GREETINGS FROM THE BOARD OF Table of Contents DIRECTORS The Pawtuckaway Lake Improvement Association (PLIA) welcomes you P.L.I.A. History and Mission………………………..p 4 to Pawtuckaway Lake. We have been in the business of monitoring and protecting Pawtuckaway Lake Lore the health and safety of Pawtuckaway Lake since the late ‘50’s. Over the years we have grown and expanded, offering more programs of education and support to What’s in a Name?.....................................p 5 those who love what Pawtuckaway has to offer. As of August 2015, we are now a Geology and Formation of the Lake…...……….p 5 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. Since the last printing of this booklet, variable milfoil—an invasive How Do the Dams Figure in?........................p 6 aquatic species—was found within the lake. It has been our biggest challenge Pawtuckaway State Park….………...…………...p 7 fighting to remove this persistent weed. Our work in identifying and marking these plants for removal by State DES divers earned us a Cox Conserves grant, thanks to The Pawtuckaway Community……………………...p 8 the champion of this effort, member and volunteer Neil Santos. Our Programs Our membership is our Lake Hosts……………………………...………..p 10 biggest asset, contributing the majority of our financial Weed Watchers...……………………...………..p 11 support, along with hundreds of volunteer hours Milfoil Management………………...…………..p 14 to staff our programs. Monitoring Water Quality….…………...……..p 15 Volunteers are the backbone of the PLIA, enabling us to Adopt-an-Island..……………………...………..p 15 meet our programs’ objectives as well as providing matching hours necessary for the annual Lake Host Topographic map of Pawtuckaway Lake.....pp 12 & 13 grant. We invite you to join us in those areas described throughout this booklet The Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act..…..p 16 that appeal to you, or to offer other ideas that you feel will support our cause. Best Practices for a Clean Lake………..…….…….p 17 We encourage you to respect the natural beauty and resources of Pawtuckaway Lake as you enjoy this little piece of paradise. By following a few Campfires and Burning Brush………...……………p 18 simple guidelines outlined in this booklet, residents and visitors alike will be able to Drawdown of the Lake………..…….……………..p 18 continue to enjoy Pawtuckaway Lake for generations to come. Significant Events………..……….…………………p 18 We also hope that you will be inspired to become a PLIA member. We invite you to visit our website, www.pawtuckawaylake.com, attend our Annual Recreation on Pawtuckaway Meeting in the spring, or come to our monthly Board meetings, to get to know us. Boating Safety……………………………….……p 19 Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you on the lake! Come explore and discover what Pawtuckaway Lake has to offer you. Our Loons..……………………………….………p 21 Fishing….………………………………….……..p 21 Important Contact Information……………….……p 22 2 3 PAWTUCKAWAY LAKE LORE PAWTUCKAWAY LAKE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION What Does Pawtuckaway Mean? Begun around 1958, the Native Americans are credited with the Pawtuckaway Lake Improvement origin of the lake’s name, Pawtuckaway. Association is a nonprofit body. There are a number of competing Known as the PLIA to its suggestions as to the derivation of the members and friends, the name. One claims Pawtuckaway came organization was created to conserve, protect, and enhance from the Algonquian language meaning Pawtuckaway Lake’s natural water and wildlife resources. Its primary “the Place of the Big Buck”. Another goal is to benefit and educate residents, vacationers, and visitors to the notes that Native Americans called the State Park, boat launches, or Town beach. area of Pawtuckaway “land of sticks and stones”, which applies to the region of You can read a rather folksy historical account of the lake’s history and our the lake, as it was not considered fit for organization at: http://pawtuckawaylake.com/wp-content/ farming. A third possibility is that uploads/2016/04/Mr.-Cromptons-Historical-Commentary.pdf Pawtuckaway originates from the Native American term for “the falls in the river”. And finally, in the Abenaki language Pawtuckaway By 2013, the PLIA was registered as means “clear, open, shallow river”. Take your pick! PLIA Mission and Bylaws are at: a New Hampshire nonprofit corporation, and in 2015, it qualified http://pawtuckawaylake.com/ How Did the Lake Form? for tax exemption under 501(c)(3) of about-us-contact-us/bylaws/ the IRS Code. Its activities include: As the last of the glaciers covering the area began to retreat 30,000 • Recruiting, training, and supervising volunteers to serve in various years ago, they programs; deposited their soil • Monitoring lake water quality; and rock loads. Many • Finding and removing invasive aquatic species around the lake; of these stones were of • Inspecting boating equipment to detect invasive aquatic species; gigantic proportions, still visible in our • Sponsoring the Annual Boat Parade and Volunteer Cookout; State Park’s Boulder • Encouraging island and road cleanup through regular campaigns; Field and Devil’s Den, • Providing information about as well as scattered in shoreland protection laws; and around • Working cooperatively with Pawtuckaway Lake. State and local agencies or Long before settlers moved into the region of the Pawtuckaway Basin, boards for lake protection; waters flowed from higher areas via a series of streams and brooks to • Keeping the public informed lower sections. On the north end the waters created what we now call about lake issues on its website the North River. On the south end, Mountain Brook and other minor www.pawtuckawaylake.com tributaries flowed into small pools, which then drained into what is and periodic email alerts. now called the Pawtuckaway River, also known as the Stingy River. 4 5 The construction of two colonial sawmills changed the area and The dams are made of marked the beginning of two ponds. On the north end, in 1729 a double stone walls with sawmill created Pawtuckaway Pond. On the south end, in 1732 earth embankments. another sawmill created Dolloff Dam Dolloff Pond. is 27 feet high, 414 feet In 1836, in order to long, and spans the Pawtuckaway River, a supply water power to the factories of Newmarket, major tributary in the Lamprey River Basin. two dams were Gove Dike is 9 feet constructed that changed high, 270 feet long, has the features and character no outlet works, with a of the two ponds. roadway on its crest. Drowns Dam is 18 feet high, 235 feet long, and Eventually, steam power releases water at a slower pace than Dolloff. replaced water power, and gradually less water was Pawtuckaway State Park drained from the lake to In 1958 the State of NH began generate power. As water planning for a state park at levels rose over time, these two ponds merged. Pawtuckaway Lake to serve the When it fell on hard times in the early 1920’s the Newmarket recreational needs of the area. Manufacturing Company moved. As a result, its interests in the lake After land acquisition and construction, the Park officially eventually passed into the hands of the New Hampshire Electric Company. Ultimately, the production of electricity became opened in 1966. Located on the unprofitable and in 1956 NH Electric deeded the lake and its islands, lake’s western shore, it offers its adjacent land, two dams, a dike, and the water rights to the State of visitors hiking, camping, New Hampshire. In 1958 and 1959 Dolloff and Pawtuckaway Ponds boating, and a family beach. were merged into Pawtuckaway Pond. Today the lake is 900 acres and Learn about the State Park, find trail maps, and get hiking information: has two operational dams. Its deepest part is about 53 feet. www.nhstateparks.org/visit/state-parks/pawtuckaway-state-park Read entertaining stories - with photos - told by people who built camps and spent summers on Pawtuckaway Lake in the “early days” at: Mountains in www.pawtuckawaylake.com/index.php/history the State Park: a “ring What About the Dams? dike” formed Pawtuckaway’s dams are used to regulate the lake level. In October, 275 million the lake is lowered by releasing water to a level of 4.8 feet below “full years ago by pond”. By spring, melting snow and rain raise the lake to its full level. a magma Check out: www.pawtuckawaylake.com/lake-level/ (and see p. 18). intrusion. 6 7 OUR PAWTUCKAWAY COMMUNITY • Winter wonderland! Pawtuckaway Lake offers year ‘round Pawtuckaway Lake provides a host of activities and opportunities to activities. Winter is not a season for hiding indoors when the enjoy its wildlife, natural resources, and recreational fun. These, in beauty of the frozen lake and turn, encourage people who camp, live on, visit, or just plain love the the State Park’s surrounding lake to come together as an informal community. Here are just a few: woods and trails beckon. Ice skating, cross-country skiing, • Wildlife! Volunteers work with the Loon Preservation snowmobiling, ice fishing, Committee to identify loon nests in snowshoeing, and fat tire late spring, mark them, and put up biking are all reasons to spend protective signs. After a hatch of time with friends and chicks, everyone on and around the members of the Pawtuckaway lake helps to monitor, safeguard, and community outdoors. photograph these unique • Environmental stewards! The PLIA organizes road cleanups visitors. It takes twice a year, sponsors a community of an Island Adoption lake lovers to Program (see p.15) to raise a loon chick! Wildlife enthusiasts keep the lake islands capture amazing photos of these fabulous clean and safe, and birds—along with eagles, herons, turtles, encourages members to hawks, and more. You can view our stunning join various teams to collection in the Wildlife Photo Gallery at: prevent invasive www.pawtuckawaylake.com/photos/ species from infesting wildlife, on the PLIA’s website.