Steve & Wendy Corcoran: Plan needed to protect waters of Lake Kanasatka

To The Daily Sun,

We have been New Hampshire residents since 1984. We have been visiting Lake Kanasatka since 2014 on fall vacations and have come to love this small NH lake and the surrounding community.

In 2018 we had the opportunity to purchase a waterfront lot on the lake planning to make this property our permanent residence.

We had one wonderful summer on the lake before the cyanobacteria issue in 2020. We cannot adequately express our concern over the impact that this had on our summer and our property investment.

We became aware of the cyanobacteria issue when our dog started vomiting after two hours. We filed a report with DES at their request. He recovered quickly, but it was the last time, other than by boat, that we used the lake in 2020.

Based on the toxin's affect on dogs, what impact is cyanobacteria having on other wildlife including loons and their young? Loon Preservation Center is pursuing the potential impact of this bacteria on the loons.

We are not registered voters in Moultonborough, however, we are taxpayers and we support the local community for the six months that we are on the lake each year.

Since 1983 the residents/property owners of the lake have participated in the University of New Hampshire Lakes Lay Monitoring Plan where volunteers take and forward those samples to UNH for analysis. UNH also provides yearly sampling to validate the volunteer samples. UNH then publishes a lake water quality annual report. This effort is funded by the Lake Kanasatka Watershed Association.

We support other resident comments on the lake relative to water quality and the need for a water management plan. The only way to correct the situation is a comprehensive evaluation of the Red Hill water shed and surrounding areas so that focused efforts on problem areas are uncovered as part of the WMP.

In researching local water management plans we noted that the Town of Moultonborough is involved in the Squam Lake Water Management Plan and the Moultonborough Bay Inlet Watershed Restoration Plan.

The commitment statement noted within the MBWRP, “The Moultonborough community has made water quality protection a high priority, investing considerable resources over the past five years to address milfoil and lake quality.”

Included in Warrant Article 14 of the town’s projected projects for 2021 was a request for partial funding to support the Lake Kanasatka WMP. This was rejected by the board unanimously.

We would ask that the town board rethink their position on partially funding the Kanasatka WMP. We are financially committed to supporting the Lake Kanasatka WMP. As retirees we are limited but will give what we can.

Think of the fish, loons, osprey and bald eagles on Lake Kanasatka as canaries in the coal mine. When they are gone so is a large Moultonborough tax base. More than just the lake residents will be directly impacted.

Steve & Wendy Corcoran

Moultonborough