A simple structure has changed the look of Lake Horace Marsh in Weare.

Ongoing Projects

John Magee & Margaret Watkins working on Lake Horace Marsh

Structure now in place to Protect Prime Wetland in Weare

A simple structure has changed the look of Lake Horace Marsh in Weare. This marsh, the first to earn the designation of a New Hampshire prime wetland, has long been subject to seasonal water level fluctuations because the level of Lake Horace is lowered in the fall to protect docks. In the past, this late fall draw down with the resultant low water levels often left aquatic life stranded in mud flats surrounding the channel that winds through the marsh.
Concern for the ecology of the marshes surrounding the channel where the Piscataquog River flows into Lake Horace (calls for action to protect marsh life date back to the 1950s) resulted in the construction of an ecological control structure, scheduled to coincide with the replacement of Abijah Bridge.
Visitors who come to the south end of the lake to check the progress of the Abijah Bridge replacement project will quickly notice that although the lake has been drawn down, there is water in the marsh. When the hundred-year-old bridge was removed in July, work began on new bridge footings that would guide engineers in determining the placement of a structure to retain water in the marsh. The new Abijah Bridge is near completion, and the ecological control structure is in place.

“It was meant to be pretty basic,” said former Piscataquog Land Conservancy director Margaret Watkins, who has been involved with the project since its inception. A simple arc of crushed stone on the downstream side of the bridge, the structure is lined with special fabric to prevent silt from flowing through it. The Dam Bureau of the state’s Department of Environmental Services was responsible for construction of this barrier, which belongs to the state.

During the months when the lake level is low, the structure will be visible from Abijah Bridge. However, according to Watkins, recreational canoeing and kayaking will not be affected during the months when the lake is full and the structure is submerged. Likewise, fish will have passage over the structure. Motorized water craft are not allowed into the marsh. A study of the effect of constant water levels on marsh flora and fauna will be carried out by Normandeau Associates of Bedford next year.

The structure is a collaborative project of the Weare Conservation Commission, the Russell Piscataquog River Watershed Foundation, the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, and the N.H. Fish and Game Department. Funds from private grants, New Hampshire Fish and Game, and a Watershed Assistance Grant from the Department of Environmental Services using US EPA Clean Water Act Section 319 funds were administered by the Piscataquog Land Conservancy.