Alarm over shoreline clear-cutting and stormwater runoff into Nubanusit Lake last spring has prompted local residents to form a grassroots effort aimed at strengthening water quality protections across Hancock’s lakes and ponds.
Sharon Schuur remembers seeing sediment funnel into the lake during the clear-cutting, even as the construction team seemed to follow state regulations.
That, along with Nelson’s current regulations on its half of Nubanusit, motivated the neighbors — including Schuur — to form the Hancock NH Shoreland Protect & Water Quality Committee, whose goals were to protect water quality and strengthen local control.
The group has expanded to include residents living on or near waterbodies throughout town, including Norway Pond, Hunts Pond, Juggernaut Pond, Powder Mill Pond, and Shadrach Pond.
Norway Pond has emerged as a central concern due to its heavy recreational use by families and previous closures caused by cyanobacteria blooms.
Overlay district
Working with environmental consultant Nisa Marks, founder of Old Duck LLC and a former N.H. Department of Environmental Services employee, the committee is drafting a shoreland protection overlay district.
The proposed overlay district would expand upon the state’s Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act, extending regulatory buffers from the state-mandated 250 feet to between 350 and 500 feet from shorelines.
An overlay district imposes additional zoning requirements within a specific geographic area of a town. The regulations being proposed by the committee would apply only to actions within a certain boundary of the waterbodies in the district.
About 30 towns in New Hampshire have overlay districts, including Antrim, Dublin, Francestown, Greenfield, Jaffrey and Nelson. The Hancock committee members have used those zoning restrictions to help craft their own.
With similar goals to protect water quality, the Hancock committee hopes to increase local control over the ponds and major projects that would affect them.
Marks said this local control will allow for town enforcement, more community input, and protection for Hancock’s waterbodies in case state regulations change.
Community participation
The Hancock NH Shoreland Protect & Water Quality Committee held its second public meeting Aug. 13 to discuss the draft specifics for a shoreland protection overlay district.
Marks said it’s much cheaper and easier to protect water quality than restore it.
“Investing in water quality is an investment into the future of your town, into your property values and into these intangible values of lake life,” she said.
Marks highlighted the water quality at Nubanusit Lake and Norway Pond. She said Nubanusit has good water quality, while Norway Pond raises some yellow flags due to phosphorus levels above the state average.
Marks asked the 18 people in attendance how many owned waterfront property. The majority raised their hands. When asked how of them are registered voters in Hancock, only a few put their hands up.
Marks said there are two main causes of poor water quality in New Hampshire: watershed effects and unmaintained septic systems. She explained watershed issues this way: Stormwater runoff leads to nutrient pollution and sedimentation into the water, causing algae, weed growth, and cyanobacteria blooms. The best and cheapest way to protect water quality is with plants on the shoreline, Marks said.
“We can’t divorce what’s going on in the lake from what’s happening on the landscape around the lake,” Marks said.
The overlay district draft focuses on three main regulations: building setbacks and permits, tree cover requirements, and septic maintenance. Other ideas — not affecting water quality on the waterbodies — include limits on noise, outdoor lighting and building heights.
Committee member Mollie Miller emphasized balancing environmental safeguards with practical enforcement to ensure the proposal earns support from both the Planning Board and voters at Town Meeting. The committee does not plan to present a warrant article at the March 2027 Town Meeting.
Marks said the overlay district would cover the necessities in protecting water quality, and all aspects of the plan would work together.
“There is no silver bullet. We can’t do one thing and have it fix all water quality issues,” she said.
The committee is currently consolidating community feedback and survey results before presenting a revised draft to the Hancock Planning Board.
For more information, visit the Hancock NH Shoreland Protect & Water Quality Committee Facebook page.