Concord, New Hampshire. Bob Manley is holding out for the ideal moment.
From one side of Lake Winnipesaukee to the other, he will paddle 21 miles clean while slipping his scull—a long, narrow rowing shell—into the lake.However, the weather must be perfect—no intense heat, no heavy rain, and no strong gusts that could create 4-foot waves. Additionally, the amount of toxic, bright green cyanobacteria blooms—which are exacerbated by climate change—must be kept to a minimum to avoid any issues.
In order to solve the environmental issues that are developing in the lake he loves, Manley is rowing to raise money and awareness.
Warmer temperatures and more nutrients for the bacteria to feed on led to record cyanobacteria blooms at Winnipesaukee in 2024. For days at a time, it kept swimmers out of some areas of the lake.
Some saw the high levels as a warning that water quality problems were endangering the largest lake in New Hampshire, a popular tourist destination and the location of summer camps that families have been going to for many years.
The center of this area is this lake. According to Manley, owner of the Hermit Woods Winery in Meredith, it is the reason visitors travel here from all over the world. Our livelihood is at risk if our lake is endangered.
According to a 2021 Dartmouth research, Lake Winnipesaukee makes around $17 billion in economic contributions to the state annually. This covers the impact on local real estate values, tourism and recreation, and resources for neighboring communities.
“I don’t think you could emphasize enough how crucial it is that we preserve this body of water,” Manley remarked. In order to support the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance, a nonprofit organization devoted to lake protection via stewardship, education, monitoring, and management, he is rowing.
Since the early 1980s, the organization has been monitoring Winnipesaukee’s water quality. According to Bree Rossiter, manager of the conservation program, throughout that time, phosphorus levels have increased and cyanobacteria blooms have reached record-high levels.
All of the lakes and ponds in New Hampshire have low amounts of cyanobacteria, a naturally occurring bacteria that resembles algae. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, it is one of the oldest living things on Earth, but when it develops rapidly, it can become poisonous, resulting in skin rashes, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, and in rare instances, death for both humans and dogs.
We’ve never seen as many cyanobacteria blooms on Winni as we did in 2024, even in areas of the lake that don’t normally have the potentially harmful blooms, Rossiter said.
According to Rossiter, the lake’s ice cover has decreased recently, with 2023 seeing the smallest duration of covering since the 1800s. This has made it possible for sunlight to enter the lake earlier in the season, which promotes the growth of cyanobacteria. Strong rainstorms have caused runoff to enter the lake from lawns, carrying nutrients that support the growth of cyanobacteria.
The region is experiencing those conditions more frequently as a result of climate change. According to Rossiter, the number of potentially harmful blooms more than doubled in 2024 compared to previous years.
She remarked, “It’s just a recipe for disaster.”
According to the alliance’s findings, the lake’s phosphorus levels have increased by around 300 percent since European settlers arrived. Phosphorus levels in the lake’s water have increased to roughly six parts per billion during the last ten years, according to Rossiter. More phosphorus in the water encourages the growth of algae and other plants, which frequently results in murkier water.
Lake Winnipesaukee is not the only lake with water quality problems, according to Andrea LaMoreaux, president and policy champion at NH Lakes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to lake preservation and restoration. According to her, big cyanobacteria blooms, reduced transparency, and elevated algae levels are indicators that lakes in the state are nearing a tipping point, where things might grow lot worse and cleanup could become much more challenging.
Lakes naturally begin to fill in as they get older, partly because of debris that streams bring in. When there are more plants in the water, the clean water gets murkier. Lakes gradually transform into ponds, marshes, meadows, and finally dry ground. However, according to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, humans are speeding up that process by introducing additional nutrients into lake water from sources like stormwater runoff, fertilized lawns, and farmland.
According to LaMoreaux, sightings of cyanobacteria blooms have increased throughout the 2000s and have accelerated recently.
According to her, what’s new is that Lake Winnipesaukee blossomed nearly lakewide twice last summer. That, I believe, is what attracted attention. Suddenly, there are cyanobacteria in the large, immaculate lake.
The tipping point for increased cyanobacteria and algae bloom usually occurs when the water has roughly 10 parts per billion of phosphorus, according to Amanda McQuaid, director of the University of New Hampshire Lakes Lay Monitoring Program.
Sadly, she remarked, many of our lakes kind of dip in and out of that area. (The goal of the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance is to keep the lake’s phosphorus levels at no more than eight parts per billion.)
McQuaid cited the rush of construction during the COVID-19 epidemic as evidence that human expansion around lakes can exacerbate the issue. Runoff transports nutrients into the water, feeding plants, bacteria, and algae, whereas impervious surfaces, such as driveways, parking lots, and rooftops, deflect water rather than allowing it to be absorbed into the ground. Another offender is a leaky septic system along a lake.
Private estates surround a large portion of the shoreline of Winnipesaukee, a highly urbanized lake. This restricts the areas in which mitigation projects can be carried out by the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance.
However, the alliance also works with landowners to offer suggestions on how to make their properties more lake-friendly, such as pumping their septic system, avoiding fertilizers, or putting in a buffer of native plants along their shoreline to filter runoff of filthy storm water.
However, local businesses on and near the lake were hampered by the increase in cyanobacteria blooms last summer.
The fifth-generation innkeeper at Gilford, New Hampshire’s Ames Farm Inn is Peggy Ames. She had to tell her guests last summer why they were not allowed to swim in the lake.
Visitors could go elsewhere if the flowers persisted, she said. According to Ames, many don’t want to go up here and miss out on the water’s beauty.
However, she claimed that the blossoms attracted attention and might inspire people to act.
“It made people realize that we do need to protect this resource,” she added.