Check out these, to help you keep the water clean and healthy while enhancing the look and value of your shoreline property! NH LAKES is the only statewide, member-supported nonprofit organization working to keep New Hampshire’s lakes clean and healthy, now and in the future. The organization works with partners, promotes clean water policies and responsible use, and inspires the public to care for our lakes. The source of this information was originally published by NH LAKES.
Click Here to View Healthy Swimming Mapper. Use the map to find current advisories and alerts for fecal bacteria or cyanobacteria during the swim season.
NHDES Harmful Algal Bloom Webpage
When you head to the water’s edge this summer, always perform your personal risk-assessment prior to swimming or letting your pets in. Look for any discoloration or unusual growth, and if you see something suspicious stay out of the water and report it! Please report through our NEW bloom report form. This survey will get all the information we need from you in one round of communication, allowing us to more quickly respond to your reports. You can also find this form by searching “NHDES HAB” on the internet, navigating to our page, and scrolling down the the “See a bloom?” section.
Our Healthy Swimming Mapper also has new features, including more information about each warning, pictures of the bloom, and alerts posted directly on the map. We are working on adding links to the cyanobacteria history for each waterbody, but that will be coming soon! There is also a link to the bloom report form on this website.
We will also be issuing a weekly statewide cyanobacteria update. Sign up by selecting the “Healthy Swimming Updates” email list.
- Don’t feed the waterfowl.
- Feeding waterfowl will attract more to the site. A single goose can create up to four pounds of waste per day.
- Waterfowl waste can contain significant amounts of phosphorus (the nutrient which fuels plant and algal growth).
- Fecal matter can contain harmful parasites and bacteria that can contaminate swimming areas, causing what is commonly called “swimmers itch” for some people.
- Waterfowl are healthier when they consume the foods they naturally forage.
Make shoreline property unattractive to waterfowl.
- Grassy lawns attract geese and ducks. Providing barriers, such as dense shrubs, between the shoreline and the property will discourage waterfowl from the visiting the lawn.
- Do not remove trees and other vegetation within 250-feet of the shoreline unless you have received a Shoreland Permit which instructs you how to do so. Trees and shrubs help to stabilize the soil and reduce the amount of polluted water that flows into lakes and other surface waters. For permit information, visit des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wetlands/cspa/index.htm or contact DES at (603) 271-2147.
- Do not remove rocks and native aquatic plants. Rocks and aquatic plants help break waves and prevent erosion and are important to maintaining the ecological health of water bodies.
Much of the shoreline along New Hampshire’s lakes has already been altered and degraded by the removal of natural vegetation for the construction of docks, houses, lawns, and roads. While shoreline property owners are not required to restore altered shorelines, it is encouraged! It is also relatively easy and is good for the lake and may even increase the attractiveness and value of the property.
- Convert a human-made sandy beach to a completely vegetated area.
- If you must have a sandy human-made beach, make it smaller, or construct a perched beach. A perched beach is one with little or no slope that is set back from the water. Perching a beach will help correct erosion problems on a sloping, sandy beach that leads directly to the water. Contact DES for permit requirements at (603) 271-2147.
- Limit foot traffic to and from the shoreline by providing only one meandering pathway surrounded by vegetation.
- Prevent polluted water from flowing off your property and into the lake by redesigning walkways and paths, and by adding rain gardens and vegetated buffers.