Freedom—December 20, 2023—As the year draws to a close, we want to highlight a trio of organizations working hard to maintain our lakes, surrounding land and groundwater.

Concord-based N.H. LAKES was at the center of a two-year effort that this fall yielded a DES strategy plan to address the growing issue of toxic cyanobacteria in our public waters.

The plan includes developing policies and practices to prevent or limit nutrients from entering our lakes, and enhancing monitoring, early detection and response. Advanced cyanobacteria public education and outreach are also part of the strategy.

“This plan is a huge step towards preventing the increase of and eventually controlling toxic blooms in our lakes and other waters,” said NH LAKES President Andrea LaMoreaux in a November press release.

Closer to home, Green Mountain Conservation Group said it will purchase 34-acres of land on Route 25 known as the Thurston Property, thanks to grants from N.H.’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and the N.H. Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund.

The newly purchased land has 14 acres of pine, 10 acres of hardwood and 9 acres of wetland bisected by Hodgedon Brook. It is rated as a “highest ranked wildlife habitat,” per the announcement, and will expand GMCG’s Natural Area property to 75 acres.

“This land is a significant wildlife corridor and link to other conservation lands on the northern slope of Green Mountain,” GMCG Executive Director Matt Howe said in making the announcement.

Chocorua Lake Conservancy collaborated last year with GMCG and several other local organizations to produce a “crankie,” a 30-foot long “communal painting” created by local artists to tell the history of the Ossipee Aquifer and why it matters.

This March, portions of the crankie were used to create a short, and visually charming, graphic novel that was posted online.

“The aim of this project is to help us visualize the Ossipee Aquifer,” according to the website.

“We can’t see the aquifer with our eyes, but it’s there, in the ground below us. Responsibility falls to us who receive this blessing to protect it for future generations.”