Thanks to all our generous membership donations, the PLIA’s Milfoil Management Team has been able to acquire new gear to expand and improve their search and removal operations!
While the Milfoil Team has had a hookah rig since 2018 as well as having numerous milfoil markers, collection bags, and safety gear, the goal is to continue to make the team activities more comprehensive and efficient to contain the milfoil threat.
This year, the PLIA used dedicated membership donations to purchase a second hookah rig and related equipment. This second unit will enable our milfoil team to add two more divers in our ongoing search for milfoil. With another hookah we can cover more areas in a dive session and search heavily infested areas more often in the summer season.
In addition, with dedicated funds we paid for the Weed Control Diver certification of three PADI divers, allowing us to remove milfoil quickly and without dependence on outside organizations to do it for us.
Invasive Species Prevention and Mitigation is the centerpiece of our mission to keep Pawtuckaway Lake clean and healthy. Those efforts include prevention, detection, and removal of non-native milfoil and other invasive species like water chestnut, phragmites, and purple loosestrife. We do this work through three equally important programs: the Lake Host Program, Weed Watchers, and Milfoil Management:
Lake Hosts inspect boats BEFORE their entry, preventing infestations and saving hours of searching and extraction; they also educate boaters about the dangers of aquatic invasive species;
Weed Watchers cruise the lake to find suspicious or infected locations of all kinds of invasive plants, and once detected, remove all but milfoil, which can only be extracted by certified divers;
Milfoil Management team members search for and extract milfoil infestations with the assistance of kayak support to ensure safety.
We think of our invasive species plan as a three-legged stool
that supports our mission to protect property and recreational values for everyone who uses the lake:
With this multi-pronged effort, the PLIA Board of Directors has decided that all donations received in the future should be maintained in the general fund so that we can properly allocate them to a specific effort where needed. Over 75% of our annual revenue is expended on invasive species prevention and mitigation each year, so your generous membership donations are always both appreciated and well-spent.
We thank our members and donors for their continued support of PLIA activities as we look forward to a productive 2021 season. We couldn’t do what we do without you!
Last year, the PLIA applied for and received a grant from the Lamprey River Advisory Committee to purchase a side scan sonar device. We hope to use this equipment in our Milfoil Management Program for searching large areas of the lake by boat to locate possible new areas of milfoil. Last fall, Neil Santos, our Milfoil Team Chair, tested the equipment and wrote a report about its potential use and efficacy. It is one more tool in our arsenal to fight milfoil in Pawtuckaway. We thank the Lamprey River Advisory Committee for their generous support and for giving us this opportunity to explore new avenues to respond to the threat of invasive aquatic species in NH lakes. Pawtuckaway Lake is part of the Lamprey River Watershed and keeping it clean benefits the entire system. You can read Neil’s report 
Background: Dolloff Dam is at least 182 years old as of 2024, according to a 
For these reasons, even if you personally love a good water balloon fight, please resist the temptation at least until after the boat parade, and keep it on land. Super soakers are the perfect alternative, but only with others similarly equipped. Not everyone welcomes the spray!
Every Spring, we mail out printed versions of our newsletter, the PawPrints. This year, we have focused on the topic of invasive aquatic species because Variable Milfoil continues to threaten our lake.
Sweep your driveway, walkways, and steps to remove leftover sand. Sand used to help keep roadways, driveways, and walkways passable during the icy and snowy winter months can cause serious problems when washed into waterbodies by spring rains. Sand deposited in aquatic environments can destroy fish spawning or nesting sites and sand particles suspended in the water can clog fish gills. Deposited sand also causes waterbodies to become shallower, often facilitating plant and algal growth-while having some plants and algae in a lake is a good thing, too much of either is not good for the health of the lake, or our enjoyment of the lake.
Remove storm debris in accordance with the Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act. If your property is located within 250 feet of a lake or river, downed and damaged trees and trees posing an imminent hazard or threat may be felled and removed.
But, be sure to leave the stumps in the ground since stumps do a very good job preventing soil from being eroded off of the landscape and polluting the water (and, it is also illegal to remove the stumps). Trees and storm debris from severe weather events can be removed from waterbodies. If equipment is necessary for the removal of debris from a waterbody, be sure to monitor the equipment for fluid leakage and use temporary work pads to lessen the impacts to the shoreline. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services recommends that property owners take photographs of damaged trees and structures for documentation.