrienne Breef-Pilz, Sensor Technician from the Carey Lab at Virginia Tech, brought LSPA’s Water Quality Buoy to its winter location in Sunapee Harbor. You can still access local conditions from the buoy on LSPA’s live buoy webpage.

Air & Water Temperature Forecast: New Feature on Live Buoy Webpage

A new feature has been added to LSPA’s live buoy webpage that provides a daily forecast of air and water temperature for Lake Sunapee.

This forecast is created daily by Virginia Tech researchers and is based on the buoy data collected on Lake Sunapee and NOAA forecasts. If you would like to learn more about Virginia Tech’s water forecasting, check out their website.

Upcoming Event

Regional Lakes Meeting: Year in Review Wednesday, November 13, 2024

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

at LSPA Center for Lake Studies

This meeting is for members of regional lake & pond associations. Attendees will discuss successes and challenges over the last year and will have a chance to share ideas and concerns. For more information and to register click here.

Watershed Management Plan Update: Collaboration at Bucklin Beach

We reported back in July that we partnered with the Little Lake Sunapee Protective Association (LLSPA) and the Town of New London to construct a rain garden near the beach entrance of Bucklin Beach that is designed to intercept stormwater debris being washed onto the beach from Little Lake Sunapee Road. Prior to the rain garden installation, stormwater was scouring the beach in this area washing sand and other materials into the lake. This collaboration will improve water quality at the beach.

The final phase of this project was completed in October. The Town of New London Public Works Department constructed a dripline infiltration trench around the picnic area shelter, removed the paved swale and replaced it with a vegetated swale. Community volunteers then planted over 30 native plants adjacent to the new vegetated swale and along the fence. These plants will help to further stabilize the soils.

This project addresses stormwater erosion at a site that was identified in the 2020-2030 Lake Sunapee Watershed Management Plan. This is one of many important steps in meeting the water quality goal in the plan. Thank you to all the volunteers who participated in this project. If you would like to volunteer on our next Watershed Management project, please let us know!

Watershed Wise

Have you ever wondered what you can do on your own property to help protect water quality? Your landscaping choices can have a big impact. LSPA’s Watershed Wise Program helps property owners to identify changes that can be made, such as additional plantings near the water’s edge, to improve the water quality of streams, lakes and ponds within the Lake Sunapee Watershed.

LSPA staff provide a free evaluation and consultation. Owners of properties that meet the Watershed Wise criteria are awarded a plaque to display on their property. Owners of properties that don’t yet meet the criteria are provided with detailed recommendations about improvements that can be made.

The water quality of our lakes depends on the decisions and actions of individuals like you. Click here to become a Watershed Wise Partner.

Preparing for Winter? Be Watershed Wise!

It's never too early to think about snow! The fall is a great time to make your snow and ice management plans. Look for contractors that are Green SnowPro certified. The NH Green SnowPro program emphasizes specific methods which limit the use of salt that is used to manage snow and ice.

Certified Green SnowPro professionals complete detailed coursework and pass an examination that stresses the importance of:

How snow melt chemicals work
The negative effects of the over-use of salt
Proper application rates of salt or non-chloride control products
How to set, adjust, and test their equipment for proper application rates

You can find the list of Green SnowPro certified contractors here.

The best way to protect our water quality is to properly manage and reduce the use of salt, ice melt products, sand and other accumulating sediments. Make your snow and ice management plan this fall. Have your service provider walk your property with you. Map out the areas where snow should be piled. Snowbanks should ideally be placed in areas which slope away from the waterfront, where spring runoff to the lake is minimal, and where spring cleanup is straight forward.

Plan ahead! Snow will be here before we know it! Check out our website for resources on chloride free ice melting products.

Snowfighter's Seminar hosted by LSPA for a Second Year

On Wednesday, October 16th, LSPA hosted the Snowfighters Seminar, an all-day workshop led by UNH Technology Transfer Center (UNH T2). Workshop participants discussed challenges related to winter operations, reviewed technology and equipment used and talked about critical application strategies including having an awareness of pavement and air temperature and weather forecasts and proper equipment calibration.

Local professionals as well as professionals across the state attended the workshop. Thank you to our Snowfighters!

Upcoming Professional Workshop

Septic Systems: Ensuring Proper Design and Installation for Water Quality

Friday, November 15, 2024

8:45 AM - 12:00 PM

at LSPA Center for Lake Studies

This workshop is designed for septic designers, installers, inspectors and Town health officers. This half-day training will help professionals understand the soil science related to septic design and installation with a special emphasis on septic design near the water’s edge. Properly designed and maintained systems prevent pollution in our groundwater and waterways, which is vital to public health and to a healthy environment. Poorly designed and maintained systems can degrade water quality leading to cyanobacteria blooms which are becoming more common in lakes and ponds across the state of New Hampshire. Come learn from area experts in this informative morning workshop.

LSPA is holding this event in partnership with the Sullivan County and Merrimack County Conservation Districts.

Click here to register.

Septic Regulations are on the Horizon in Three Additional Watershed Towns

Momentum is building throughout towns in the Lake Sunapee Watershed to address the issues posed by poorly maintained septic systems. Failing systems are both a health issue and a water quality issue. Septage from poorly maintained septic systems can contaminate drinking water sources and areas where swimming and boating take place, exposing us all to unhealthy levels of bacteria and viruses. Nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen that leach into waterbodies feed cyanobacteria and can lead to toxic blooms that are harmful to people, pets and wildlife. Fortunately, these problems have a relatively simple solution. When homeowners maintain their systems properly, these issues can be avoided.

To address these issues, towns throughout the watershed are considering how local rules can help to educate and remind homeowners about regular septic maintenance. The Town of Sunapee adopted septic regulations in March of 2023 that require homeowners in the shoreland overlay district to pump their systems at least every three years, with some exceptions. Similar regulations are now being considered in New London, Springfield and Newbury.

How can you help?

Don’t wait for septic rules to be implemented in your town – make sure your septic system has been pumped within the past three years.
Support the implementation of septic regulations in your town. Show up to town meetings to be part of the conversation.
Help to inform your friends and neighbors in the watershed about proper septic maintenance.

Learn more on our website.

Water Quality Data Mapping

GIS Analyst Alyssa Spencer is pursuing a Masters degree in Environmental GIS at Unity College. She recently completed an impressive GIS mapping project using LSPA's long-term water quality data. You can see the results of her work here.

More Money Headed Toward Cyanobacteria Remediation

The Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee has approved $500,000 in federal funding to tackle cyanobacteria blooms, which can pose serious health risks to both humans and pets. This funding, sourced from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, is aimed at local remediation efforts. Read more in this article in the New Hampshire Bulletin.

Upcoming Event at UNH

"What Should We Do About NH Lakes and Climate Resilience?"

UNH's Civil Discourse Lab's inaugural event

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

UNH Memorial Union Building, Durham, NH

CIRCLE Engaged Research Fellow and Associate Professor Mary Stampone (Geography, NH State Climatologist) will give a short keynote address on "Safeguarding New Hampshire's Lakes: Strategies for Resilience Amid Climate Variability." Professor Stampone's presentation will be immediately followed by an interactive deliberation engaging the audience in small group conversation. For more information and to register click here.

Collaborations with Colby-Sawyer College & New England College Students

On October 3rd, students from New England College and Colby-Sawyer College worked together to gather data from Lake Sunapee streams. Their research will help us gain a better understanding of our local aquatic ecosystems. The students will present their work at LSPA in late November - stay tuned for details!

On October 17th, we welcomed New England College ecology students at the Center for Lake Studies. LSPA’s Executive Director, Elizabeth Harper, provided an overview of LSPA’s mission of preserving and enhancing the environmental integrity of the Lake Sunapee Region, especially its lakes and watersheds, through education, research, and collaborative action. The students then made their way down to Sunapee Harbor, where they collected plankton samples.

We look forward to our continued collaborations with the students from these schools. It’s wonderful to see the next generation of environmental stewards in action!

LSPA Education Update

Educational Experiences that Build Foundational Connections

Kindergarten & Preschools

Seasonal changes, turkeys and bats are the hot topics for the youngest of our outreach programs this month. Teaching about what is happening just outside in children’s own natural world and how it relates to the watershed starts early. LSPA’s educational framework for students builds at each grade level and engages students to get outside, connect with nature, and investigate their own backyards.

NEST

Nature Exploration Story Time’s seasonal topics highlighted apples, leaves, chipmunks, seeds, pumpkins and bats. Hunting for animal signs around the apple trees, exploring the meadow for seeds, and releasing milkweed seeds were a few of the many outdoor adventures story time participants shared in. November’s themes can be found here.

Newbury Library After School Program

LSPA Educators partnered with the Newbury Public Library and led an autumn hike with the afterschool program. The children used their senses of touch, sight, sound and smell to take in the full measure of the beautiful fall day, discerning the many brilliant and subtle changes to the season along the way.

Mount Royal

Mount Royal students learned about autumn seeds this month. They took note of how many different kinds of seeds stick to surfaces and that they travel in a variety of ways. In an active-hands on activity, they discovered too the challenges animals face in trying to collect seeds as a food source.

Educational Experiences that Build Foundational Knowledge of Water and Watershed

New London Third Graders

New London’s third grade classes visited LSPA’s Center for Lake Studies for the first time this fall. They rotated through three stations focusing on the properties of water, climate and weather. Through a simulation game, students experienced the changeability of weather, the critical role climate zones play in bird migration, and that changes in our climate affect animals and people alike. Students experimented with the concept of adhesion and cohesion in hands-on water activities. The third graders also engaged in an active game illustrating that water has three states which take many forms in our weather patterns. Water was at the heart of each lesson and students came away knowing that water connects us to our environment and each other.

Watershed Discovery Days

Area 5th graders participated in Watershed Discovery Days here at LSPA’s Center for Lake Studies last month. Students discovered how water moves through the watershed by journeying as “water molecules” through a simulated water cycle. Students also built a watershed of their own, observing how water moves and collects according to the landscape. Learning about water and how precious our fresh water systems are, students engaged in designing a water filter to clean “polluted” water. One of the activity students really looked forward to was exploring all of LSPA’s exhibits. Utilizing a scavenger hunt, students discovered fun facts, found where lighthouses and sunken ships were on maps, and explored the numerous connections between water and the watershed.

November Phenology

November is a wonderful time to get outside! Take a hike up to Clark Lookout and check out the amazing view of the Lake Sunapee Watershed.

Note the amount of acorns and beechnuts available, which are a nutritious food source for a wide variety of animals, as you trek to the top. Mushrooms show their colors this time of year. Look for them on rotting logs, under cover in the cool and dark of the woods. The splash of colors from the verdant ferns against the myriad hues of red, orange and yellows create a dramatic display along the way.

The grasses and flowers in the meadow on the top of Clark Lookout are drying now. The seeds from these grasses and flowers are an important source of food for birds and smaller mammals. Leave the seed heads in your own gardens for the critters this winter.

From this peak vantage point atop Clark Lookout, you can see the widest section of Lake Sunapee. The lighthouses of Herrick Cove and Loon Island are visible, and the many curves of the coves and dotting of islands reveal the unique features of the lake. Mount Sunapee stands in the background as a gorgeous backdrop, the highest point in the watershed. Clark Lookout offers spectacular views of the watershed no matter the season. Check it out every month and marvel at the seasonal transformations and the beauty that never changes.

Although November’s fall colors will eventually start to fade as the month goes on, there are plenty of bright spots to find. This year looks like a good one for winterberry, so look for their vibrant red berries that pop against the drab November backdrop. Enjoy November’s bounty and delight in the abundance of beauty as you venture outside.

Resources

The LSPA Kid's Ecology Corner page highlights a wide variety of fall activities. Find out all about New Hampshire's....... Go to the Kid's Ecology Corner and find out! November is an exciting and wonderful time to explore the outdoors!

Be a Lake Sunapee Watershed Explorer!

Get outside, explore and earn a patch!

This fall is a perfect time to get to know the Lake Sunapee Watershed! LSPA invites you and your family to explore the Lake Sunapee Watershed. Enjoy the lake and the forests of the watershed while you learn a bit about the science and history of Lake Sunapee. Pick 5 of the activities from this list and when you have completed them fill out the simple documentation form on our website.

You will have good memories, new knowledge and a patch to remember the experience by!

Send us your favorite pictures around the watershed!

If you have photos from around the Lake Sunapee Region from all seasons that you would like to share, send them to photos@lakesunapee.org and please include your name in your email so we can give you photo credit.

Watershed Views

Photo by Anne Sharp.

Visit our Website

Become a Member

Lake Sunapee Protective Association

Center for Lake Studies

Physical Address:

63 Main Street

Sunapee, NH 03782

Mailing Address:

PO Box 683, Sunapee, NH 03782

STAY CONNECTED

Saving Lake Sunapee's Iconic Lighthouses: Construction Has Begun

Hansen Marine, a division of Hansen Bridge LLC, is the contractor for the new steel support structures. Hansen started construction at the Herrick Cove Lighthouse this fall, and then will move to the Burkehaven Lighthouse in spring 2025.

To learn more about the campaign to save Lake Sunapee’s lighthouses, please go to lakesunapee.org/lighthouses

Be a Lake Sunapee Watershed Explorer!

Saving Lake Sunapee's Iconic Lighthouses: Construction Has Begun

Hansen Marine, a division of Hansen Bridge LLC, is the contractor for the new steel support structures. Hansen started construction at the Herrick Cove Lighthouse this fall, and then will move to the Burkehaven Lighthouse in spring 2025.

﻿To learn more about the campaign to save Lake Sunapee’s lighthouses, please go to lakesunapee.org/lighthouses

Be a Lake Sunapee Watershed Explorer!

To learn more about the campaign to save Lake Sunapee’s lighthouses, please go to lakesunapee.org/lighthouses