USING PAST AND CURRENT CLIMATE RECORDS TO DETERMINE IMPACTS ON WATER QUALITY IN NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND LAKES

Changing climate is expected to significantly affect our water resources, impacting the hydrological processes and the quality of these resources. Due to the high heat capacity of water, and their large water volume, lakes are particularly susceptible to climate change. But the relationships between climate forcing and water quality is poorly constrained. To better understand the effects of climate change on lake systems, this study assesses the relationship between climate and water quality in Northern New England lakes. Our study combines monitoring of water temperature and quality with lake sediment analysis. We generated a time series of water conditions including temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, major ions and phosphorus versus the depth of the water-column in lakes Ossipee and Squam, NH in every season. This time series is expanded over long timescales, including intervals prior to European settlement, through sediment analyses with a focus on diatom community assemblages and geochemistry. The project informs local community stakeholders, including lake management associations and conservation groups, on the potential implications of changing climate on their respective lakes and encouraging proactive responses to address this issue.