The lake got ahead of them this year.
THIS LINK shows that the lake is above the statistical standard deviation, yet there was a recent period where the flow was low, even as the level spiked. Now, they are trying to catch up by setting the flow to ludicrous speed. Kayaking the Winnipesaukee river this weekend should be a hoot.
It is frustrating to see the levels so high, when so much tax money is poured into keeping the water quality from getting worse. The highest level since 1998, combined with holiday level boat wake, erodes a lot a of silt into the lake. When you see sandy bottoms turn into muck, you can blame the dam policy for some of the impact.
The no-wake rule really doesn't get serious consideration until the lake approaches 505.5 feet above sea level, another 10+ inches above where we are now. 505.0 would be a better trigger. The lake will age a decade this weekend if the weather is nice.