SQUAM LAKE Water Quality Monitoring: 2012 Summary and Recommendations NH LAKES LAY MONITORING PROGRAM By: Robert Craycraft & Jeffrey Schloss Center for Freshwater Biology University of New Hampshire To obtain additional information on the NH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (NH LLMP) contact the Coordinator (Jeff Schloss) at 603-862-3848 or Assistant Coordinator (Bob Craycraft) at 603-862-3696. This page intentionally left blank PREFACE This report contains the findings of a water quality survey of the Squam Lakes, Towns of Ashland, Center Harbor, Holderness, Moultonborough and Sand- wich New Hampshire, conducted in the summer of 2012 by the University of New Hampshire Center for Freshwater Biology (CFB) in conjunction with the Squam Lakes Association (SLA). The report is written with the concerned lake resident in mind and contains a brief, non-technical Executive Summary of the 2012 results as well as more detailed "Introduction" and "Discussion" sections. Graphic display of selected data is includ- ed to aid visual perspective while the 2012 Squam and Little Squam Lake data summaries are found in Appendix D. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2012 was the thirty-fourth year the Squam Lakes were monitored in con- junction with the New Hampshire Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (LLMP). The extensive list of volunteer monitors involved in the water quality monitoring effort is highlighted in Table 1. Rebecca Hanson, Squam Lake Asso- ciation Director of Outreach, coordinated the volunteer monitoring activities on the Squam Lakes under the direction of Executive Director EB James. Rebecca acted as liaison to the UNH Center for Freshwater Biology (CFB). The Cen- ter for Freshwater Biology congratulates the volunteer monitors on the qual- ity of their work, and the time and effort put forth. We invite other in- Table 1: Squam Lakes terested residents to join the Squam Volunteer Monitors (2012) Lakes water quality monitoring ef- Site(s) Sampled Monitor Name fort in 2013 and expand upon the Little Squam Ken Ruhm current database. Contact the SLA 2 Cotton Cove Bob Snelling at 603-968-7336 if you are interest- 5 Livermore Cove Carol Zink ed in participating. The Squam Lakes Association provided funding 9A Inner Squaw Cv. for the volunteer water quality Jackie and Bobby Elliot monitoring program while the CFB provided at-cost laboratory services. 9B Outer Squaw Cv. The New Hampshire Lakes Cameron, Caroline, Gail 10 Sandwich Lay Monitoring Program is a and Julian Coolidge not-for-profit citizen based research 11 Kent Island Arthur & Pat Greenfield program coordinated by Robert 12 Moultonborough David Martin Craycraft and directed by Jeff 14 Sturtevant SLA Staff Members Schloss, Associate Director of the UNH CFB. Members of the CFB- 16 Dog Cove Bob Shultz Julie Ramsey, Andrew & LLMP summer field team included 18 Piper Cove Casey Chalmers, Hannah Johnson David Cutright and Helen Pervier while Jesica Wal- Loon Reef Arthur & Pat Greenfield ler provided additional assistance in Note: The SLA staff members, Rebecca Hanson, John the fall analyzing, compiling and Deignan, Cooper Felner-Homer, Anna Glavash, Ja- organizing the water quality data. mie King, Wells Mathison, Janelle Otroski, Ariella The LLMP acknowledges Simke and Leah Tester, conducted water quality sampling when the volunteer monitors were una- University of New Hampshire Co- vailable. operative Extension for major fund- ing and furnishing office and storage space while the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture provided laboratory facilities and additional storage space. The LLMP would like to thank the Caswell Family Foundation for their contin- ued generosity in providing long-term support for undergraduate assistantships while additional support for administering the NH LLMP comes from the Unit- ed States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Ag- ii riculture through support from the Northeast States and Caribbean Islands Regional Water Quality Program, (http://www.usawaterquality.org/nesci/). Participating groups in the LLMP include: Acton-Wakefield Watershed Alliance, Green Mountain Conservation Group, North River Lake Monitors, the associations of Baboosic Lake, Bow Lake Camp Owners, Chocorua Lake, Conway Lake Conservation, Crystal Lake, Goose Pond, Governors Island, Great East Lake, Lake Kanasatka Watershed, Tuftonboro Islanders, Lovell Lake, Mendums Pond, Merrymeeting Lake, Milton Three Ponds Lake Lay Monitoring, Mirror Lake (Tuftonboro), Moultonborough Bay, Lake Winnipesaukee Watershed, Na- ticook Lake, Newfound Lake Region, Nippo Lake, Silver Lake (Madison), Squam Lakes, Sunset Lake, Swains Lake, Lake Wentworth, Winnisquam Drive, and the towns of Alton, Amherst, Enfield, Gilford, Laconia, Madison, Merrimack, Milton, New Durham, Strafford and Wolfeboro. Major collaborators with the UNH CFB in 2012 included the NH Water Resources Research Center, New Hampshire Lakes Association, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Lakes Regional Planning Commission, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Sandy Point Discovery Center (NH Fish and Game and Great Bay National Estuary Research Reserve), EPA New Eng- land, the Volunteer Monitoring National Facilitation Project (USDA) and the Northeastern States and Caribbean Islands Regional Water Center (USDA Na- tional Institute of Food and Agriculture). iii THE SQUAM LAKES 2012 WATER QUALITY OVERVIEW 2012 Squam Lakes Monitoring Summary Water quality was generally very good. Seasonal average water clarity (Tables 2 and 3) was characteristic of pristine waters for most sites and, with the exception of Inner Squaw Cove, exceeded the water transparency of 4.0 meters (13.2 feet) that is considered the boundary between pristine and more moderate- ly productive waters. However, care must be taken to avoid any over interpreta- tion since the water transparency reported at the Squaw Cove sampling stations have historically underestimated the actual water transparency; the Secchi Disk has historically reached the lake bottom before disappearing from view. Of the 13 sites monitored by the volunteer monitors for water clarity, four had similar to shallower water transparencies compared to last year’s median water transparency, nine were characterized by clearer water, and two (Inner and Outer Squaw Coves) were omitted from this comparison since the water clarity has at times been underestimated due to the shallowness of the sampling stations (Appendix B). The 2012 water transparency increase at most sampling stations coincided with limited winter snowpack and limited spring runoff, as well as atypically dry periods during the months of July and August. Years and/or periods of below average precipitation oftentimes coincide with clearer water transparency readings and associated decreases in nutrient (phosphorus) concentrations that are conducive to microscopic plant “algal” growth. Dry peri- ods also tend to coincide with reductions in suspended sediment and silt levels in our lakes and ponds, as well as, decreases in the amount of natural tea colored water that tends to be associated with wetland drainages into the lake. Chlorophyll concentrations reflect the algae levels in the open waters (“greenness”). The 2012 seasonal algae levels (Tables 2 and 4) were generally low and characteristic of a pristine lake. The 2012 median chlorophyll a concentra- tions decreased at five sampling locations, increased at six sampling locations and remained unchanged at one sampling location (Appendix B). Insufficient da- ta were collected at the Loon Reef sampling location and this site is excluded from the comparison. The 2012 chlorophyll a concentrations measured in the water column were consistently below nuisance levels and reflect the dry sum- mer conditions. However, “clouds” of filamentous algae were documented in coves and other shallow areas and likely responded to warm water and calm pe- riods that are conducive to such algal growth. The Squam and Little Squam Lakes’ ability to buffer acid precipitation was low but close to what has been normal for the Squam lakes and other lakes in the region. The pH, measured by the CFB field team, was always within the optimum range in the surface waters while occasional, but natural, pH drops were documented in the deeper waters. iv Site Specific Secchi Disk and Chlorophyll a Trends through 2012 Some sites exhibit water quality improvements while other sites exhibit no change or are characterized by declining conditions. The summary below looks at all of the regularly monitored sites and discusses changes and apparent trends. It begins with Little Squam Lake and moves clockwise around the lake. This year’s summary graphics include box & whisker plots (Appendix B) that are intended to provide a visual summary of the data distribution among years. Refer to Appendix E for a discussion of how to interpret the box and whisker plots: Little Squam (West) was characterized by a deeper median clarity when com- pared to the 2011 Secchi Disk Transparency. The median water transparency exhibits a weak trend of decreasing water transparency since volunteer water quality monitoring was initiated in 1979. The western site exhibits a short-term pattern of increasing median algal concentrations between 2004 and 2006 that follows a trend of decreasing algal growth that was documented between 1998 and 2004. The median cholorophyll a concentrations have been relatively low over the past three years. The Little Squam (East) median 2012 clarity was higher than the 2011 median clarity. As with Little Squam Lake Site 1 West,