Focus on lake health

It has been a busy year on Contoocook Lake, which straddles the line between Jaffrey and Rindge.

Members of the Contoocook Lake Area Preservation Association have been working to clear invasive plant life and aquatic life from the lake, encourage the growth of the loon population that summers on its waters and maintain water quality.

During a celebration on Sunday afternoon, CLAPA members and residents from around the lake area came together to hold a barbecue, participate in raffles and learn more about what the organization does to protect the lake – and what it will be doing in the coming year.

CLAPA President Mike Golibersuch spoke to the crowd about those efforts – the “first and foremost” of which he said was the association’s ongoing fight with the invasive milfoil known to be in the lake.

“We’re going to be doing a chemical treatment in selected areas of the lake in just a couple of weeks from now, which has been very successful when it’s been applied in the past,” Golibersuch said.

Golibersuch said the chemical is specific to milfoil to avoid harming native aquatic plants.

In the past, the association has also organized divers who enter the lake to physically remove the plant, which Golibersuch said may still be a possibility for this year after the association determines the efficacy of the spot-chemical treatment. 

In its ongoing fight against invasive species, CLAPA is also reinstituting the New Hampshire Lakes Lake Host Program. 

The Lake Host program is a program run by New Hampshire Lakes that seeks to prevent invasive species from moving from one lake to another – often transported unknowingly by boat-owners as they travel from one body of water to another.

Invasive plants and animals such as fanwort, variable milfoil, Eurasian milfoil, European naiad, the mystery snail, the water chestnut, curly leaf pondweed, the zebra mussel, common reed and purple loosestrife can be found on boats’ sides or in the the propellers, and propagate in new waterbodies when the boater goes to a new location.

The Lake Host program, started in 2002, has lake hosts conduct inspections of boats before and after they enter the water, looking for invasives and removing them before the lake can be contaminated.

Participation in the program has been growing, with 45 boat ramps in the state having a lake host in 2002 when the program started, compared to 92 in 2023. That’s in part due to a larger number of lake host volunteers – there were 161 when the program started, and 872 in 2023.

This year, Contoocook Lake hopes to reimplement the program for its own boat ramp.

Lake hosts are planned to be stationed at Contoocook Lake ramp on Friday evenings and during the weekends. They will conduct completely voluntary inspections of boats entering and leaving the lake to identify and remove any invasive species of plant life. Training for lake hosts is available online.

CLAPA will also continue to work collaboratively with the Loon Preservation Committee to educate people about the lake’s loon population and support their nesting. For the past several years, CLAPA has put out a floating platform suitable for loon nesting. The platform is meant to rise and lower with the water levels, eliminating the possibility of nests being swamped by high waters or stranded by low levels, and protecting eggs and chicks from shoreline predators. 

Last year, though the loons on Contoocook did not use the platform, they did hatch a chick, which is the first born on the lake in several years. The Loon Preservation Committee assisted with providing signs to warn people of the presence of the nest and the baby.

The Loon Preservation Committee will be conducting a guided “loon paddle” for CLAPA members on Contoocook Lake on Saturday, July 26, at 4 p.m. There will also be a paddle in June, which has already been completely booked.

Since space is limited, this event is open only to members of CLAPA.

Jim LaDine spoke about efforts to preserve the lake’s water quality, including practical steps that can be taken by residents, as well as a water-quality measuring initiative run by CLAPA.

LaDine said that those on shorelines should refrain from grinding tree stumps, pushing composting leaves or pine needles into the water, keeping trees on the shoreline, avoiding fertilizer on their lawn and inspecting and regularly pumping their septic systems.

“Do those, and we’ll keep the lake healthy a while longer. If we did the opposite of those things, there wouldn’t even be a lake – it would be a swamp,” LaDine said. 

Maintaining a properly functioning septic system is one of the advised steps to preserving lake water. CLAPA has partnered with Liam Looks, LLC, to offer a group discount for septic inspections for lakefront properties. With at least three participants, the normal fee will be reduced from $530 to $350, with fees further reduced for additional signups. This offer is for inspection only, not a pumping. This offer is open to both CLAPA and non-CLAPA members.

CLAPA is also monthly gathering samples from both Contoocook Lake and its tributaries to monitor water quality. CLAPA is seeking volunteers for the water-testing program to gather samples in June, July and August.

For information about CLAPA and the efforts to preserve Contoocook Lake, visit contoocooklake.org. 

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.