HB1301

Please support! This is crucial to our state and our health! Thank you, Mrs. Martha Jaquith

Supporting this bill and the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Fund is vital to maintaining the health of our lakes. Please vote yes.

Protect our waters for wildlife, recreation, tourism, and the humans and demestic animals who enjoy it.

Lakes in New Hampshire are increasingly under threat from cyanobacteria blooms, and it is essential to create more sources of funds to combat these blooms.

More money is needed to replenish the fund to deal with cynanobacteria in our lakes and other water bodies. Raising mooring fees would be a good way to replenish this fund.

This fund was created in 2023 and has been used to fight against harmful cyanobacteria bloom, but it is now nearly depleted.

Our beautiful NH lakes must be adequately funded to combat detrimental cyanobacterial blooms.

I support increasing mooring fees to fund the cyanobacteria mitigation loan and grant fund due to the urgent need for a sustainable funding source to address the escalating threat of harmful cyanobacteria blooms to NH lakes.

I support raising the annual individual mooring fee from $25 to $50 on lakes with mooring programs with half of that fee ($25) being allocated directly to the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan and Grant Fund. This bill is estimated to raise approximately $80,000 per year for the cyanobacteria mitigation fund—a modest but helpful increase. Although the fund was created in 2023, the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan Fund has no mechanism to fund the program going forward. With the incidence of cyanobacteria blooms increasing more funds are needed and the fund should be supported annually.

This bill is critical in the fight to keep our NH Lakes free of Cyanobacteria. State funding to deal with this problem has been critical. As our lakes warm and are more populated, this problem will only grow in scope and area. Mooring fees will replenish the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan and Grant Fund to work with local lakes and communities in keeping NH lakes safe and attractive to visitors.

We need to protect lakes in New Hampshire. They are a critical part of the state's economy.

For years I lived next to a pond (Post Pond in Lyme, NH) that suffered from a crynobacterial problem so I strongly support this bill

HB 1301 raises the annual individual mooring fee from $25 to $50 on lakes with mooring programs. Half of that fee ($25) would go directly to the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan and Grant Fund, raising about $80,000 per year—a modest but helpful boost. While created in 2023, this fund has already helped a handful of lake and watershed associations fight back against harmful cyanobacteria blooms. But it is now nearly depleted—even as more lakes are affected each year—and there is no sustainable funding source to replenish it.

I urge support of this bill which will renew the funds needed to mitigate or prevent cyanobacteria blooms in New Hampshire waters. We have an obligation to protect the waters of this state.

My family and I support HB 1301 because cyanobacteria is already having clear and damaging impacts on Perkins Pond, in Sunapee, NH, where we live. These impacts include increased weed growth and other adverse conditions that directly inhibit safe and enjoyable recreation. Cyanobacteria is a current, growing problem that threatens water quality, public health, and the economic and community value of our lakes. HB 1301 provides a reasonable, targeted funding mechanism, which would help ensure that lake communities like ours have access to the resources needed to address an urgent and worsening environmental challenge.

It is clear that Cyanobacteria issues have become significantly worse in the recent few years. This health risk simply must be adreesed with additional resources. Please provide what is clearly needed by passing 1301. Thank you.

We live here because of the natural beauty of the lakes and air. Researching has connected Cyanobacteria to neurological diseases. The bacteria needs eradication.

Testimony My name is Norm Royce. I’m a resident of Northwood, live on Northwood Lake, am retired from the Aerospace/Defense Industry and the past president of the Northwood Lake Watershed Association. I’m currently an elected member of the town Municipal Budget Committee, an appointed member of the Conservation Committee, and a Board member of NH LAKES. I’m very familiar with Cyanobacteria and the impact it has on the users of our lakes. The recommendation from NHDES when a Cyanobacteria bloom occurs is to close the lake for all water activities, resample in a week, and either stay closed or open the lake based on the sampling results. Cyanobacteria treatment, even in a small body of water, costs several hundred thousand dollars. The good news is that to apply for funds from NHDES, the waterbody must have a Watershed Management Plan in place. This means that the waterbody is being managed for root cause and preventive actions for Cyanobacteria. To just treat the waterbody without a thorough understanding of causes wouldn’t really solve the problem. In my town there are 7 lakes. Over the last several years there have been multiple outbreaks of Cyanobacteria blooms. I've had multiple property owners ask why this is occurring, and should they just sell their property. As President of the Northwood Lake Watershed Association, I wrote Warrant Articles for the three towns that have shoreline on Northwood Lake. These Warrant articles describe the need for education and prevention. I advise that treatment costs are much too expensive - the focus needs to be on root cause and preventive actions. These Warrant articles only provide a small amount of funds required. Please support HB1301. Cyanobacteria blooms can be addressed but it will require funding.

It is critically important to reduce cyanobacteria blooms in the NH Lakes; I support this effort. I have a home on Pleasant Lake.

I support finding ways to minimize the amount of salt that enters the lake.

I am in full support of HB1301 which will provide vital funding for the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan and Grant Fund. I live on Lake Kanasatka in Moultonborough, NH, and I currently serve as treasurer of the Lake Kanasatka Watershed Association (LKWA). Our all-volunteer association was the first recipient of the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan and Grant Fund in 2024. Our 380-acre lake began experiencing cyanobacteria blooms in 2020. LKWA reached out to NH DES to learn about next steps. Our first step was hiring an environmental consultant to write a Watershed-Based Management Plan. This 10-year plan (available on our website, www.kanasatka.org) is a multi-faceted approach to addressing cyanobacteria blooms. We began implementing the steps outlined in the Plan starting in 2022. In the fall of 2023, a lake-wide cyanobacteria bloom turned the water pea green, and we realized that Lake Kanasatka desperately needed an aluminum phosphate treatment to prevent these cyanobacteria blooms. We kicked off a Capital Campaign in November 2023 and applied to the Cyanobacteria Mitigation Loan and Grant Fund for assistance. This grant program covered the bulk of the cost of the alum treatment, for which we are eternally grateful. Our lake residents also gave generously in our Capital Campaign, and many have stepped up to improve their waterfronts, with 40 properties receiving Lake Smart status. We are aware that there are many other lakes in NH that are experiencing cyanobacteria blooms, a danger to health, commerce and tourism. While lake associations work with homeowners to prevent stormwater run-off and encourage septic system maintenance, the state must do its part to provide funding for large capital costs, including alum treatments. We are reaching a turning point, and we urgently request the state to take these steps toward addressing this crisis. Thank you.

One of New Hampshire's most valuable natural resources, our lakes, are threatened by cyanobacteria. Each year many of NH lakes are impacted by this natural chemical reaction often making then unusable for NH residents and visitors! More funding for research, testing, mitigation efforts and watershed studies is needed more than ever! Please support this critical funding bill to help save NH lakes!

This fee increase would provide a boost to protecting our lake from cyanobacteria migration by assigning money to the Cyanobacteria Migration Loan

As a resident of Mascoma Lake in Enfield, NH I strongly support any legislation that regulates lake health. Cyano bacterial blooms are devastating for lake wildlife and human health and recreation. Please pass this bill to protect water quality!