Pamela Parker

Lake Preservation Series: Septic Systems and Partridge Lake

By Pamela Parker · June 23, 2026

There are three main issues to discuss for Septic Systems around the lake:

The Quality of your Septic System;
The Maintenance of the system and Controlling what goes into it;
Septic system requirements in a sale of property within 250 feet from the lake.

It is very important to know the location and age of your system. The diagnostic study done on Partridge Lake concludes that faulty, old, or non-existent septic systems are basically the 2^nd largest contributor to the amount of phosphorus entering the lake. (The first being runoff contributions from the bodies of water entering the lake). Please make yourself aware of the state of your system and what needs to be done.

Again, mindfulness is the key word when thinking about your system. A septic system needs to be pumped every year for year-round residents and every 2-3 years for summer people. What goes into your system will still end up eventually affecting the lake, as phosphorus seepage from the leach field will enter the ground water and eventually still show up in the leaves on the trees, for example, which will potentially blow into the lake. Therefore, please try to use cleaning products that are phosphorus-free and be mindful about putting food in the garbage disposal, etc.

It should be noted that there are NH laws in place for the inspection of septic systems during any real estate transaction with a septic system within 250 feet of a lake.

As of September 1, 2024, the Septic Inspection Law in the state of NH was overhauled. Rather than paraphrase and risk misinterpreting the law, I have copied it here for complete clarification.

Waterfront Septic Inspection Law (House Bill 1113)

Effective Sept 1, 2024, this law overhauled inspection requirements for properties near protected waterbodies.
Key points:

Sellers no longer must perform septic site assessments.
Buyers are now required to obtain a septic inspection before transfer.
Requirement applies when any part of the septic system is within 250 ft of lakes, ponds (>10 acres), coastal waters, or 4th‑order+ rivers.
Inspections must be performed by a licensed septic evaluator.
If a septic system is failing, repairs/replacement are required within 180 days.

The 24‑Inch SHWT Rule (Statewide – Major 2024 Overhaul)

New Hampshire implemented a major design rule change affecting septic leach fields.
Key points:

The Seasonal High Water Table (SHWT) is the highest level the groundwater rises to during the year, usually caused by seasonal conditions like snowmelt, heavy rain, or spring runoff.
Septic leach fields can now be installed with only 24 inches of separation from the SHWT – i.e., the bed bottom of a conventional septic system effluent disposal area (a.k.a. leach field) must be 24 inches above the SHWT.
Previously required much larger buffers, (48 inches), which limited many properties with high water tables.
Intended to reduce construction cost while maintaining environmental protections.

Additional Statewide Notes (2025–2026)

Septic inspections have become more emphasized in real estate transactions due to the Waterfront Law.
NHDES reminds homeowners that many issues require both Approval for Construction and Approval for Operation before use.

Littleton, NH Septic & Related Regulations

Littleton does not publish standalone septic rules; instead, it follows state NHDES requirements. Local regulations mainly cover permitting, zoning, and sewer connection. For Littleton’s direct septic regulations please defer to state NHDES rules, including the new 24‑inch SHWT rule and 2026 permitting changes.

1. Littleton Zoning & Building Permit Requirements (Updated 2025)

Littleton requires permits for work that often coincides with septic projects.
Key points:

A building/zoning permit is required before excavation, new construction, structure relocation, or demolition.
Flood zone regulations apply for projects in 100‑year flood zones.

Summary for Littleton and Partridge Lake Homeowners in Littleton

If you are building, modifying, buying, or selling a property in Littleton, NH:

You must follow:

Statewide NHDES septic rules (2026 revised forms, construction approvals, inspections).
Waterfront Inspection Law if within 250 ft of protected waterbodies.
24‑inch SHWT rule when designing or replacing septic systems.

One can find a licensed septic evaluator at: the Granite State Onsite Wastewater Association.

Lake Preservation Series: Preventing Shoreline Erosion

By Pamela Parker · June 16, 2026

Now that our lake has been treated to reduce the existing phosphorous problem, it’s important for our community to continue to reduce new phosphorous loading. To extend the impact of this treatment for as many years as possible, there are many things each of us can do. This series will be about preserving the quality of our lake through reducing shoreline erosion, septic system upkeep, reducing run-off from roads and restricting certain household/yard products.

Shoreline erosion on small lakes is primarily driven by wind-generated wave energy, yet its mechanisms and contributing factors differ in some ways from coastal erosion. Here are the key factors:

1. Wind and Wave Action

In small lakes, the wind is the dominant force. The unrestricted span of water, known as the fetch, allows wind to generate waves. Even without tides, a persistent wind or a sudden storm can create waves that continuously batter and undercut the lake’s banks.

2. Bank Composition and Slope

The type of sediment or rock making up the shoreline plays a crucial role. Soft, loose sediments like sand or silt are far more susceptible to being lifted and moved by wave action, while more consolidated materials, such as clay or rock, resist erosion better. Additionally, steeper shorelines tend to experience rapid erosion once the protective zone of vegetation or accumulated sediments begins to wear away.

3. Water Level Fluctuations

Seasonal changes, precipitation patterns, evaporation, and even human management of lake water levels (like through dam operations) contribute to fluctuating water levels. When water levels drop, it can expose banks that were previously submerged and more stable. Conversely, rapid rises in lake levels can abruptly subject the banks to increased wave energy, accelerating the erosion process.

4. Freeze-Thaw Cycles

In regions with cold winters, the freeze-thaw process significantly weakens shoreline integrity. Water that seeps into the bank freezes and expands, creating stress and cracks in the soil. When it thaws, the weakened materials become easier targets for erosion, gradually working the shoreline down over repeated cycles.

5. Vegetation Cover

Vegetation acts as a natural stabilizer. Plant roots help anchor the soil and reduce the velocity of water flow at the surface. Removing vegetation, whether due to natural factors like disease or human activities such as landscaping or shoreline development, leaves the banks more vulnerable to erosion.

6. Human Activities

Beyond vegetation removal, activities like constructing boat ramps, and the frequent passage of motorized boats create waves (boat wakes) that can accelerate erosion. Sometimes, remedial actions such as building rip-rap (rocks or concrete structures) may offer protection in the short term—but they can also interfere with the natural deposition of sediments, potentially exacerbating erosion in adjacent areas.

Each of these factors can interact, sometimes amplifying the overall rate of erosion. For example, a period of low water levels combined with the removal of vegetation and a sudden strong wind event can lead to surprisingly rapid shoreline retreat.

Wake boats can have notable effects on the shoreline in a small lake, often leading to accelerated erosion and other environmental impacts. Their impact is particularly evident in small lakes where the water body doesn’t provide a vast area to dissipate the energy generated by these boats.

How Wake Boats Influence Shoreline Erosion

Wave Generation and Concentrated Energy: Wake boats are engineered to produce large, powerful wakes for water sports like wake surfing or tubing. On a small lake, the limited fetch (the distance over water that a wave can travel) means that these generated waves don’t have room to dissipate their energy gradually. Instead, the wave energy becomes concentrated as it reaches the shoreline, increasing the force of the water impacting the banks. This intensified wave action can loosen sediments, undercut banks, and accelerate the natural erosion processes.
Disruption of Bank Composition and Vegetation: The repeated impact of these high-energy wakes can disturb and remove organic material that typically helps stabilize a shoreline. Vegetation, which anchors soils and reduces the speed of water runoff, may be uprooted or damaged by the constant battering of large waves. Without sufficient vegetative cover, the soil is left exposed and is far more susceptible to erosion. Over time, this leads to a loss of soil mass, altered shoreline contours, and even potential damage to docks or lakeside structures.
Cumulative Effects in Small Lakes: In a small lake environment, even a few wake boat events can have a sizable cumulative impact because the whole lake ecosystem is more sensitive to sudden changes in energy dynamics. Residents in some areas have reported significant shoreline loss over a period of several years attributed to discussions of wake-enhanced boating. For example, in some small lakes—often those with less than 700 acres—the introduction of wake boats has been linked to accelerated erosion and safety concerns for shore users.

Broader Implications and Community Responses

Environmental and Safety Concerns: The erosion isn’t just an aesthetic or environmental issue—it has practical safety and economic repercussions. Eroded shorelines can threaten the integrity of nearby docks and residential properties, while also posing safety risks for swimmers and other boaters who may be caught off-guard by unexpected, high-energy waves.
Policy and Regulation: In parts of states like Wisconsin and New Hampshire, community feedback has led to calls for stricter controls on wake-enhanced boating in small lakes. Local ordinances and proposed state-level regulations sometimes limit the use of wake-boosting features near shorelines to protect the fragile banks of small water bodies. These regulations underscore the community’s growing concern over the environmental and safety impacts of wake boats on small lakes 2.

Wake boats, while popular for recreational activities, can significantly impact small lake shorelines by generating concentrated wave energy that undermines soil stability and vegetation. In small lakes, where natural buffers are minimal and the water body is limited in size, the cumulative effects of frequent wake events can lead to accelerated shoreline erosion, safety hazards, and even economic consequences for lakeside property owners.

In summary, we are experiencing some significant shoreline erosion at Partridge Lake, especially along South Shore road. The best way that we as individuals can mitigate this problem is to be conscious of vegetation removal, and careful with wake-boosting features on boats.

The “Song of the Loon” once heard will never be forgotten

By Pamela Parker · June 10, 2025

The “song of the loon” once heard will never be forgotten. Piercing the evening across a lake, the male loon defends his territory with yodels (unique call to every male) that can be heard up to 16 km away. While only the male yodels, both the male and female use other vocalizations. Both loons use a tremelo to announce their presence or when alarmed. The wail is the call that loons give back and forth to figure out each other’s location, and hoots are short calls given by family members to keep in touch. And yes, the term loony, short for lunatic, is referencing the cry of the loon!

Loons are a small obsession for most lake inhabitants in New Hampshire, just like us here at Partridge Lake. We love them, we monitor them, and every year we follow the chicks like they belong to us.

But what do we really know about loons? About their history, their mating rituals and breeding habits, their diet, their life expectancy, their migration patterns, and unfortunately, their abundant threats and challenges from both nature and humans? Importantly, to whom can we turn to help us mitigate those threats and challenges and how can we help them to help us?

Most of the information for this article was provided by the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC), based in Moultonbourough, NH, and an interview with Caroline Hughes at said location. They are a non-profit organization that exists to restore and maintain a healthy population of loons throughout NH; to monitor the health and productivity of loon populations as sentinels of environmental quality; and to promote a greater understanding of loons and the natural world.

Common Loons (Gavia immer – gavia is Latin for seabird, immer is from the Icelandic himbrimi, or Great Northern Diver) have been around for a very long time. Fossils reveal that loons have been on earth about 70 MILLION years.

The loons of New England weigh between 12-16 pounds. Loons have red eyes that change to a dull color at the end of the breeding season. They can live into their late 30’s, start mating around 3 or 4 years old, and mate for life, (mostly – but more on that later).

Loons can swim fast and fly fast. Unlike most birds, loons have solid bones that make them less buoyant and better at diving. They can quickly blow air out of their lungs and flatten their feathers to expel air within their plumage, so they can dive quickly and swim fast underwater. Once under water, the loon’s heart slows down to conserve energy. They can swim underwater for up to 5 minutes. In the air, loons can fly up to 70 mph.

When on lakes, loons eat primarily fish, but will also feed upon crayfish, frogs, leeches, and snails. On their winter vacation ocean grounds, loons consume lobster (of course), fish, crabs, snails, shrimp and marine invertebrates.

In the spring, once ice is out, loons migrate back to the lakes to breed. They tend to go back to their same lakes year after year, and they tend to pair up with the same mate year after year. The perfect story exists to exemplify both the life expectancy and the breeding patterns of the loon. In Michigan’s upper peninsula at the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, 2 common loons and the world’s oldest loon couple, ABJ (36) and Fe (37), have been nesting together every spring for 25 years. They are also the most successful loon parents, with 32 hatched chicks over their 25-year love affair. However, it seems that in 2022 Fe (the cougar female) took on a new mate much to the chagrin of ABJ. However, ABJ came back to try again in 2023, but it seems he has been relegated to perpetual bachelorhood while Fe once again raised a chick with her new younger man.

Once both pair members are present on the lake, they spend a few weeks reestablishing their bond. Nest-building may occur at any point during the month of May. In NH, 50% of loon pairs begin nesting by the end of the first week of June.

Male and female loons share incubation (sitting on eggs) duties roughly equally, however the male generally takes on more in week 1 and the female in the final weeks. Loons have a typical clutch size of 2 eggs, though some may lay just 1. Eggs are laid 1-3 days apart and hatch 12-24 hours apart. The incubation period is 27.5 days on average.

Loons are presented with many nesting challenges, not to mention reproductive challenges as well. Because loons cannot walk well on land, they build their nests at water’s edge. This leaves the nest vulnerable to fluctuating potential water levels (which can flood nests or leave them stranded out of reach of incubating loons), as well as many land predators. Also, rapid growing human development (on the big NH lakes especially) has drastically reduced loon nesting habitat on many lakes, and they are pushed to using marginal nesting habitats, reducing the chance of successful nesting.

Chemical contaminants also have been shown to cause a variety of harmful health and reproductive effects in loons, including the likelihood of eggs successfully hatching. Loons are long-lived birds at the top of the aquatic food webs and are therefore at risk from contaminants that bioaccumulate (increase in animals over time) and biomagnify (increase in concentrations as they move up the food web). Mercury is a heavy metal that occurs naturally in our environment but has increased to unnaturally high levels as a result of human activity. Mercury enters our atmosphere when coal or other fossil fuels are burned to generate power, or when mercury-containing products like thermometers, batteries, and fluorescent light bulbs are incinerated. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin and can reach toxic levels in loons. Research has shown that LOONS IN NH HAVE AMONG THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATIONS OF MERCURY RECORDED IN LOONS ANYWHERE IN NORTH AMERICA.

Climate change has also impacted loon breeding success. The number of chicks hatched per nesting loon pair has declined as temperatures and rainfall have increased in NH. If further increases in temperatures and rainfall predicted by climate change models are accurate, those and other possible effects of climate change will increasingly challenge New Hampshire’s loons.

In 2023 NH had 345 pairs of loons (690) and 127 unpaired loons. 242 of those pairs nested, producing 196 chicks. 137 survived to fledging age. LPC estimates that NH could hold 450-600 pairs of loons.

It is estimated that loon parents and their 2 chicks can eat about a half ton of fish over a 15-week period. They swallow most of their prey underwater. They have sharp, rearward pointing projections on the roof of their mouths and tongue which helps them to keep a firm hold on slippery fish.

Loons remain on lakes until fall or early winter. Loons have supra-orbital (above the eye) glands that help to filter salt ions out of their blood, which allows them to live on the ocean during the non-breeding season. Loons spend the winter on the open water of the ocean. Through research since 1993, LPC and the Biodiviersity Research Institute in Falmouth, Maine, have been tracking individual loons to investigate their life history, including the relationship between their breeding and wintering grounds.

Typically, adults will leave for their wintering grounds 1-3 weeks before the chicks, when the chicks are about 12 weeks old. Chicks are often seen congregating in large groups on large lakes prior to their migration. Once the juveniles reach coastal waters on the ocean, they stay there for the next 2 years. In the 3^rd year, young loons return “north”, although they may not breed for a few more years.

Research suggests that NH breeding loons tend to stay in the Gulf of Maine area (off the coast of Main, NH, and MA). However, a few of NH loons have been spotted along the CT and NY coasts, and 1 NH loons who nested on Squam Lake was recovered as a mortality in Cape May, NJ. The chart from LPC depicts where NH loons’ ‘winter’.

During the winter, adult loons experience a full body molt and lose all their feathers, including the feathers on their wings. They are rendered flightless until their new feathers grow in, which takes 2 weeks to a month.

Loons are large, heavy bodied birds. Relative to their body size and weight, loon wings are short and narrow. They therefore have high rates of wing loading (the amount of body weight supported by each square inch of wing). Because they have such high wing loading, loons have to work hard to fly. They may need up to 650 feet of space to take flight, but if the wind is strong, they can achieve liftoff in 100 feet or less. Basically, they need to run across the surface of the water, flapping their wings all the way. They usually take off into a headwind which means they need less distance for lift off. On windy days particularly, loon chicks as young as 8 weeks can be seen orienting themselves into the wind to attempt to take off. During this learning stage, loon chicks may stumble or crash land back on the water.

This “runway challenge” brings us to an issue near and dear to us at Partridge Lake. In December of 2022 we had a loon which was ‘iced in’, until he was left in a hole much too small for him to take off. This is when we contacted the LPC and they did what they do many times a winter, they came to rescue our loon.

John Cooly and Caroline Hughes from the LPC came to our lake that December morning intent on saving our loon. It is a grueling task to rescue a loon. It is not a high-tech story. One must get out to the place where the loon is stuck, which is usually over a partially frozen lake, and one must also bring the gear for the rescue. John, wearing a cold weather suit and pushing, or paddling in broken ice in spots, a small boat full of gear, trudged out to the hole. After a very challenging “walk” out to the iced-in loon spot in the middle of the lake, John then set about catching the loon. It took several attempts of him throwing and regathering the net over portions of the hole hoping for the loon to reemerge and get trapped. The hole must generally be 15 feet or less in diameter for this net method to work. He had to be exhausted.

Just when all of us on the shoreline were giving up hope, he finally trapped the loon. John carefully wrapped her in the net and put her in a box to drag the boat back to shore. Once he arrived, he and Caroline started the complicated task of untangling the loon from the net. Then the loon was carefully put back in the box and they transported it back to their area to be evaluated by a vet, and to hopefully be released later on the coast. Unfortunately, our loon was not so lucky. He befell the fate of many loons. He had probably eaten a fish thrown back in the water with the hook intact and it was stuck in his system. He sadly had to be euthanized.

There are many major threats to loons, and lead tackle is the leading 1 cause of loon mortality in NH. It has been responsible for the deaths of 38.5% of the adult loons that LPC has documented from 1989-2022. Had these loons survived, NH’s loon population COULD BE 43% LARGER than it is today.

The number 1 thing that we all can do to help loons is to clean out old tackle boxes and remove any lead, and to encourage all fishermen to do so. In NH, lead sinker and lead-headed jigs weighing 1 oz. or less are illegal to use in freshwater because of what they have done to loons.

It is important we understand the causes of the challenges facing the loons and those relentless individuals and organizations that we can support to help us. The Loon Preservation Committee conducts loon monitoring, loon management (provides free of charge nest rafts and signs to lakes and other waterbodies), rescues, research, outreach and education. They are a non-profit supported solely by donation and grants. The PLPOA has proudly been one of these small donor for years. We can also help the LPC by letting them know any information about loons in distress. Their mission, as well, is to provide outreach talks and visits to lakes.

The LPC has a beautiful physical building in Moultonborough, NH and are open to the public for visits to their educational exhibits and to learn more about loons in general. It is a fantastic place to visit with inquisitive children. Visit loon.org for more information.

Our lake can’t thank the Loon Preservation Committee enough for all they do for us, including rescues and providing us with a loon nest raft, which they have generously offered to replace this year as our raft has seen better days at this point, and we at Partridge Lake certainly want to do everything we can to help our loons thrive.

The following references were also used in writing this article:

Common Loon – Eastside Audubon Society, by Andy McCormick, June 10, 2018
National Park Service, Fairbanks, Alaska, updated April 30, 2021
Wilderness North, June 30, 2022, Lisa M. Genier, Adirondack Council Program Analyst

Photgraphy by Tom Allen.
In the photos: John Cooley, Senior Biologist at LPC, and Caroline Hughes, Biologist at LPC, & various lake people.