Pawtuckaway Lake Association

The PLIA Annual Meeting will be held on June 7th from 9am to 12 noon at the Nottingham Elementary School.

Featured Topic: New Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act
The new Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act amendment went into effect on April 1, 2008. Under this act, A STATE SHORELAND PERMIT is required for any construction, excavation or filling activities. Derek R. Durbin, Esq., Environmental Policy Director for NH Lakes Association, will be speaking on how the new regulations for shoreland protection and septic site assessments affect Pawtuckaway Property Owners.

PLUS: Greening Your Home to Keep Our Lake Blue ♦ Environmentally-friendly Septic Systems ♦ Kids Activities ♦ Food, Raffles, and more!

Mark Your Calendar!

The Lake Host program is already in full swing with volunteers working both the Fundy and State Park boat launches during the weekends. And, it is a really good thing that they are there. Saturday morning, May 3rd, Lake Host Volunteer Therese Thompson found an invasive species of plant, Water Chestnut, on a fisherman's boat trailer just before they launched their boat into the lake. Water Chestnut is on the NH Dept. of Environmental Services "Frightful Fourteen" most invasive exotic species list. These plants are some of the most feared species due to their ability to choke surface waters, harm native vegetation and wildlife, impact recreation, and lower property values.

Thank you Lake Host Program participants for another "Save"! If you would like to learn more about the program or even participate, contact Andrea Lawson, Lake Host Program Coordinator, at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

On Saturday, June 21, 9:30-12:00 noon Amy Smagula of the NH Department of Environmental Services will conduct a weed watch program training session at 32 Dolloff Dam Road. There will be an on water component to the training. Then, we will assign Weed Watch Warriors sections of the lake to perform a monthly survey for any new exotic weeds. Finally, we will continue our eradication efforts at the existing seven known exotic weed (Common Reed, also known as Phragmities) growth sites.

If you like to kayak, canoe or boat and would like to help keep the Lake free of exotic weeds, please contact Steve Soreff at 895-6120 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This year we have the opportunity to have the boat parade on either Friday or Saturday. We are giving everyone the opportunity to decide which day would be better, should we stay with tradition by having the parade on Friday, July 4th or should we have it on Saturday, July 5th?

The advantage of having the parade on Saturday, July 5th would be that more people will be able to participate and it also gives everyone the Friday before an opportunity to decorate their boats. Let us know your vote by choosing either July 4th or July 5th for this year’s boat parade by going to the following website and placing your vote. Please vote by May 31st, we will announce at the PLIA Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 7th which day was preferred. To vote log on to: www.voltz.us/boatparade.

There are several Pawtuckaway Kids program events that have been announced. The summer season starts off with the June 7th - PLIA Annual meeting and concurrent 2nd Annual Pawtuckaway Kids Meeting from 9am to 12 noon at the Nottingham School. Come to the Annual Meeting while the kids attend their own supervised event! For more information contact Lauren Chaurette at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Coming in July and August: Pawtuckaway Teen Night, Annual Family Paddle Day, and the Annual Sandcastle day.Also planned are the annual 5th Grade Field Trip to Pawtuckaway State Park and the 3rd Annual Campfire Night Dinner.

 Check back on the website for dates and more information on these and other Pawtuckaway Kids events as the summer progresses!

Fosters Daily Democrat ran a story titled, "Townhouse Pond toxins worry UNH expert" about the dangers of high chlorophyll levels in a lake. In the case of Townhouse Pond, the levels climbed high enough that toxic cynobacteria, more familiarly known as blue-green algae, began to grow at an alarming rate.  The article quotes Dr. Jim Haney of UNH's Zoology Department, "Three teaspoonfuls are enough to kill a small child," he said. "If you see any green material, send it to UNH or DES (Department of Environmental Services). They'll test it, and they could shut the beach down. It is deadly."

Pawtuckaway Lake has had some small outbreaks of blue-green algae in the past but, nothing close to what Townhouse Pond is experiencing. However, if our water quality continues to decline and effective phosophorous/nutrient loading into the lake is not curtailed, we may see more blue-green algae in the lake. The entire news story is available here: Townhouse Pond Story

Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. (Geosyntec) was contracted by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) to develop a Watershed Based Plan (WBP) for Pawtuckaway Lake (1,180 acres), located in Nottingham, NH. The lake has an 18.5 square mile watershed, including Pawtuckaway Lake State Park and an estimated 309 year-round and seasonal homes located around the lake’s perimeter.

We had an early expedition success on November 4 with the Weed Warriors attack on the Common weed base in location # 2.  That is to the right of Log Cabin Island. The team consisted of Gayle Kenney, Karen Batchelder, Jeff Gurrier, Gary St. Onge, Therese Thompson, Peggy and Steve Sorreff.  And yes, by tradition and by skill Peggy managed to pull the longest one--six feet.

Armed with the experience of November 4th’s foray into the land of rhizomes, Gary and I decided to sally forth to where it all began--the Phragmites Island between the Twin Islands.  That was the first of our summer weed encounters and was also an initial success.  So at 11 AM or 1100 hours on November 5 Gary and I loaded my vehicle with a Phragmites puller, pitch fork, shovel, small garden tools, bags and gloves. We motored to Therese Thompson’s generously assessed home on Barderry Lane. She loaned us her kayak fleet.