Water Quality Monitoring
February 2026 Update | In 2025, the VLAP team, Jim LaDine, Frank Belfsky and Russ Phillips, sampled the lake waters in June, July and August. We were pleased to see CLAPA members participate in sampling. Thanks to Bob Lincourt and Tom Whitney. Samples are generally taken at eleven locations, but as the summer progressed several tributaries dried up due to lack of rain. The water quality remained generally good. Trends in lake water quality seemed to benefit from the thick ice and heavy snow of ‘24-’25, and the favorably harsh winter seems to be repeated in the ’25-‘’26 season.
The lake was able to substantially reduce some nutrients, but not others, and we look forward to seeing if the trend line sustains a second year of improvement
The collection of annual results is presented below. In 2026, we aim to reduce testing to once per year and we are evaluating ways to evaluate the lake on an infrequent basis for pollutants as well as aquatic nutrients.
The lake was able to substantially reduce some nutrients, but not others, and we look forward to seeing if the trend line sustains a second year of improvement
The collection of annual results is presented below. In 2026, we aim to reduce testing to once per year and we are evaluating ways to evaluate the lake on an infrequent basis for pollutants as well as aquatic nutrients.
| vlap_chemical_parameter_explanations.pdf |
| contoocook_jaffrey_july.pdf |