Supporting a Clean and Healthy Province Lake
CLEAN LIVING: The first thing that everyone can do is to prevent their own actions from harming the water quality of the lake. The annual reports archived on this web site provide plenty of ideas on how to do this, for example:
- If you pee in the lake while swimming, it fertilizes your swim area with phosphorus, which encourages cyanobacteria, algae, and weed growth. It could be 30 to 40 milligrams of phosphorus each time you go. Not a lot, but it adds up, and avoiding doing it is something you can do for the lake and yourself. This web site features an entire report on that subject!
- Operate jet skis and boats at slow speeds in shallow areas to minimize disturbance to sediments and vegetation.
- Operate powered watercraft far from the shore to mix the deep waters and boost the oxygen concentration.
- Retrieve and properly dispose of any non-natural debris, especially plastic, you find in the lake or on its shore.
- Configure your shoreline to slow, minimize, or eliminate stormwater runoff directly into the lake. The Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA) is a non-profit volunteer organization that has expertise in this area.
- Avoid using plant fertilizers near the shoreline, or streams or ditches feeding the lake. Eliminate using lawn fertilizer entirely.
- Keep the lake shore natural. If your lawn already goes to the water's edge, call AWWA for a consultation on how to go about restoring a natural buffer.
- Be sure your septic system is operating properly. Have the septic tank pumped every few years, even if your place is seasonal. How often your septic tank should be pumped is a function of the number of people in the house, the amount of water used, whether use is seasonal, and the size of the tank. Chances are that if you are waiting 5 or more years between pumpings, sludge is escaping into your leach field and reducing its effectiveness.
- Clean up and properly dispose of any pet waste.
- Don't wash anything directly in the lake using soaps, detergents, or any other cleaning chemicals. That includes boats, pets, horses, and yourself!
VOLUNTEER: If you would like to help with the Province Lake Watershed Management Plan, water quality sampling, or weed watching, send an email to province-lake-water@cox.net and it will be forwarded to an appropriate contact.
JOIN: You can join the Province Lake Association. You can also join the Acton Wakefield Watersheds Alliance (AWWA), which does many projects around the lake, such as rain gardens.
LEARN MORE: An environmental email newsletter was started in 2013 to cover various topics related to water quality, invasive species, or other issues that have some bearing on the region surrounding Province Lake. The author regularly attends the annual New England Chapter conference of the North American Lakes Management Society, the Northeast Natural History Conference, and other events, and looks forward to sharing some of what there is to be learned. Click HERE to see the archived inaugural issue, published March 5, which provided highlights of the 2012 water quality results. Sign up by clicking the image to the right, then confirming your subscription on the confirmation email you will automatically receive. This system ensures that only people who sign themselves up will receive the newsletter.