Dear Members of the Lake Kanasatka Community… are you wondering what your Advisory Board has been up to this most unusual Year?  READ ON…

2020-2021 a Year of Successes and Unexpected Challenges  

Remember as you read this, that your Advisory Board (AB) consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member at Large, and Communications director, all of whom are volunteers, some still have full time jobs. What is included in this report is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the effort involved year – round in working to maintain a healthy Lake Kanasatka for all of us to enjoy!

CHALLENGES

As with the rest of the world, Covid forced LKWA to change the way we operate.  For example, we had no Annual or Picnic meeting last summer and all Advisory Board meetings were conducted via Zoom. This impeded our ability to communicate with each other or with the Lake Community easily.  But it was the repeated Cyanobacteria Blooms and lake closings that challenged the AB to take further action. We also have been involved with monitoring development on the lake.  We strive to educate homeowners on best practices and to be a good neighbor. The  AB went from meeting 3 or 4 times a year to dealing almost daily with one challenge after another. We now meet once per month with many sub-committee meetings in between. We have also formalized our organization with documented roles and responsibilities. 

Communications became even more difficult with the loss our Communications Chair, 

John Scudder.  John ran our website, organized our annual newsletter, and knew all things technological.  LKWA member Wendy Booker stepped into the breech and accepted the challenge, but it was and still is, a steep learning curve. 

The Water Quality committee, always one of our lake’s top priorities, became extremely busy when drought and other environmental conditions (natural and un-natural) caused the Cyanobacteria always present in lake waters, to bloom on multiple occasions. The Committee stepped up their testing efforts to almost daily and water samples were hand delivered to Concord, NH for NH- DES analysis. These blooms can be toxic which resulted in the lake being closed during these events. The Lake Community and the AB saw that besides not being able to enjoy the lake, there was a real economic risk that directly correlates with a damaged lake. The AB immediately began to act by researching and then initiating a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) with the help of a well-respected environmental consultant firm. The Lake Community supported the WMP by signing a petition to have an article placed on the Warrant at Town Meeting to help defray the cost of developing a WMP. We have no guarantee that we will receive any funding from the Town, and the task of fundraising has begun with a huge jump-start from the Ted Hilton family upon Ted Sr’s death and their generosity with a GoFundMe page honoring Ted’s memory.

SUCCESSES

In spite of the challenges of the past year, there were also many successes. Even before Cyanobacteria struck, President Kirk Meloney asked the AB to work towards adding two programs demonstrated by experts to help save or improve a lake’s water quality. That led to the establishment of a Weed Watchers and a Lake Host (ramp monitor) program to add to our Water Monitoring Team to support our Mission to Preserve and Protect our Lake.

Weed Watcher

The Weed Watcher Program utilizes trained volunteers to survey the lake to identify invasive species and who to contact if an invasive plant is found. The program runs from late May through August. We currently have no plant or animal invasive species in our lake, and the AB wants to keep it that way.

Lake Host Program

The Lake Host Program is a courtesy boat inspection program at our launch and administered by NH LAKES in cooperation with local participating groups such as the Granite Lake Association and the town of Moultonborough.  The goal of the program is to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species, plants and animals, from waterbody to waterbody. The AB voted unanimously to participate in this educational and non-confrontational program. It has been demonstrated that if you engage a boat owner in the program, they become activists for it.   If a boat is found to be carrying invasive species, the owner is instructed on how to eliminate the problem and the boat is not allowed into the water until checked and declared free of invasive plants or animals.

Watershed Management Plan 

 A Watershed Management Plan is an important tool for any group looking to improve their local lake, river or stream. Put simply, a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) identifies water quality problems within your watershed, proposes solutions, and creates a strategy for putting those solutions in action. The implementation of this plan is critical to saving Lake K from repeated Cyanobacteria Blooms. The work has begun. The LKWA Water Quality Committee and its trained volunteers are already gathering the data to find pollution sources. The committee will share their data with the environmental consultants.  LKWA has contracted FB Environmental Services, an experienced and highly reputable environmental engineering firm, to aid in the development of a WMP.

Water monitoring is a key component of a WMP.  Lake K has had a water quality monitoring program dating back to 1984.   We continue to work with organizations such as the University of New Hampshire, NH Lakes and the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. These partnerships are very important and a real resource when help is needed for Lake K. 

The next vital step in funding the WMP is getting Article 14 passed at Town Meeting which is scheduled for May 15th.  It is imperative that Article 14 passes which will provide LKWA $60,000 of the $85,000 needed to complete the WMP Plan. The Lake community has shown their support for the Plan by signing the Petition to get Article 14 on the Warrant. Members of the Lake Community and friends have also supported the Plan by contributing over $20,000 to date.  LKWA will continue to need donations to ensure money is available to complete and implement the Plan. You can become a partner in this endeavor by volunteering and or donating:

 

You can make a secure online donation at:

gofund.me/8a3a9ea9 or on the LKWA website under the PayPal tab.

or mail your check to LKWA, PO Box 774, Center Harbor, NH 03226.

As mentioned earlier and on our website and Facebook page, the Lake Kanasatka Watershed Association is taking donations in the name of one of our founders, Ted Hilton, to raise funds for a Watershed Management Plan. This plan will preserve the ecology of the lake, protect its wildlife, ensure the water quality, and keep Kanasatka pristine for generations to come.

Our collective job of protecting this lake that we all hold so dear, never stops.  But it is with our collective effort that we will implement a plan that will succeed in protecting this lake we love for generations to come.  Please ask us how you can do your part. 

Respectfully Submitted by Jane Nash, LKWA Vice President

Dear Members of the Lake Kanasatka Community… are you wondering what your Advisory Board has been up to this most unusual Year?  READ ON…

2020-2021 a Year of Successes and Unexpected Challenges  

Remember as you read this, that your Advisory Board (AB) consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Member at Large, and Communications director, all of whom are volunteers, some still have full time jobs. What is included in this report is only the tip of the iceberg regarding the effort involved year – round in working to maintain a healthy Lake Kanasatka for all of us to enjoy!

CHALLENGES

As with the rest of the world, Covid forced LKWA to change the way we operate.  For example, we had no Annual or Picnic meeting last summer and all Advisory Board meetings were conducted via Zoom. This impeded our ability to communicate with each other or with the Lake Community easily.  But it was the repeated Cyanobacteria Blooms and lake closings that challenged the AB to take further action. We also have been involved with monitoring development on the lake.  We strive to educate homeowners on best practices and to be a good neighbor. The  AB went from meeting 3 or 4 times a year to dealing almost daily with one challenge after another. We now meet once per month with many sub-committee meetings in between. We have also formalized our organization with documented roles and responsibilities. 

Communications became even more difficult with the loss our Communications Chair, 

John Scudder.  John ran our website, organized our annual newsletter, and knew all things technological.  LKWA member Wendy Booker stepped into the breech and accepted the challenge, but it was and still is, a steep learning curve. 

The Water Quality committee, always one of our lake’s top priorities, became extremely busy when drought and other environmental conditions (natural and un-natural) caused the Cyanobacteria always present in lake waters, to bloom on multiple occasions. The Committee stepped up their testing efforts to almost daily and water samples were hand delivered to Concord, NH for NH- DES analysis. These blooms can be toxic which resulted in the lake being closed during these events. The Lake Community and the AB saw that besides not being able to enjoy the lake, there was a real economic risk that directly correlates with a damaged lake. The AB immediately began to act by researching and then initiating a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) with the help of a well-respected environmental consultant firm. The Lake Community supported the WMP by signing a petition to have an article placed on the Warrant at Town Meeting to help defray the cost of developing a WMP. We have no guarantee that we will receive any funding from the Town, and the task of fundraising has begun with a huge jump-start from the Ted Hilton family upon Ted Sr’s death and their generosity with a GoFundMe page honoring Ted’s memory.

SUCCESSES

In spite of the challenges of the past year, there were also many successes. Even before Cyanobacteria struck, President Kirk Meloney asked the AB to work towards adding two programs demonstrated by experts to help save or improve a lake’s water quality. That led to the establishment of a Weed Watchers and a Lake Host (ramp monitor) program to add to our Water Monitoring Team to support our Mission to Preserve and Protect our Lake.

Weed Watcher

The Weed Watcher Program utilizes trained volunteers to survey the lake to identify invasive species and who to contact if an invasive plant is found. The program runs from late May through August. We currently have no plant or animal invasive species in our lake, and the AB wants to keep it that way.

Lake Host Program

The Lake Host Program is a courtesy boat inspection program at our launch and administered by NH LAKES in cooperation with local participating groups such as the Granite Lake Association and the town of Moultonborough.  The goal of the program is to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species, plants and animals, from waterbody to waterbody. The AB voted unanimously to participate in this educational and non-confrontational program. It has been demonstrated that if you engage a boat owner in the program, they become activists for it.   If a boat is found to be carrying invasive species, the owner is instructed on how to eliminate the problem and the boat is not allowed into the water until checked and declared free of invasive plants or animals.

Watershed Management Plan 

 A Watershed Management Plan is an important tool for any group looking to improve their local lake, river or stream. Put simply, a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) identifies water quality problems within your watershed, proposes solutions, and creates a strategy for putting those solutions in action. The implementation of this plan is critical to saving Lake K from repeated Cyanobacteria Blooms. The work has begun. The LKWA Water Quality Committee and its trained volunteers are already gathering the data to find pollution sources. The committee will share their data with the environmental consultants.  LKWA has contracted FB Environmental Services, an experienced and highly reputable environmental engineering firm, to aid in the development of a WMP.

Water monitoring is a key component of a WMP.  Lake K has had a water quality monitoring program dating back to 1984.   We continue to work with organizations such as the University of New Hampshire, NH Lakes and the State of New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. These partnerships are very important and a real resource when help is needed for Lake K. 

The next vital step in funding the WMP is getting Article 14 passed at Town Meeting which is scheduled for May 15th.  It is imperative that Article 14 passes which will provide LKWA $60,000 of the $85,000 needed to complete the WMP Plan. The Lake community has shown their support for the Plan by signing the Petition to get Article 14 on the Warrant. Members of the Lake Community and friends have also supported the Plan by contributing over $20,000 to date.  LKWA will continue to need donations to ensure money is available to complete and implement the Plan. You can become a partner in this endeavor by volunteering and or donating:

 

You can make a secure online donation at:

gofund.me/8a3a9ea9 or on the LKWA website under the PayPal tab.

or mail your check to LKWA, PO Box 774, Center Harbor, NH 03226.

As mentioned earlier and on our website and Facebook page, the Lake Kanasatka Watershed Association is taking donations in the name of one of our founders, Ted Hilton, to raise funds for a Watershed Management Plan. This plan will preserve the ecology of the lake, protect its wildlife, ensure the water quality, and keep Kanasatka pristine for generations to come.

Our collective job of protecting this lake that we all hold so dear, never stops.  But it is with our collective effort that we will implement a plan that will succeed in protecting this lake we love for generations to come.  Please ask us how you can do your part. 

Respectfully Submitted by Jane Nash, LKWA Vice President