Climate change is affecting our lakes. WWA is responding.
Heavier downpours. Warmer water. More stress on shorelines, streams, wetlands, roads, and aging infrastructure.
Climate change can feel like an enormous challenge for a small watershed organization. But when it comes to protecting Lake Wentworth and Crescent Lake, there is a great deal we can do right here at home.
In fact, WWA is already doing it.
Our updated Watershed Management Plan identifies increasing rainfall intensity and climate change as growing stresses on the watershed. It also gives us a roadmap for responding: reduce polluted runoff, protect natural shorelines and wetlands, conserve important lands, maintain long-term monitoring, and help people take action on their own properties.
KEEPING RAIN WHERE IT FALLS
Reducing stormwater runoff
More intense storms can carry sediment, phosphorus, and other pollutants from roads, driveways, lawns, and developed properties into our lakes.
WWA identifies problem sites, develops solutions, works with property owners and the Town of Wolfeboro, and helps put stormwater improvements on the ground.
At Wentworth Estates, a recently completed stormwater project now captures and infiltrates runoff before it reaches Lake Wentworth.
Every gallon of stormwater we keep out of the lake carries pollution with it.
BUILDING LIVING SHORELINES
Restoring the lake’s natural defenses
Trees, shrubs, native plants, wetlands, and healthy soils are some of our best defenses against a changing climate.
Natural shorelines slow runoff, stabilize soil, capture nutrients, provide shade, and create habitat.
Through shoreline revegetation and Lake Minded property visits, WWA helps property owners turn their own yards and shorelines into part of the solution.
PROTECTING LAND THAT PROTECTS WATER
Conserving forests and wetlands
What happens on the land eventually affects the water.
Protecting forests, wetlands, headwaters, and other sensitive lands allows the watershed to naturally absorb and filter water while protecting wildlife habitat and limiting future sources of runoff.
WWA currently protects 485 acres, and we continue working with conservation partners to identify lands that are especially important to the future health of the watershed.
WATCHING FOR CHANGE
Long-term science matters more than ever
You can’t protect a lake if you don’t know how it is changing.
WWA’s long-term monitoring helps us track water quality and identify changes that may otherwise be invisible from the surface.
As our climate changes, monitoring phosphorus, water clarity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, cyanobacteria, and other indicators gives us the information we need to recognize problems early and make better decisions.
RESPONDING TO EMERGING THREATS
Cyanobacteria and invasive species
Changing environmental conditions can create new challenges for lakes.
WWA supports cyanobacteria monitoring and response while our Lake Hosts, volunteers, and Dive Team work to prevent, detect, and control aquatic invasive species.
Early detection gives us the best chance to act before a problem becomes much larger and more expensive.
TURNING PROPERTY OWNERS INTO PART OF THE SOLUTION
Thousands of small actions add up
Climate resilience isn’t something WWA can build alone.
Rain gardens. Vegetated buffers. Healthy septic systems. Less fertilizer. Infiltration trenches. Native plants. Leaving trees and natural areas intact.
When these practices are repeated across hundreds of properties, their collective impact can be enormous.
That’s why education and our Lake Minded program are such important parts of protecting the watershed.
THE GOOD NEWS: LOCAL ACTION WORKS.
Over the last decade, work by WWA, municipalities, volunteers, property owners, and conservation partners helped achieve a 15% reduction in phosphorus and sediment loading to Lake Wentworth.
Now our updated Watershed Management Plan sets the next challenge: further reduce phosphorus and sediment loading while preparing our watershed for changing conditions.
We cannot control how much rain falls.
We cannot control how warm a summer becomes.
But together, we can make Lake Wentworth, Crescent Lake, and the watershed around them more resilient to those changes.
YOU ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION.
Schedule a Lake Minded property visit.
Volunteer with WWA.
Support watershed restoration projects.
Protect your shoreline.
Become a member or make a gift.
Every action taken on the land helps protect the water.