The Harvey Lake Watershed Association depends on volunteers to keep it operating. Our three main ways of protecting our lake are by: 1. Participation in the Lake Host program; 2. Testing our water quality through the Volunteer Lake Assessment Program (VLAP); and 3. Weed Watchers, who go out in their boats and kayaks once a month in summer and look for signs of invasive species. Can you help? Click on the CONTACT link above.

Report on Harvey Lake Dam

At our last HLWA meeting in October we discussed many topics, one of which is the condition of the Harvey Lake dam. Because the dam is more of a spillway and does not allow any control of water levels and flow, it puts the lake in a vulnerable position. We decided to ask the state to provide an assessment (CLICK HERE) we could be better informed as to the current situation and direction needed at the town and state level for possible solutions. Currently we are unsure where the exact boundaries are for the outlet and land the dam sits on, this will need to be resolved before we can take any additional steps. We will be prompting the town this spring to provide a survey of the outlet and surrounding area.

We will be sending more information in the coming weeks about HLWA meetings and initiatives.

Thank you,

Jamie Walker
President
Harvey Lake Watershed Association

HLWA has a new slate of officers

  The Harvey Lake Watershed Association at their annual meeting Wednesday, Oct. 2, elected  officers and directors for the coming two years. The following slate was elected on one vote motioned by outgoing president Bob Charest:

President: Jamie Walker

Vice President: David Kerkhoff

Secretary: Kim Mitzel

Treasurer: Gisele Houston

Lake Host Coordinator: Kim Mitzel

Weed Watcher Captain: David Kerkhoff

Water Quality Coordinator: Jennifer Boulanger

Immediate Past President: Bob Charest

At Large Director: Maggie Kerkhoff

At Large Director: Russ Lubik

At Large Director: Steve Lucey

At Large Director: Regina Walker

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Congratulations to the new officers and directors, and thank you for volunteering.

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Lots of investment happening at Harvey Lake in 2019

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Please click on the icon at right for a 23-page
report on Harvey Lake's Beach and Boat ramp,
including a discussion of what we can do as
an association to improve the area.

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                          A dedication to our founder

                         Minutes of previous meetings

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Please click on this photo

to see how a major rain

event affects the

beach/boat ramp.

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If you’ve been away from the lake for awhile (as I have this winter) you will notice upon returning that our little lake is experiencing a healthy influx of investment. That can only be a good thing as people demonstrate with their pocketbooks their confidence in the area and the future of our community and resources.

We hope that the money people continue spending on their properties will translate into protecting those investments by joining the watershed association. When we have a resource as fragile as a lake, especially a small one such as the 106-acre one we love, banding together as a community to protect this fantastic asset is important.

As you travel around our shorefront, you’ll see a beautiful new home being constructed on Harmony Road, on the former Johnson lot with 350 feet of waterfront on our lake. On the opposite (Route 4) shore, a massive reconstruction project is ongoing at the former John Harvey house (our lake’s namesake). This sits on the lake and across from the former Harvey Lake Inn. That looks like one massive renovation. Down the street at the Kostiew property, an impressive restoration is ongoing, with some exceptional craftsmanship demonstrated on the repairs to that house.

A scan of the real estate listings reveals two properties (active under contract) at 50 Pine Street and 13 Oak Street. Riding around the lake, two “Coming Soon” signs may be seen at the former Johnson farm at 144 Harmony Road and the mobile home at 959 First New Hampshire Turnpike, both properties located on the waterfront.

An ongoing project is the addition to the camp beside the boat launch, with the owners completing an impressive reconstruction that has included lifting up the old camp and incorporating it into the new structure.      

Other projects are planned. One the watershed association has been informed of is a plan to tear down the old camp at 76 Shore Drive and replace it with a new dwelling on the existing footprint. (We understand another similar project has been approved further down Shore Drive.)

Coe Brown Academy has presented to the town its plan to expand Wiggin Hall, the white building at 907 First N.H. Turnpike. From the planning board minutes: The project will demolish the front portion of the building to create new classrooms for the music and arts programs. It will be a single-story structure designed for a future second floor addition.

Planned across from the lake on Route 4 at the corner of Bow Lake Road (the property with the greenhouse) is an Aroma Joe’s franchise.

Further down on Route 4, at the corner of Harmony Road, the town has been presented with a preliminary plan for a miniature golf course on land that borders the inlet to our lake, on Tucker Brook.

All of these projects mean renewed confidence in Harvey Lake. Let’s all continue as a community to protect this asset for those of us who live here now and the generations that we hope will continue to live here long into the future.

Written by Bob Charest on April 26, 2019

Some scenes from past years:

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Click on the photo below to watch a clip of Harvey Lake in Northwood, New Hampshire on the Fourth of July, 2017.

LABOR DAY, 2015: This photograph signals the passing of another season. The American flag has been removed from the boulder that sits in Harvey Lake. (The red and white pole in the background is the marine marker.) The flag is a landmark for people passing by on Route 4 in Northwood. If you look closely, you can see the hole that was drilled in the boulder years ago to hold the flagpole. The flag usually flies in our lake Memorial Day to Labor Day each year.

Sunday

morning

on Harvey Lake

NICE DAY FOR EVERYONE: The ducks enjoyed the lake on Thursday, July 10, 2014. A few humans did, too.

WELCOME TO SUMMER 2014: Seen on the lake on Sunday, July 6, a sailor passes people in an inflatable boat.

Sept. 29, 2013: Another season comes to an end

Now there's something you don't see everyday ... Out on Harvey Lake on Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013, this paddleboard enthusiast brought his dog along. They went around a good part of the lake, and the dog seemed pretty content being there.

Testing, testing, testing ....

That's Karen Smith, our longtime water quality coordinator, testing the water at the inlet to Harvey Lake, on Aug. 4, 2013. Karen served the lake for many years in many capacities until she moved to Vermont. We continue to test the water three times each summer, as part of the state's Volunteer Lake Assessment Program (VLAP). The water is tested at the inlet on Harmony Road, the outlet at the dam, located just off Harvey Lake Road, and at the deep spot of the lake, which is located just off the south of the peninsula in the center of the lake. We are checking several conditions, including phosphorous levels and water clarity. 

Memorial Day, 2013

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Scenes from a morning on the lake, Monday, Memorial Day, May 27, 2013. At right, a turtle basks in the sun behind Northwood Congregational Church; below left, fishermen try their luck in the area near the flag (which is once again flying proudly on our lake); and below right, a mother duck and her four ducklings (I'm told that this family began as 13 ducklings - It's not easy raising a family on the lake.)

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What a difference a few weeks make ... This was Harvey Lake in Northwood, New Hampshire, on April 5, 2013.

The photo at left was taken Sunday morning on April 28, 2013. Ice-out usually comes for our lake the first or second week of April.