Proposed Lake District Septic System Health Regulation

As noted above, the Spofford Lake Association's mission is to protect, enhance and sustain the ecological, environmental and recreational character of Spofford Lake and the surrounding watershed. Given this, the SLA actively supports and encourages efforts to reduce and eliminate actions or substances deemed harmful to the Lake's water quality.

The lake is a jewel of clean and clear water. Shoreline residents enjoy the Lake's ever changing natural beauty and immediate access to its recreational offerings. With these benefits come the responsibility and obligation to act in the interest of the Lake's health.

As noted in our recent newsletter, the Lake is changing.  We cannot treat it the way we did 50 or even 25 years ago. To this end, the town has proposed a health regulation for septic systems in the Spofford Lake District (https://chesterfield.nh.gov).  The goal of this regulation is to protect the lake by ensuring that septic systems close to the Lake are not in failure, are being maintained properly and, over time, are all DES approved. The proposal includes, among other items, filing with the Town and meeting ongoing inspection and pumping requirements. Additionally, all Lake District septic systems, upon property sale or transfer, will require DES certification regardless of condition. Particularly for legacy systems, this may be costly.

As SLA board members have done, individually and collectively, I urge you to carefully weigh the long-term benefits to the Lake's ecology and to the community against the financial costs of these regulations to individual property owners.
The Board of Selectmen is interested in hearing from you on this issue. A public hearing is to be held August 12, 2020 at 7:00 PM via Zoom. Thank you.

For the SLA Board,

Bayard Tracy

Spofford Lake Resource Information

Everyone enjoys Spofford Lake. It's a jewel and remains such thanks, in part, to state regulations enforced by a number of NH agencies.

We have compiled a short listing of state departments you can contact concerning frequently asked questions for:

• Sand, Swim Lines, Docks
• Fishing & Boating
• Stormwater Runoff Guide
• Proposed & Existing Septic System Regulation
• Lake Water Levels: How & Why