Category: Uncategorized

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 here

You may be seeing ice fisherman on parts of Pawtuckaway Lake, but there is still a lot of open water, and that could spell danger for anyone venturing out. Please never go on the ice alone, and always check the thickness before you step on it. Remember, ice thickness can vary from location to location, so always keep checking!

The graphic above has rough minimum measurements you should consult before doing so. However, the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, NH, offers a “rule of thumb” on ice thickness: “There should be a minimum of six inches of hard ice before individual foot travel, and eight to ten inches of hard ice for snow machine or All-Terrain Vehicle travel.”

Temperatures this season have varied wildly, with snow, rain, thawing and freezing weather creating dangerous conditions on the ice. Ice can be thick, but not strong, because of varying weather conditions. Weak ice is formed when warming trends break down ice, then the slushy surface re-freezes.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has some very helpful tips regarding ice safety and you can read them and watch their vieo by clicking here.

To all our winter sports enthusiasts:  Safety first!

Background:  Dolloff Dam is at least 182 years old as of 2024, according to a survey conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1978. Over the years it has seen many improvements and repairs. The stoplog section was added to the dam in 1956 in place of a gated outlet at the same time the spillway was enlarged. In 1964, its upstream side was resurfaced with concrete and in 1970 a concrete walkway was built. In 1974, the dam was again rehabilitated and the stoplog section was reconstructed.

Forward to more recent times:  By 1985, further repairs had become necessary. In order to conduct the repairs, the level of  water in Pawtuckaway Lake had to be dropped drastically so that work could be accomplished on dry land. In the fall of that year, therefore, the usual drawdown of the lake continued until most of the water was drained off by October. This left an eerie landscape that was captured in photographs by former Pawtuckaway resident George Robinson, among others. George offered his photos to the Nottingham Historical Society and member John Bartsch transferred the images from slides to digital pictures. Courtesy of George, John, and the Nottingham Historical Society, we are pleased to be able to share this wonderful view into the past with the visitors to our website.

We have created a new Photo Gallery here, devoted to these pictures to add to our permanent collection of photographs of Pawtuckaway Lake on this website. For those of you who may have your own memories of this historic event, we would love to hear from you. Needless to say, if you have photos of the lake during or after it was drained that you would be willing to share as well, we will be delighted to post them on the website. Just send us an email at: Info@PawtuckawayLake.com and if applicable, attach your pictures.   Enjoy! And thanks!

For those of you who missed the 2020 Annual Meeting held live via Zoom on July 25th, 2020 or attended but were not able to re-join after the “technical difficulties”, the recordings of the presentation are available for your viewing below.

Introduction

Election of the PLIA Board

Membership

Treasurer’s Report

Water Testing

Lake Hosting

Weed Watchers

Milfoil Management

Fundraising and Grants

Government Relations

Lake Hero Award

Fourth of July Boat Parade

Questions and Closing