Lake Sunapee Protective Association

 

Water Quality

LSPA has been concerned with water quality since its founding in 1898, when the issues were sawdust and trash in the lake and the level of the lake water. In the 1950’s LSPA collected water samples and tested for E.coli in order to have Lake Sunapee meet the standards to be named a class A (drinking water quality) lake in New Hampshire.

Starting in the 1980’s, LSPA volunteer water quality monitors have been regularly sampling Lake Sunapee’s water in cove and deep sites in Lake Sunapee, and more recently in its tributary streams. The samples are analyzed in LSPA’s Water Quality Laboratory at Colby-Sawyer College; NH Department of Environmental Services provides an annual water quality report based on its analysis of the data as part of the VLAP (Volunteer Lake Assessment) Program.

The LSPA lab at Colby-Sawyer College, run by Bonnie Lewis under strict quality standards as a sister lab to the state lab at NH Department of Environmental Services, also processes water samples for about twenty five area lakes.

Current Topics

How Lakes Freeze
01-28-2008
Recently, I have had several people ask about how lakes freeze. I knew some answers, but as I researched deeper, the freezing of lakes can be complicated!

Variable milfoil
09-06-2007
Myriophyllum heterophyllum (Michx)
Environmental Factsheet Courtesy of NH DES


Didymo: The New Invasive
09-06-2007
The invasive species Didymosphenia geminata, or didymo was discovered in Vermont June 25th, 2007

Eurasian Milfoil
09-01-2007
Species Description for Eurasian Milfoil

Milfoil prevention efforts at LSPA
09-01-2007
Milfoil prevention efforts at LSPA began in 1998 when we established two aggressive programs (Weed Watch and Boat Launch Monitor) to provide early detection of invasive aquatic plants.

Gloeotrichia echinulata
09-01-2007
Gloeotrichia echinulata, a blue-green alga, has recently been blooming in Lake Sunapee.

Water Quality Parameters and Definitions
08-01-2007
Water quality parameters which are regularly tested by LSPA include the following:

Invasive Aquatic Plants
08-01-2007
LSPA’s volunteer weed watch program discovered invasive milfoil in Georges Mills in the summer of 2001.

Invasive Animals
08-01-2007
There are other aquatic invasive species in New England that LSPA is concerned with.

Algae Update
08-01-2007
There are five general types of algae in Lake Sunapee and surrounding ponds.

Water Quality Monitors
08-01-2007
LSPA has a long history of setting and maintaining standards of excellence in our water quality testing program

Milfoil "Save"
06-16-2007
On June 16th, LSPA Lake Host made another milfoil “Save” this summer.

State of the Lake, April 2006
04-01-2006
Aquatic Macrophytes (Plants) and Invasive Species