Are New Hampshire's Lakes Too Crowded?

By Shannon Mullen on Friday, June 18, 2004.

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There are about a thousand lakes in New Hampshire, and about 100-thousand registered boats.

Throw in another 30-thousand that don't have to be registered here, some sunny summer weather, and it adds up to a lot of people on the water.

Some say, too many people, and it's cause for concern.

The New Hampshire Lakes Association is holding a conference over the weekend to talk about how much use the lakes can take before they start to show signs of stress.

It's part of an effort to bring people together and make plans for lake protection, before the state has to make laws.

NHPR correspondent Shannon Mullen has more.

Water traffic is nothing new to people who live on and around many of New Hampshire's lakes.

LAKES 1 (T6 1:55) We live here year-round, so from Sept. to May, it's fabulous, from May to September, it's overcrowded.

BUT THEY'RE STARTING TO TALK ABOUT TOO MUCH TRAFFIC.

LAKES 2 (T6 0:15) By all means on weekends, it's way overcrowded, sometimes dangerous b/c there's too many boats.. T4 As a natural lake, shoreline everything being heavily developed, it's worrisome for water quality, for everything, and safety issues, size of motors, how fast boasts go, those things are really scary, and it's a beautiful natural resource. It'd be nice to keep it pristine.

THAT'S WHERE THE NEW HAMPSHIRE LAKES ASSOCIATION COMES IN.

JOEL HARRINGTON IS THE GROUP'S ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY DIRECTOR.

LAKES 3 (Joel T8 14:49) It's obvious to us, through people who use the lakes, and lake enthusiasts, that there's a growing concern of overcrowding. They're feeling the squeeze.

Harrington says overcrowding it not a problem yet, but it could become one.

And he says it stems from THE DIFFERENT WAYS PEOPLE USE THE LAKES.

LAKE 4 ([29s] T8 9:45ish) One belief is that the water should be a place of solitude, tranquility and beauty. The other belief is the water is a place to test the limits, break from monotony and have fun with friends. Both of these beliefs are worthwhile.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN those TWO MAKES IT HARD TO DETERMINE - IN THE LONG RUN - HOW THE STATE SHOULD GO ABOUT PROTECTING THE LAKES SO EVERYONE CAN USE THEM.

LAKE 5 (T8 17:06) It's not necessarily what we're seeing, it's what we're feeling. And when I talk to people and they say gosh the lake isn't what it was 20 years ago, that concerns me, and it concerns our organization.

IT ALSO CONCERNS THE STATE of New Hampshire.

JACQUIE COLBURN IS LAKES COORDINATOR FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES.

LAKES 6 (T3 1:20) There hasn't been an effort in this state to really assess the carrying capacity of water bodies.

'CARRYING CAPACITY'. That's that term used for the amount of development and activity a body of water can handle before it starts to deteriorate.

COLBURN SAYS THE FIRST STEP IN PREVENTING that decline is to understand all of the factors affecting the lake.

LAKES 7 (T3 2:24) You need to assess all characteristics including what's going on recreationally, on the shoreline, and in the watershed, and you certainly need to look at natural and cultural characteristics of those three categories.

REALISTICALLY, SHE SAYS IT SHOULD TAKE ABOUT TEN YEARS TO STUDY ALL OF THE STATE'S ONE-THOUSAND LAKES.

AND WHO'S GOING TO PAY FOR ALL THIS?

LAKES 9 (T10 2:50) Shouldn't really require a lot of money. A lot of the info already exists, certainly a lot of the info has to be gathered and generated, but thank goodness for volunteers... you love those Lake Association members... how devoted they are to their water bodies

AND THERE'S MORE ON THE SUBJECT OF MONEY...

COLBURN HAS BEEN WORKING ON A STATEwide STUDY TO MEASURE THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE'S waterways.

BY LOOKING AT JUST FIVE areas - BOATING, FISHING, SWIMMING, DRINKING WATER AND REVENUE FROM WATERFRONT PROPERTY TAXES - THE STUDY ESTIMATES THE WATERS CONTRIBUTE 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS TO THE STATE'S ECONOMY.

Lose the quality of the lakes and the state loses the income.

(Bring up some water sound...)

OUT ON THE LAKES, THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF IDEAS FLOATING AROUND TO CONTROL OVERCROWDING. -

SOME HAVE PROPOSED setting times when boats have to go so slowly they don't produce wakes.

OTHERS SUGGEST NOISE, SPEED AND/OR HORSEPOWER LIMITS.

And if any regulations are put in place, THE MARINE PATROL would have to ENFORCe THEM.

LAKES 11(T5 14:35) sometimes people have these notions that we can check for this and check for that, and it's not a realistic notion and I'll give you an example - speed limits

Dave BARRETT, is Director of the Department of Safety's Marine Patrol.

. Do I think that people go too fast? Yes I do. Do I think imposing a speed limit is the way to regulate that? Well it's "feel good" legislation, and if you're asking me to enforce it, it's damn near impossible.

SO WHAT TYPE OF REGULATION WILL WORK?

ASK SOMEONE WHO'S DEALING WITH THESE ISSUES ALREADY.

BOB KORTH IS DIRECTOR OF THE LAKES PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN.

Wisconsin has 15 thousand lakes.

The Statewide effort Korth is part of has become a NATIONAL MODEL FOR WATERSHED AND LAKE PROTECTION.

And HE HAS A FEW TIPS ABOUT WHAT'S WORKED FOR THEM.

LAKES 13 (DISC 2 T7 3:36) ...many towns and lake organizations have placed ordinances on the water like speed, horsepower, etc. and they've had success, one successful use we've had are courtesy codes - lake orgs pulling together rules to live by, enforced locally. That's a variety of things.

LAKES 14 (T10 9:39) We have some of that already in place in NH, we just haven't taken it to a state-wide program.

DES's JACQUIE COLBURN SAYS NEW HAMPSHIRE hasn't coordinated its efforts to the extent that Wisconsin has BUT...

LAKES 15 (T10 9:4ish) There's an emphasis by state agencies and Lake Associations to, instead of saying 'you can't, you can't, you can't... please be considerate of, and please think about your actions.'

IF NEW HAMPSHIRE'S LAWMAKERS AND LAKE ACTIVISTS DECIDE THEY NEED REGULATIONS TO CONTROL OVERCROWDING, IT'S LIKELY TO BE A LONG TIME BEFORE THEY PUT THEM IN PLACE.

IN THE MEANTIME, THE LOCALS HAVE THEIR OWN IDEAS ABOUT KEEPING THE LAKES QUIET.

LAKES 16 (T3 0:10) On weekends, in the afternoons, it's very overcrowded. It's wonderful early week, evenings, early mornings, but don't tell anybody.

FOR NHPR NEWS, I'M SM.