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Paradise Park Commission seeks agency help over rising phosphorus in Lake Runnemede
Summary
Commissioner Jim Bennett submitted a public comment asking state and federal agencies to help identify and mitigate causes of increased total phosphorus in Lake Runnemede, noting the lake is groundwater‑fed and that their testing found no single external source of recent nutrient influx.
Jim Bennett added a public comment on behalf of the Town of Windsor and the Upper Valley Land Trust asking state and federal agencies to help identify and mitigate rising total phosphorus (TP) in Lake Runnemede. Bennett told the commission that their supplemental spring testing in 2020 and 2022 did not find a current, "smoking gun" non‑point source and suggested internal phosphorus loading is the primary cause.
"On behalf of the Town of Windsor and the Upper Valley Land Trust, the Paradise Park Commission (PPC) have for several years been trying to pinpoint the source(s) of the increased Total Phosphorus (TP) measurements in Lake Runnemede... Although these sources may have contributed phosphorus influx over the 200 years of anthropogenic activity in the area, there was no evidence in our supplemental testing of a current, 'smoking gun' source of nutrient influx from any of these non-point sources. It is our opinion that the primary causes of increased TP levels in Lake Runnemede are various mechanisms of internal phosphorus loading and welcome the assistance of state and federal agencies to help us identify and potentially mitigate these sources of nutrient influx."
