The following documents are available for download:

•  “Landscaping by the Water” provides advice on the selection, planting, and care of trees, shrubs, and ground covers — most of them native to New Hampshire — that fit settings along a lake shore or stream bank. Not only do these plantings enhance the beauty of a waterside property, but they work well to keep soil in place, helping prevent stormwater runoff that can carry large amounts of phosphorus into the water. Phosphorus acts as a fertilizer for green plants — good for suburban lawns but a source of weed and algae growth when it migrates into a water body. As an added advantage, use of native plants reduces the amount of care that landscaping requires, since the trees and shrubs naturally thrive in our climate.

• “Preventing Non-Point Source Pollution,” provides guidance on avoiding actions that can lead to the contamination of surface waters from residential properties. Non-point source pollution is the type that does not have an easily identifiable source and can arise from broad land areas such as shoreline residential neighborhoods. It can include runoff from roads  (including  poorly maintained gravel roads), erosion of residential yards caused by rain and melting snow, and runoff from farms and lawns. Pollutants from these sources include: phosphorous-laden sediment, animal wastes and associated bacteria, pesticides, fertilizers, toxic substances, road salt, and fluids from automobiles.

• “Septic Systems: How Do They Work? How Do You Maintain Them?” explains the components and the workings of septic systems and provides tips on extending their effective lifetimes. As the brochure explains, poorly maintained or failing septic systems can leach their contents, including pathogens and chemicals, into the soil and underlying groundwater, from where those pollutants can make their way into nearby surface water such as lakes and streams. It is estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of the phosphorus found in our waters are the result of leaching from nearby septic systems.
• “Water Quality Analysis and Water Quality Goal Setting” provides critical information to support the development of a watershed-based management plan aimed at maintaining or improving the high-quality waters of the Lake Wentworth/Crescent Lake watershed. Historical water quality monitoring data is used for determining the median phosphorus values (as well as trends in several additional key water quality parameters, including water clarity, chlorophyll-a, color and dissolved oxygen) and the assimilative capacity of each lake, as well as for determining the water quality goal for each lake. The analysis includes a comparison of historic (2000 and earlier) and recent (2001-present) total phosphorus monitoring results and a seasonal analysis (samples collected between May 15 and October 15), as well as a summary of available data and sources of this data.
• “Wentworth/Crescent Septic and Stormwater Survey Report” provides findings of the septic and stormwater surveys conducted in the summer of 2011  in the Lake Wentworth/Crescent Lake watershed as part of the watershed management plan for these waters.
• “Wentworth/Crescent Septic and Stormwater Survey Summary” provides a one-page synopsis of the fuller septic and stormwater survey report.