Milfoil Team Coordinator Neil Santos addressed the Nottingham Select Board at its meeting on October 6, 2025. PLIA Board members Tom Duffy, Shelly Heit, Pete Wawrzonek, and Pam Kelly were also present.
Neil’s presentation concerned the current status of milfoil infestations on Pawtuckaway, which in recent months have multiplied at the north end of the lake. He reported that NH DES conducted a survey last week and discovered even more milfoil infestations.
Neil’s slideshow illustrated the locations and density of milfoil, especially in the shallows of the Fundy. He explained how its proliferation had gotten beyond the capacity of PLIA volunteers to locate and extract it, despite having already dedicated 720 hours to that effort. Professional divers have had to be hired to supplement volunteers’ efforts. He emphasized that the Fundy is a major traffic channel of transport for motorized boats, because the public boat ramp there is the busiest in the State. When plants in that channel are broken up by the force of propellors, they spread quickly.
For the most part, the team of PLIA volunteers has been concentrating on removal in the south end of the lake. This is primarily because weed control is more feasible there, while the weedy and silty, extremely shallow nature of the north end makes removal near impossible. Those hours do include search and removal in the north end as well, however.
Neil stressed the need for help, likely in the nature of herbicide application in the Fundy, an area covering at least 50 acres. NH DES would decide the nature and extent of a permit for this kind of operation. He estimated that the cost would approximate $50,000, and he outlined the potential sources of funding for such a project. Principally there would be a grant request from NH DES, but the most that could be expected from that agency would be $25,000.
His purpose was to inform the Select Board about the situation and let them know that the PLIA will return for a request for money after securing other sources of funding and learning what the DES will recommend for action. Neil anticipated a contribution of $10,000 from the PLIA and hopes to be able to tap Nottingham’s Invasive Species Fund for at least $15,000. There is a balance of $87,00 currently in that fund. Finally, he said the PLIA will investigate possible funding from the Lamprey River Advisory Committee (LRAC) and continue to make a case to the State Park system for money to alleviate this threat to the lake. The Select Board might make a request to the State Park on behalf of the Town as well.
Also attending the meeting and speaking to the Select Board were PLIA Members Jamie Burleigh, Dan Davis, and Therese Thompson. The latter two are also on the Lamprey River Advisory Committee. Dan reminded everyone that phosphorus in the lake is a larger threat, as it feeds both milfoil and cyanobacteria blooms. Neil responded that the PLIA is pursuing another grant to provide data to support the funding of projects to alleviate phosphorus loading. Therese suggested that milfoil removal on Pawtuckaway is crucial to prevent it from escaping into the Lamprey River. Jamie advised the group that lowering the lake level would do nothing to kill milfoil, since it can revive after years of being left high and dry. See the full presentation here.