🦅 WILDLIFE SUNDAY: A Healthy Watershed Supports More Than Just Our Lake!🦆 Lake Winnisquam and its surrounding watershed provide important habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, from fish and aquatic insects to loons, eagles, and other birds. But wildlife depends on more than beautiful scenery. Healthy water, natural shorelines, and protected habitat all play a role in supporting the animals that call our watershed home. 🌿 Protect shoreline vegetation. 💧 Reduce pollutants entering streams and the lake. 🐟 Help maintain healthy aquatic habitats. When we protect Lake Winnisquam, we're protecting an entire ecosystem. What's your favorite wildlife sighting around the lake? Share your photos and stories in the comments! 📸 #WildlifeSunday #LakeWinnisquam #WatershedProtection #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork

🌿 SAVE THE DATE: NOVEMBER COMMUNITY CAFE! Join the Winnisquam Watershed Network on Tuesday, November 17th, from 5:30–6:30 PM for our next Community Café, featuring the Lakes Region Tourism Association! 🎉 Our Community Café series brings the community together for an evening of learning, conversation, and connection with guest speakers who are passionate about what they do. Come learn something new, connect with others in our community, and enjoy a fun evening with WWN! Bring a friend or family member—we'd love to see you there! 💙 📅 Tuesday, November 17th ⏰ 5:30–6:30 PM 🎤 Guest Speaker: Lakes Region Tourism Association 📍 Laconia Public Library We look forward to seeing you there! #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #WWNCommunityCafe #LakesRegionNH #CommunityConnections #LakeWinnisquam

🍂 Watershed Wednesday: Fall Leaves & the Watershed! 💧 As the leaves continue to change color and fall, they bring beautiful autumn scenery—but did you know they can also affect the health of our lakes? 🍁 When leaves accumulate in streets, driveways, and gutters, rainwater can carry them into storm drains and waterways. As they decompose, leaves release nutrients that can contribute to excess algae growth in our lakes. 💚 What can you do to help protect Lake Winnisquam? 🍂 Keep leaves out of storm drains and drainage ditches. 🌿 Compost leaves or use them as mulch in your garden. 🧹 Sweep leaves off driveways and sidewalks before rain washes them away. Small actions at home can make a big difference in keeping our watershed healthy! Let's enjoy the beauty of fall while protecting the waters we love. 💙 #WatershedWednesday #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #LakeWinnisquam #FallLeaves #ProtectOurWatershed #CleanWaterStartsWithUs

🌊 WWN Weekly Water Quality Update | October 15, 2026 🍂 Fall turnover has arrived on Lake Winnisquam! As the lake continues to cool, changing water temperatures allow the water column to mix, redistributing oxygen and nutrients throughout the lake. 💧 This week’s water quality highlights: 🌡️ Surface water temperature: 56.3°F 🔄 Thermocline: Fully mixed 📏 Lake level: 481.67 ft — 16.8 inches below mean 🔎 Water clarity: 24 ft 🦠 Cyanobacteria report: None 🏖️ Beach advisories: None Thank you for helping us protect the lake we all love! 💙 #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #LakeWinnisquam #WaterQuality #FallTurnover #ProtectOurLake

☕🦅 Thank You for Joining Our First Community Cafe! 🦅☕ A big THANK YOU to everyone who joined Winnisquam Watershed Network for our very first Community Cafe! We loved bringing our community together to learn more about the wildlife that makes our region so special. 💙 A special shout-out to Mickayla Johnston of New Hampshire Audubon for sharing the history of Bald Eagles in New Hampshire and providing an update on these magnificent birds here on Lake Winnisquam. We learned so much and are grateful for her knowledge and passion! We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center for hosting our event and helping us kick off this exciting new monthly speaker series! 🌿 We're thrilled to get our Community Cafes up and running and look forward to bringing you more opportunities to learn, connect, and celebrate our beautiful watershed and the community we call home. 📅 SAVE THE DATE: November 17th! Join us for our next Community Cafe featuring the Lakes Region Tourism Association as we explore tourism and its impact on our local economy. We hope to see you there! ☕🌊 #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #CommunityCafe #BaldEagles #NHAudubon #LakeWinnisquam #CommunityConnections

🍂 Watershed Wednesday: Winterize Your Watershed-Friendly Property! 🌧️🏡 As temperatures drop and winter approaches, now is a great time to give your property a quick watershed checkup! 🍁 A little fall maintenance can go a long way toward protecting Lake Winnisquam through the changing seasons. 💧 Here’s what to check before winter: 🌿 Shoreline buffers: Keep native vegetation in place to help filter runoff and stabilize soil. 🌧️ Drainage areas: Clear leaves and debris from drainage paths so water can flow properly. 🪨 Erosion-prone spots: Look for bare soil or areas where rainwater could wash sediment toward the lake. 🍂 Leaf cleanup: Keep excess leaves out of storm drains and away from areas where runoff carries them into the water. Every property is part of the watershed, and small actions at home can make a big difference for lake health! 💙 How are you preparing your property for winter? Share your favorite fall watershed-friendly tip in the comments! #WatershedWednesday #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #LakeWinnisquam #ProtectOurWatershed #FallMaintenance #LakeStewardship

🌿 JUST 2 DAYS UNTIL OUR FIRST COMMUNITY CAFE! ☕️ A friendly reminder that the Winnisquam Watershed Network’s very first Community Cafe is happening this Tuesday, October 20, and we hope you can join us! 🦅 We’re excited to welcome Mickayla Johnston from the NH Audubon Society, who will share insights about the Bald Eagle population on Lake Winnisquam and the latest happenings from this summer! Join us for an evening of community, conversation, and learning as we kick off our new monthly series. Whether you’re passionate about local wildlife, love our lakes, or simply want to learn something new, everyone is welcome! 📅 Date: Tuesday, October 20 ⏰ Time: 5:30–6:30 PM 📍 Location: Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center, 928 White Oaks Rd, Laconia, NH 03246 📝 Planning to attend? Check the comments for our RSVP form so we know how many people to expect! We’re so excited about the interest in our first Community Cafe and thrilled to already have people RSVP’d! 💚 We can’t wait to see everyone there! 🌿

🌊 WWN Weekly Water Quality Update | October 8, 2026 💧 Here’s this week’s look at Lake Winnisquam’s water quality! 🌡️ Surface Water Temperature: 59.9°F at 3 feet deep 📏 Lake Level: 481.67 ft — 6.36 inches below mean because of the Lake Drawdown 🔎 Lake Clarity: 22.3 feet 🌡️ Thermocline Depth: 41 feet 🦠 Cyanobacteria Report: None 🏖️ Beach Advisories: None Fall has settled in, and Lake Winnisquam’s surface water temperature continues to reflect the changing season. This week, there are no reported cyanobacteria concerns or beach advisories. We’ll continue monitoring lake conditions to help keep our community informed! 💙 Stay informed, stay lake smart, and help protect the lake we all love. #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #LakeWinnisquam #WaterQualityWednesday #LakeHealth #ProtectOurWatershed

🍂💧 Wrapping up our 2026 monitoring season! Over the past few weeks, our Plankton Patrol and Buoy Patrol volunteers have been busy completing their final sampling events of the season. Yesterday, we conducted phosphorus isotope sampling in partnership with Subtidal, our buoy monitoring partners. This research will help us better understand the sources of phosphorus in Lake Winnisquam and what’s entering the lake, an important piece of the puzzle in protecting water quality. 🔬 We’ll have more results to share this winter as we continue analyzing the plankton samples collected throughout the summer. We can’t wait to share what we’ve learned! 🍁 Fall is my absolute favorite season to sample. There’s a certain calm that settles over the lake as the days grow shorter and everything begins to slow down in preparation for winter. The changing colors, the crisp air, and the peacefulness of being out on the water make it a truly special place to be. 💙 A heartfelt thank-you to our volunteers who dedicate their time to helping us better understand and protect this incredible resource. The field season may be winding down, but there’s still plenty of science happening behind the scenes! #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #LakeWinnisquam #WaterQuality #CitizenScience #ProtectOurLakes #FallOnTheLake

🌱 Watershed Wednesday: Plant Now, Protect Later! 🍂 Did you know fall is a great time to plant native vegetation? 🌿 Native plants help protect Lake Winnisquam by filtering pollutants, absorbing runoff, and holding soil in place with their roots. When planted along shorelines, they create a natural buffer that helps keep excess nutrients and sediment from entering the lake. 💚 What can you do?💚 Consider adding native trees, shrubs, or wildflowers to your property this fall! Even a small planting can make a difference in protecting our watershed. Together, we can keep Lake Winnisquam healthy for generations to come! #WatershedWednesday #WinnisquamWatershedNetwork #LakeWinnisquam #ProtectOurWatershed #NativePlants