No swimming advisories in Laconia heading into weekend

LACONIA — The beach at Opechee Point was clear of any bacteria advisories, and the rest of Laconia’s beaches were, too, heading into the weekend, though a community member spotted a potential cyanobacteria bloom on Lake Winnipesaukee.

A bacteria advisory was posted at Opechee Point beach on July 18, after testing there indicated the presence of fecal bacteria. Sample results returned to Laconia Parks & Rec on Tuesday and were clear.

“That’s cleared up,” Matt Mansur, assistant director of parks and facilities at Parks & Rec said Thursday morning.

Parks & Rec samples public beaches once a month. Those included are Weirs, Bond and Bartlett beaches, and both beaches on Lake Opechee. City staff began conducting the beach inspection program in 2020, during the COVID pandemic, and continue to do so. That’s why Laconia’s beaches don’t appear on the Healthy Swimming Mapper tool compiled by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. 

Check water quality warnings throughout the weekend by navigating to the Healthy Swimming Mapper at des.nh.gov/water/healthy-swimming/healthy-swimming-mapper.

NHDES staff don't have the capacity to sample all beaches in New Hampshire, Beach Inspection Program coordinator Michele Busi wrote Thursday in an email to The Laconia Daily Sun. She hopes to include Laconia’s advisories on the Healthy Swimming Mapper in the future. 

At present, the best way to know if there are any advisories posted at any of Laconia’s beaches is to go there and see for yourself, or to contact the Parks & Rec department at 603-524-5046.

Before the COVID pandemic, NHDES staff monitored many beaches in the Lakes Region, but have since reduced their numbers. Towns and cities may do their own monitoring, so if a public beach in your municipality doesn’t show on the Healthy Swimming Mapper, call the town office or city hall to make an inquiry.

When a bacteria advisory is issued for a given beach, it doesn’t close it to the public, but is meant to be a warning regarding potential risks. If a fecal bacteria advisory is issued, resampling will occur until that particular beach is clear. 

A clean sample is defined by a bacteria result lower than 88 parts per 100 mL, the state benchmark. If two sample results from one location are above the state standard, or if any one sample is above 158 parts per 100 mL, an advisory is issued. When a beach is under an advisory, signs are posted at entrances. Signs are removed when sample results indicate bacteria levels below the state standard. 

Another fecal bacteria advisory at Ellacoya State Park RV Beach in Gilford remains in place. That advisory was issued July 16, and was scheduled for resampling on Wednesday. Those results were not available by press time. 

It’s the second such advisory issued there this summer  — the first ran June 25-27.

Over in Meredith, Leavitt Park Beach had a bacteria advisory of its own. That advisory was issued on Thursday, with new test results expected on Wednesday, July 30. In Center Harbor, at the town beach, another bacteria advisory was also issued on Thursday, with results there expected on July 30, too.

On Moultonborough Neck near Sobel Road, a community member reported a possible cyanobacteria bloom to NHDES on July 22. The person who submitted the report was standing on the shoreline and observed the potential bloom also along the shoreline, according to the Healthy Swimming Mapper. 

The observed material appeared heavier deeper down in the water column and resembled a snow globe. A sample was collected the same day, and NHDES staff note the cyanobacteria level was “too numerous to count." 

There haven’t been any cyanobacteria warnings issued on Lake Winnipesaukee in the Moultonborough or Tuftonboro areas in 2025.