2024 Report - Published Online on July 24, 2025

Overall Summary

Water transparency decreased slightly to an average of 2.43 meters (8.0 feet), about 2/3 foot less than in 2023.

Province Lake had cyanobacteria bloom events in 2024 that have not yet been tabulated. Please check back later.

WARNING: Since Province Lake has a history of cyanobacteria blooms of varying severity, it is advisable to have a look at the water each time you or your children plan to swim. Caution is always advisable. Since a cyanobacteria bloom is readily visible, if you don't see it, swimming is probably safe. If a heavy bloom has just occurred, you might want to wait an extra day or two after it has cleared before swimming.

An excellent source of information about cyanobacteria is this DES web site.

Unfortunately, the average phosphorus concentration in the upper layer increased 32% from 2023 to the highest concentration since 2002 and the 4th highest in 33 years of data. The lower layer of the lake was even worse, increasing 49% from 2023 to the highest recorded concentration in the 23 years of data.

Unfortunately, the average Chlorophyll-a concentration increased 46% from 2023 to the highest recorded concentration in the 33 years of data, since we started monitoring in 1991.

The acidity (measured as pH) of both the upper and lower layers of the lake decreased successively from 2022 to 2023 to 2024 from the surprisingly high acidity that was measured in 2021, achieving neutrality in 2024. This change is good.

Details

The lake is sampled on weekdays to minimize effects of boating. All samples were taken on non-holiday Mondays in 2024, as they were in 2023. Since sampling days were consistently Mondays, I do not know if any consideration was taken of the weather on any of those days. Ideally, all sampling would be performed on calm, dry days, but scheduling of UNH personnel may not have made that possible. Certainly, Secchi readings would be reduced if taken during rain or high winds, while chemistry samples might not be affected at all.

1. Water transparency (a measure of how deep you can see into the water) was an average of 2.43 meters (8.0 feet) in the deepest part of the lake (16-17 feet deep), a decrease of about 8 inches from 2023. This average was the 13th lowest transparency in 33 years of data. This average was skewed by a very low reading of 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) on 9/9/2024 that tied with the year 2000 for the lowest low reading of the season. It makes me wonder what the weather was that day. If inclement, "no reading" would have been preferable. However, the chlorophyll-a concentration was quite high that day, so the transparency probably just was that bad.

We have no information about the transparency in 2020. In an attempt to head off any future data gaps, I created a Province Lake Secchi Club in 2021 and asked for volunteers to take readings from their boats. My hope was to create a more extensive database of Secchi readings, not dependent on a single PLA volunteer. I also hoped to generate a more continuous dataset, where there might not be over a month between readings. I do not have a boat, so the success of this effort was wholly dependent upon members of the Province Lake community obtaining the equipment and taking the readings. The video link on the right shows you the basics of taking a Secchi depth measurement without the use of a viewscope. The reading technique is fully detailed HERE. While I received several messages of support and help with a computer-fillable version of the data form, I have not to date received a single completed datasheet. Anyone is welcome to start doing this at any time. Any data are better than no data.

Please note that I am reporting the transparency that is measured without a viewscope because it represents how most people actually observe the lake. The viewscope method represents how you would see the lake through a diving mask or swim goggles. For comparison, the average 2024 viewscope transparency was 2.60 meters (8.5 feet), a decrease of 14 inches from 2023. The statewide median transparency is 3.2 meters (10.5 feet), without a viewscope. We have a shallow lake, so sediments are easily stirred up, therefore we expect it to be below the state average. The deepest part of the lake is only 16-17 feet (about 5 meters) deep, variable with the lake level, as shown on the NH bathymetric chart, as downloaded from NH Fish & Game.

2. Chlorophyll-a concentrations are used to indicate the average amount of algae and cyanobacteria (2) in the lake. Cyanobacteria are the only bacteria that contain chlorophyll-a, a chemical required for photosynthesis. Unfortunately, the average chlorophyll-a concentration in 2024 was the highest ever recorded since we started monitoring in 1991 at 5.95 micrograms per liter (µg/L). This was an increase of 46% from 2023.

Since the switch to UNH in 2014, chlorophyll-a has been measured in samples composited in 2 different ways, the results of which are often very close in value. Each year I report the average of those 2 averages. In this case, the individual averages were significantly different, at 5.53 and 6.38 µg/L. Even the lower of these exceeds the previous high average of 5.48 µg/L recorded in 1996. The maximum concentrations were 8.34 and 8.63 µg/L on 8/5/2024, but the next highest were 7.13 and 7.60 µg/L on 9/9/2024, so the high seasonal average was not driven by a 1-month fluke. This was for real. It was also surprising because previously the 2023 chlorophyll-a concentrations had fallen 4% from the 2022 average of 4.27 µg/L, to an average concentration of 4.08 µg/L. That had been only the 9th worst average concentration on record, with all the higher ones (besides 2022) being in the years 1991-2004.

The 2024 average concentration is 30% above the average amount that New Hampshire lakes had (4.58 µg/L median). Dying algae forms the brown floating bottom masses in July and August. The brown algae masses settle loosely on the bottom when the lake is still and cloud the water when wind or boat wakes stir things up. This may be unsightly, but it is not harmful to people or their animals.

3. Phosphorus is a nutrient required for photosynthesizing organism growth and is typically thought to be the nutrient whose availability most limits plant, algae, and cyanobacteria growth in NH lakes (3). In 2024, the average phosphorus level in the upper water layer (sampled at 2.0 meters depth) increased by 32% from 2023's concentration to 19.00 µg/L, its highest concentration since 2002 and the 4th highest in 33 years of data. The 2024 level exceeds that in 50% of the lakes in NH, as it usually has.

In the lower water layer (sampled at 4.0 meters depth), the average 2024 phosphorus level was 22.98 µg/L, 49% higher than in 2023. This was the highest concentration in 23 years of data, since it started to be measured in the year 2000. During 2024, it was 21% higher than that measured at 2.0 meters; the deeper sample usually exceeds the shallower sample, so this is typical.

The total phosphorus concentrations over the years have been high enough to earn Province Lake a "Marginal Impairment" listing in the "Aquatic life" use category, ever since NH DES started issuing listings of impairments for phosphorus and chlorophyll-a in 2010. This was first explained in 2013's Issue #5 of the Province Lake Water Newsletter. The 2020 report had the time and space to explain the whole business of Impairments, since there were no new data to analyze for that year. I tried to make it as readable as possible, so please have a look, if you need a review.

The phosphorus concentration at the Rt. 153 Inlet (in NH, near the state line), shown at right, increased 6% from its 2023 level, to 24.33 µg/L. That made this the 10th lowest concentration in 33 years of data, which is a good thing.

The average phosphorus concentration measured at the Island Inlet on Bonnyman Road increased 40% from 2023, which is obviously not good, but that was an increase from 2023's lowest concentration in 32 years of data. The increased concentration of 23.10 µg/L in 2024 was still the 8th lowest concentration in 33 years of data, so not bad at all. The inland side of the Island Inlet is shown here, at left. The sample is taken where the water flows into the culvert to pass under Bonnyman Road. Volunteers work to make sure this culvert does not stay dammed up by beavers, which could result in water flowing over the road surface.

While the phosphorus input from these 2 inlets increased, that clearly was not the cause of the large increase in the lake, since the inlet concentrations were still historically on the low side. The flow at the Island Inlet is much less than the Rt. 153 Inlet flow, so the Island Inlet's large percentage increase in phosphorus from a historic low would not meaningfully increase the lake phosphorus.

2023 (2 years ago) had extraordinarily high lake levels all year, to the extent that the PLA did not install boards in the dam to hold water back into the lake. This meant that waves from wakes and wind were pounding on soils that are normally above the lake, not in it. Normally submerged sediments will be somewhat depleted of their phosphorus content, somewhat in equilibrium with the phosphorus content of the water. Soils higher up the bank, not normally directly exposed to the water, will have a higher phosphorus content. This is why erosion from storm-water runoff is considered undesirable, as it allows into the lake soil particles that have a higher phosphorus content. Having an extra vertical foot of shoreline exposed to the water, being pounded by waves, is therefore like storm-water runoff on steroids, with regard to phosphorus. [Does anyone remember what the lake level was like in 2024? Seriously, let me know at province-lake-water@cox.net]

Ways to Reduce Phosphorus: The erosion control and septic system remediation efforts of the PLA and Acton Wakefield Watersheds Association (AWWA) in recent years are likely to have helped keep phosphorus levels in the lake from increasing more than they have. The Fertilizer Pledge campaign by AWWA and the PLA is one part of the effort to protect Province Lake from excess phosphorus. Province Lake is out in the country, not in the suburbs, so there is no need or expectation of picture-perfect lawns. While landowners can take steps to reduce their own phosphorus contributions, there is not one single cause of, and not one simple solution to, high phosphorus levels. It is not like light pollution, which can be fixed at each source by just flipping a switch. These efforts had been showing results in reducing phosphorus in both the upper and lower layers of the lake.

It is important to educate lake users on the importance of operating jet skis and boats at minimum headway speed in shallow areas to minimize disturbance to sediments and vegetation. Also, as detailed in last year's report, the maximum depth of Province Lake is about 16-17 feet, so Province Lake is simply the wrong place to try to use a wake boat. Pounding the shoreline with excessive wakes or churning up the bottom sediments releases phosphorus, which promotes algae, weed, and cyanobacteria growth; increases turbidity (scattering of light by suspended particles); and decreases clarity.

4. Chlorophyll-a versus Phosphorus: See the 2018 report for a statistical analysis of the relationship between Chlorophyll-a and Phosphorus.

5. We had never sampled Province Lake for nitrogen as part of VLAP, but it is included in the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program. Now that nitrogen is being monitored, we have the potential to eventually correlate nitrogen levels with algae growth, as measured by chlorophyll-a. At least 10 years of data are required before a meaningful statistical analysis can be performed. Meanwhile, it would be best not to use nitrogen-containing fertilizers near the shoreline, or streams or ditches feeding the lake, and to be sure septic systems are operating properly. It would also be a tiny help not to pee in the lake while swimming; each time adds about 40 milligrams of nitrogen to the water.

If you have a lush, bright green lawn, it could be a sign to your neighbors and the community that you are fertilizing your lawn, possibly making a significant contribution of nitrogen and/or phosphorus to the lake. On the other hand, if you pump water directly out of the lake to irrigate your lawn, you can contribute to improving the lake water quality by removing nutrients from the water and putting them to use on your lawn; I have been told that some people actually do this here.

6. Province Lake had cyanobacteria events in 2024, as reported by the PLA via their Alert emails. Due to insufficient time available before the PLA annual meeting on 7/26/2025, the 2024 cyanobacteria events have not yet been tabulated. Check back later to see them. Events were previously tabulated for 2023 and tabulated or listed for previous years.

Province Lake had experienced its first confirmed cyanobacteria bloom since the 1970's in September 2010, then had blooms 4 years in a row (2010-2013). Fortunately, no sightings worthy of a Lake Warning (in some years called an "Advisory") then occurred from 2014 through 2017. Generally, more frequent blooms have occurred from 2021 onward. See the official NH DES Cyanobacteria Bloom History, which lists official actions and may not capture all blooms that were actually observed by people around the lake.

The continuing blooms mean we are susceptible to having them in future years. When a cyanobacteria bloom is in progress (see description below), there is no way for us to know if it is toxic or not, so we need to act as if it were toxic. Therefore, it is important to know what a bloom looks like and act accordingly. If a cyanobacteria bloom is suspected, there may be Facebook postings and/or PLA email alerts issued. For your convenience, in 2023 I added a new "Cyanobacteria Bloom Status" page that will link you to the "Healthy Swimming Mapper", where you can check on the official cyanobacteria bloom status, as posted and updated daily by NH DES. That page can also be found under the "Facts & Photos" tab.

What a Cyanobacteria Bloom Looks Like: Large concentrations of cyanobacteria (a bloom) would be seen as a green, blue, or pink surface scum in a section of the lake. This is different from the tan or yellowish foam seen sometimes after strong winds. I took the photo at right on 7/21/2025 just inside the Rt. 153 Inlet while fierce winds were blowing in from the lake, making harmless foam that was accumulating here in this calm area. If present in large amounts, cyanobacteria can be toxic to animals and humans. While recreational exposure to cyanobacteria toxins is a major concern of NH DES, I thought I only knew of one documented case of cyanotoxin-related illness in New Hampshire (See the 2020 report for details.). A guest NH DES speaker at the 2024 PLA meeting let me know otherwise. She personally had been sick for a week after a known exposure and knew people who had exposed dogs get seriously ill. If you know of other documented cases, please let me know.
[Left photo by NH DES, courtesy of the PLA, 2012.]

If you think you are seeing a cyanobacteria bloom, stay out of the water and especially, keep your children and pets out of the water. Call the NH DES Cyanobacteria Hotline at (603) 848-8094 or email HAB@des.nh.gov or submit a Bloom Report Form to describe what you see. Then call the PLA's phone number, (207) 200-3243, so a sample can be promptly collected. NH DES may analyze the suspected bloom, then post an Warning if there is any danger. They will monitor the situation and remove the postings when all is clear.

There is a citizen science project of the US Environmental Protection Agency called BloomWatch that anyone can participate in using a smartphone or tablet. It is still active as of July 2025. You can learn about it and download the app at https://cyanos.org/bloomwatch/ Note that reports to BloomWatch are for citizen science purposes only and do NOT constitute a formal report to authorities, so you would still need to report blooms to NH DES and the PLA, as described above.

See the 2023 report and other prior reports for more information on cyanobacteria.

PLA Activity: The 2024 PLA annual meeting included guest speakers who are experts on ways to mitigate cyanobacteria blooms. Read more about that in the 2023 report.

7. A pH between 6.5 to 7.0 is ideal for fish, according to VLAP. pH is the measure of acidity, where 7.00 is neutral, below 7 is acidic, and above 7 is basic. In 2024, lab measurements averaged 7.00 in the upper layer and 6.94 in the lower layer, as opposed to 6.92 and 6.84, respectively, in 2023 and 6.76 and 6.74, respectively, in 2022. This showed a continuing trend of decreasing acidity during that period from the pH spike observed in 2021, which is a good thing. It is only since 2015 that we have had occasional average pHs of 7.00 or above in the upper and lower layers of the lake. The state average in the upper layer is 6.6.

The average lab-measured pH at the Rt. 153 inlet was 6.61, continuing a trend of decreasing acidity. 2024's pH is now the least acidic in 33 years of data, which is presumably a good thing. This inlet drains a large wetland, which naturally has a high concentration of tannic, humic, and fulvic acids from decomposition of plant life, which give it the color of tea, as shown in the photo at left, and reduce its pH.

The average pH at the Island Inlet was 6.75, less acidic than the 6.55 pH of 2023. It is the least acidic average for this location in 33 years of data. This inlet also drains a wetland.

Exceedances of the Water Quality Criteria for pH are defined as: pH < 6.5 or pH > 8.0. The state average pH of 6.6 is barely better than the 6.5 criterion, therefore a large number of New Hampshire water bodies are listed as "Slight impairment - marginal condition" in the "Aquatic life" use category for pH.

8. Province Lake was listed in 2008 as impaired for mercury in fish and it remains so with all other surface waters in New Hampshire (4). Two fish caught from Province Lake in 2009 were tested in 2010 and shown to have safe mercury levels, but just two fish cannot be assumed to be sufficiently representative of all fish in the lake, especially since 15 years have passed since those fish were caught. It's better to be cautious and do catch-and-release, which leaves more food for the loons and bald eagles.

In January 2023, NH DES reinitiated their Fish Tissue Mercury Monitoring Program. You can read more about it in the NH bulletin. Download a pdf of the details HERE. An important difference in this renewed program is that they want a minimum of 5 individuals in the target size range of the primary species of interest [Yellow Perch (6 – 12 in.), Largemouth Bass (10 – 16 in.), or Smallmouth Bass (shown at right)(10 – 16 in.)]. There is also a list of secondary interest, for which a single individual can be submitted for analysis. Since the fish need to be frozen and hand-delivered to Concord, this would be a perfect citizen science project for a group of anglers on the lake to organize among themselves, in order to do a single delivery run to Concord. The PLA could coordinate this effort, as they did in 2009.

To date, I have not seen nor heard any evidence that anyone is doing this on Province Lake. Please let me know if you are doing it and especially send me any results, so they can be shared with the community. When I told DES last year that I would be promoting this project again, the response was "Thanks a bunch! We are always looking for more samples, especially consistent samples from a waterbody year after year." So, if you are an avid angler on Province Lake, I encourage you to get started and make this project your own! If you let me and the PLA know, that would be a way for us to help you avoid duplication of efforts. For now, assume that if YOU don't do it, no one will, because (apparently) no one is. Once the analysis is completed (each year, if repeated), please provide me with a copy of the results letter so that the community can see it.

9. Much dissolved oxygen (DO) data were provided by UNH for 2024, most of it looking good. Somewhat similar to 2023, the bottom 1.0 meter of the lake was oxygen deficient during the July 8 and August 5 readings. It had been anoxic during the 7/24/2023 reading, calendar-wise roughly halfway in between the 2024 sampling dates. It recovered nicely by the time of the next reading on 9/9/2024. Obtaining multiple readings in a season shows one of the advantages of the PLA switching to UNH. With VLAP, we got one DO profile per year, at most, so we could not see any changes throughout the sampling season. A high oxygen level is a sign of the lake's overall good health. Given Province Lake's large area and shallow depth, it tends to be well-aerated by wind and boats. I encourage powered watercraft to operate fast far from the shore to mix the deep waters and boost the oxygen concentration, while minimizing their use in the shallows.

10. Much E. coli bacteria testing was done in 2013 as part of the study for the Province Lake Watershed Management Plan (see the 2013 supplementary report). Despite some very localized problems with E. coli bacteria in 2013, no E. coli sampling has been performed since then. The PLA performed an update to the watershed survey in April 2025, so I assume this means the Watershed Management Plan will be updated also. Perhaps a new round of E. coli testing will be performed as part of the process. As described in the "Secondary Contact Recreation (boating)" section of the 2020 report, new E. coli testing will be necessary to restore Province Lake's "2-G" best rating from its current "3-ND" rating.

Maine drain at Rt. 153 and Shore Acres Road

Despite the lack of current concerns, it only makes sense that everyone should still stay out of the stream that flows from the golf course and drains into Province Lake at the beach along Rt. 153 near Shore Acres Road in Maine, shown here during a dry period in July 2020. Click photo for wider angle. If you see that water is flowing into the lake at that location, it would be best to avoid swimming too close to it. Canada geese grazing the golf course are almost certainly the source of the E. coli measured in 2013, although that reason does not make the E. coli concentrations safe. Generally, it is probably best to avoid swimming in any streams as they flow into the lake, since even those with E. coli levels considered safe had measurable amounts of bacteria in 2013. Of course, it is always best to avoid swallowing lake water under any circumstances.

11. Scorecards. Regulatory and guidance documents: The 2020 report was primarily about regulatory documents, summarized as succinctly as possible, so I recommend going there to read all about them. I downloaded the current scorecard, labeled "2024", from the NH DES web site. This page for the lake was extracted from the full watershed scorecard. The scorecard has been updated from the prior one labeled "2020/2022", and not in a good way.

The biggest change is that the assessment for Primary Contact Recreation (swimming) has been downgraded from Poor to Severe, with the reason being "Cyanobacteria hepatotoxic microcystins" in 2023. Since we all saw and experienced the severe blooms ourselves in 2023, this downgrade looks appropriate, if unwelcome.

Two other changes are of no importance to us. The alkalinity parameter for the Aquatic Life Integrity use has been updated and a potassium parameter has been added to the Potential Drinking Water Supply use. All other classifications are identical to those shown in the "2020" column chart in my 2020 report.

12. European water-starwort: Callitriche stagnalis, commonly known as either "pond water-starwort" or "European water-starwort", appeared in Province Lake during 2014 and got its first real attention in 2015. It is not native to North America and is ranked "1-Severely invasive" in the Maine Natural Areas Program Advisory List of Invasive Plants - 2019, although not yet in New Hampshire. Its dense weed bed is a threat to native plants that might otherwise grow in that spot, and is also an impediment to swimming in that area. There is an extensive detailed report about the appearance of C. stagnalis in Province Lake published on this web site, with the most recent update in the 2019 report. I have seen that the weed bed is still there in 2025, but I have stopped measuring it because, fortunately, it does not seem to be spreading and local control measures seem to be working. No photos were taken in 2025.

Other Environmental Issues for Province Lake and Its Environs

Air Quality and Weather

Starting in 2023, we have been subjected to some poor air quality days due to wildfires in Canada, one consequence of climate change. For your convenience, in 2023 I added an "Air Quality" page to this web site where you can find links to a variety of sources providing air quality information locally and for North America, which get updated throughout each day. The Air Quality Index (AQI) widget at the top of this report is among the resources on that page. The Effingham sensor is located at the Green Mountain Conservation Group (GMCG) office. In 2023, I proposed its installation and provided resources to facilitate it, so that we would have data available more locally than Gilford (upwind near the south shore of Lake Winnipesaukee) or the AQI model from Rochester, where there are no sensors. In 2023 I also added a "Weather" page that will take you not only to the National Weather Service forecast, but to standardized precipitation data collected daily nearby. The former PLA president who had to an automated weather station mere feet from the lake outlet unfortunately for us moved away in 2024; we will miss her. However, I just discovered that someone on Leland Road in Effingham has since installed their own automated weather station near the lake, so now we have local data again! Both pages can be found under the "Facts & Photos" tab.

Loons and Lead

Most birds swallow small stones to help them digest food. Many fishing sinkers fall into the size range that loons prefer. Being fish-eaters, loons have a lower stomach pH than waterfowl that eat vegetation, such as geese and most ducks. The lower pH more effectively dissolves the lead, which then kills the bird. Poisoning from ingestion of lead objects has been identified as the #1 cause of loon deaths in fresh water. Therefore, most lead fishing tackle has been outlawed for sale or freshwater use in New Hampshire since 2016, so if you still own any lead fishing gear, please stop using it immediately. According to Loon.org, from January 1 through Dec. 31, 2025, or until all vouchers are claimed, anglers can exchange one ounce or more of banned lead fishing tackle for a $20 merchandise voucher redeemable at participating tackle shops. The Lead Tackle Buyback Participants who turn in the largest and second-largest amounts of banned lead tackle at each participating shop during the 2025 calendar year will be awarded cash prizes of $100 and $50 respectively as part of the “Collect to Protect” contest. The nearest such shop to Province Lake is Ossipee Bait and Tackle (Facebook link) at 306 Pine River Road in Effingham. Lead tackle can also be dropped off for free at AWWA's office at 254 Main Street, Union, NH. For definitive and up to date information on this subject, please see the Loon Preservation Committee's Loons and Lead web page. Read the Loon Center's full poster on the subject.

Thank you to Loon Ranger Donna Luce for providing the photo at right by her young friend Hannah Swenson, who took it on June 8, before anyone else knew the loons were nesting on the island. She reported that the loon didn't leave the nest and seemed calm.

Earthworms

If you bring up or buy earthworms to use as fishing bait, you absolutely should not release them on the ground, since they are not native to New England and they can eat up the leaf litter and disturb the soil. Many native plants, such as lady slippers, require undisturbed soil to live.

Prior years' water quality reports, back to the 2011 report, provide a variety of information about earthworm threats.

If you feel you must use worms for fishing, please either use them up or give them to someone else who can use them. Dumping them in the lake is insufficient to dispose of them. Apparently, they can swim to shore and survive. Freezing worms for a few weeks or soaking them in rubbing alcohol (isopropanol) or ethanol (such as vodka) is most effective. Any soil you had the worms in can contain eggs or other life stages, so should also be treated and not be dumped on the ground either. I find the State recommendation to place them in the trash inadequate, as it does not account for the final destination of your trash. Worms might survive a trip to a landfill and escape into the world from there. You only need a few to escape and cause permanent problems. So kill them! The native plants, tree frogs, toads, salamanders, and other little creatures that live in the woods will thank you!

Destructive Wood Pests

Transporting firewood into Maine is banned

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is here. The map linked at right (click the icon), updated 5/7/2025, shows that EAB has arrived and that Province Lake is in the EAB General Infested Area, therefore also in the EAB Quarantine Area. Once EAB arrives, it cannot be erradicated, only managed. If you happen to have a significant number of ash trees on your property, it would be prudent to discuss management issues with a forester NOW, so that the value of timber can be realized before it is lost.

BAD NEWS: Beech Leaf Disease (BLD) reached the Province Lake region in 2024. In 2024, I definitely found it on the site I monitor annually in East Wakefield, NH on the Effingham town line; on Province Mountain; and at the Vernon S. Walker WMA in Newfield, Maine. THIS MAP, dated 7/10/2025, shows the extent of BLD in New Hampshire. The site I monitor in Parsonsfield, Maine, now definitely has it in 2025 (photos at right from 7/19/2025).

BLD has been moving rapidly north along the coast of New England and has penetrated well inland. Nothing can be done about it except to track its spread. The Cleveland Metroparks tracking project I was helping with using my Beech Leaf Disease Project page has been phased out, so your best bet is to post observations of BLD to iNaturalist. Please still read the page though - there's lots you can learn.

If you have many beech trees on your land, consider hiring a forester to discuss potential actions, such as a harvest or removing those trees that could fall on your buildings or other important areas. Expect all of your beech trees to be dead within a few years, becoming potential physical or fire hazards.

Please always use local firewood, to keep from spreading around EAB and other wood pests. It is illegal to move firewood across most state lines in the Northeast now, and Province Lake is perched on a state line, so be careful to keep out of trouble. See the 2009 report for more details. You can also learn much more at the following web sites:

Light Pollution is real, with simple solutions.

At Province Lake, we are fortunate that we can see the Milky Way. According to the "World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness", 80% of the world’s population lives under skyglow. Without big commercial or industrial sources of light pollution nearby, is has been up to individual residents to ruin the night views for themselves and everyone else. If you have a beautiful view from your property, please consider that everyone potentially within that area that you can see, can see you back. That is especially so if you live on a mountainside or beside the lake shore. For people in that area, YOU ARE THE VIEW. It is your civic responsibility to minimize your impact on everyone else's view. If security is your concern, there are myriad options to minimize your impact. Lights on motion sensors can startle someone approaching, as well as alerting you that someone is approaching. It is not difficult to aim your lights downward or shield your lights so that they do not shine directly into the eyes of anyone beyond your property line or the immediately adjacent roadway. Lights off saves you money on your electric bill. Try DarkSky’s Home Outdoor Lighting Assessment.

There is lots more to read on this subject in last year's report and many before it, including impacts on wildlife. Darkness is habitat. Habitat destruction is not good for wildlife.

Browntail Moth

Caterpillar, dorsal view, showing two red dots near tail

Invasive Browntail Moth caterpillars remain a major problem in Coastal Maine. This is not just the typical problem of being bad for trees, but an actual human health issue since shed hairs cause respiratory distress or poison-ivy type rashes. Province Lake is in the "Alert" area of the 2020 Browntail Moth Risk Map, where no detections had been noted at that time. If you find these caterpillars here, the states want to know. Updated detections from the winter web survey can be seen on the Browntail Moth Interactive Map. The nearest documented detections shown on the map are along the western shore of Sebago Lake in Standish. See the 2018 report for more detailed information. You can learn much more at the following web sites:

Online Resources

I started the Province Lake Water Newsletter 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. I encourage you to sign up for these occasional emails (up to 2 or 3 per year) HERE. Signing up gets you the emailed newsletter only and your information will not be shared with anyone. You can easily unsubscribe or resubscribe at any time.

Last year's water quality report is posted HERE. That is the 2023 report, published online on July 23, 2024. Prior year reports going back to 2009 are also posted online for your reference.

There are now over 2,800 members of the Facebook group called "Province Lake, New Hampshire & Maine" (not affiliated with the any organization), where people interested in the lake and nearby areas can share information.

THANK YOU NOTES: I want to thank Steve Craig for taking the lead on the water sampling activity from 2004 to 2020, after the retirement of Dick Thomas. Steve has also retired from that role and been replaced by Katie Jones since 2021. Thank you, Katie, for taking on this valuable work!

The PLA partners with University of New Hampshire (UNH) Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (LLMP) and Bob Craycraft for the water quality work. PLA members assist in the collection of water samples, including providing boats to access the lake site. PLA membership dues finance the water sampling and lab analysis. Without PLA member support, this work would not be possible.

The PLA can always use more volunteers to help with sampling, etc. I have been given permission to say you are more than welcome to contact the PLA directly at president@provincelake.org if you want to help them with water quality work, weed watching, or anything else. If you contact me (at province-lake-water@cox.net) to express interest in volunteering, I will also pass on your information. You do not need to be a member of the PLA to volunteer, and have no obligation to join if you do volunteer, although new or returned members are always welcome. Dues are used to support efforts to improve lake quality.

On a more personal note, I have been actively involved in recruiting volunteers for citizen science projects in the last few years. Locally, this has included the Province Lake Secchi Club and Frog Watch. The Beech Leaf Disease Project covered the entire northeast U.S. My Dark Sky efforts are meant to encourage people around Province Lake to be better neighbors, protect the wildlife (of all sizes) in their immediate vicinity, cut their carbon emissions, and save themselves money on their electric bills, all at the same time. The difficulty I have found in finding people to help makes me REALLY appreciate the PLA-associated folks who sample the lake and inlets, patrol the lake as Weed Watchers, inspect boats and trailers for hitch-hiking weeds while they are using the boat ramp, maintain the dam, clean up the beaches, serve on the PLA Board, and do other activities that benefit the environment and other folks. Please join me in appreciating them, but better yet, please join them in doing something. We will all be better off for it!

Thanks for your interest,
Norm Dudziak, P.E., I.M.

See Province Lake statistics HERE.

Looking out from Hobbs Brook, approaching dusk, July 2, 2025.

Footnotes

While making the change from VLAP to LLMP had multiple benefits, the downside is that the 23-year continuous record of consistent analyses by VLAP has been broken, so data are not always comparable. See the 2015 report for details of the impact, as specifically described by Sara Steiner, NH DES VLAP Coordinator, and the chlorophyll-a section of the 2021 report for an example. A much bigger impact will be due to the lost year of data from 2020, when no sampling of Province Lake was conducted due to pandemic restrictions and no Secchi readings were taken (for no apparent reason).

While some still mistakenly use the term "algae" to refer to cyanobacteria, in this report "algae" is only used to refer to true algae. Cyanobacteria are bacteria, not algae; they are not even in the same biological kingdom. Algae are more closely related to YOU than they are to cyanobacteria! Other than both being microscopic cells, they are fundamentally different. See Footnote #2 of 2013 Newsletter #5 for a detailed explanation.

"Why the limiting nutrient differs between temperate coastal seas and freshwater lakes: A matter of salt"

Note 3 of the "Final- 2008 List of All Impaired or Threatened Waters" stated "all surface waters in New Hampshire are also included on this list due to statewide fish/shellfish consumption advisories because of mercury levels in fish/shellfish tissue." The 2016 list includes a similar note. This issue is further explained in Question 1 of the 2012 Supplemental Report.

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Water Quality Monitoring of Province Lake

Effingham & Wakefield, New Hampshire, and Parsonsfield, Maine