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Lake Attitash is our shared community space and we all need to contribute to keep it fit and healthy
The Lake Attitash Association (LAA) relies on the support of people who are willing to step up and pay for what needs to be done to care for and protect the lake. Give as much as you can. Large or small, any donation is welcome, appreciated and used to benefit the lake.
Please consider a tax-deductible donation. LAA is a non-profit corporation. It owns no property, has no employees and accomplishes its mission through the work of volunteers, membership fees and donations. The association gratefully accepts financial donations of any amount to help defray the costs of protecting and improving Lake Attitash. The LAA is registered as a 501(c)(3) organization with the Internal Revenue Service and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, so your donations are tax-deductible to the full extent
Donating is easy. You can donate on line or mail a check to the association. Click here to donate now Either way, your contributions will go directly to benefiting Lake Attitash. Shortly after you make your donation, you will receive an acknowledgement letter documenting the amount and its tax-deductible status.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMD’s & Donations. For those of us young at heart donors, over the age of 70 1/2 or over 72 if born after June 30, 1949 , you can make a donation from your tax deferred investments that count towards your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) but is not taxable. Most individuals with tax deferred investments are required to make Required Minimum Distributions (RMD’s) when they reach the age of 70 1/2 or over 72 if born after June 30, 1949. According to the IRS, these individuals may be able to make a charitable contribution out of an IRA without paying taxes on the distribution, while counting towards IRA minimum required distributions. A good deal for you and for the Lake Association. Click here for more information.
Please donate now. The fight against invasive weeds and cyanobacteria cannot wait. Invasive milfoil weeds threaten the lake. The costs of these projects are high, but the costs of waiting or doing nothing are even higher. Click here to donate now
Why your continued financial help is needed
Milfoil & other invasive weeds – The Lake Attitash Association needs ongoing financial support to manage the growth of invasive plants – primarily milfoil, curlyleaf pondweed and water chestnuts. The whole lake was treated for these invasive weeds in 2011, and since then, each year the LAA controls areas of dense regrowth using hand-pulling, Diver Assisted Suction Harvesting and spot treatments. Volunteer weed watchers survey the lake monthly during the growing season to identify area needing work. Volunteers who annually pull water chestnuts in Back River have been finding little or no regrowth after many years of vigilant hand pulling. Although native plants can reach nuisance levels, native plants are not targeted by these efforts and annual vegetative surveys indicate a healthy range of native plant growth. Milfoil was probably carried from other lakes to Lake Attitash on boats and trailers. If allowed to spread unchecked, milfoil would in a few years choke off sunlight that creates oxygen for fish and make swimming, boating and fishing nearly impossible. Meadowbrook is a vivid example of what Lake Attitash would become without vigilant invasive weed management.
Cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae) – Cyanobacteria is a health hazard at high levels (blooms) and a major threat to water quality in Lake Attitash. The algae blooms are the result of high levels of nutrients, primarily phosphorus, that have built up over the years in the sediment. Lake Attitash is a secondary water supply to Amesbury residents, and Amesbury conducts weekly testing for e-coli and cyanobacteria levels. In the past, during many summers the cyanobacteria count had exceeded the limit in early August and when that happens, a caution against contact with the water is posted until the levels come down or are continued through the end of the season. Testing typically ends after Labor Day. In 2019 an alum treatment was done at a cost of $600,000. Since the treatment was done the quality and clarity of the lake has been better than it has been in a long time. Ongoing vigilance and proactive work to reduce the influx of nutrients continues.
Honor Someone & Pay It Forward The LAA is offering you a way to let someone know you are thinking of them on their special day, for going out out of their way to be helpful or just because. This can be a birthday, wedding, birth of a child, graduation or even a holiday gift. You can even let someone know that their act of kindness was appreciated! Let us deliver a note of congratulation or appreciation to someone you know. Contribute (any amount!) to the Lake Attitash Association and as a thanks for supporting our community and keeping our lake healthy, the LAA team will deliver a custom note on Lake Attitash letterhead to your friend, family or neighbor on your behalf or anonymously! Feel free to submit one or as many as you’d like! We are also encouraging people to “Pay It Forward” and urge those receiving these notes to make their own donation to the LAA in someone else’s name.
How to Donate:
- “Click Here” To go to the LAA Donation page.
- If donating by credit card or Paypal, please use the “Reason for Donation” field and include your recipients
- first and last name, address and a short note of thanks.
- If donating by check, please include your recipients
- first and last name, address,
- and a short note of thanks.
- Mail it to Lake Attitash Association, PO Box 503, Amesbury, MA 01913.