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New Hampshire

New Hampshire. Southeast Watershed Alliance.

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New Hampshire

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  1. New Hampshire Southeast Watershed Alliance

  2. SWA Established in 2009 under RSA 485-E Established a public body corporate and politic having a distinct legal existence separate from the state and not constituting a department or agency of the state government to be known as the Southeast Watershed Alliance, also known as the Alliance. The public purpose of the Alliance is:    I. To engage in improved municipal, intermunicipal, and regional planning, studies, public education, and implementation measures, including potential investments, relative to water quality, water supply, wastewater and stormwater management, septic systems and septage, and land use, for the purpose of improving and protecting the water quality and natural hydrology of the state's coastal water resources and associated waters, and to more effectively address on a watershed basis the challenges of meeting state and federal regulations, including waste load limits and allocations. Such planning and investments may include, but are not limited to:        (a) Establishing intermunicipal stormwater utilities and any associated facilities.        (b) Establishing intermunicipal or regional wastewater districts and facilities.        (c) Establishing and coordinating common municipal regulations for nutrient reduction and water quality protection, such as stormwater, wetlands, and buffer regulations.        (d) Developing and implementing, in coordination with the department, innovative means to achieve compliance with nutrient and other pollutant reductions, such as a nutrients offset or trading program.        (e) Addressing water supply and water conservation measures.     II. To foster improved municipal and intermunicipal land use planning and regulation, in coordination with the applicable regional planning commissions, such as to encourage low impact development and innovative zoning and land use management approaches, and to advance the state's economic growth, resource protection, and planning policy.

  3. 42 Communities1 Watershed 11 Sub-watershedsCovers 1,086 mi2 14% of NH and Maine population Great Bay and Hampton-Seabrook Estuaries

  4. NH Coastal Watershed(s)Blue = Waters meet Clean Water Act RequirementsOrange = Marginal ImpairmentRed = Severe Impairment

  5. Major Causes of Water Quality Impairments Dams/culverts Stormwater Runoff Water Quality Problems Industry Agriculture Sewage Fertilizers Energy Production Transportation

  6. Nitrogen Sources WWTFs, 484.64 tons/yr, 31% Tributaries and Runoff, 1014.00 tons/yr, 65% (includes stormwater runoff and septic inputs) Groundwater, 31.28 tons/yr, 2% Atmospheric, 27.92 tons/yr, 2% VARIABLE – depends on location

  7. Pollution Source: Stormwater Runoff Effective and consistent stormwater management which includes: • Low impact development strategies • Minimize impervious surfaces • Protect natural stream/wetland buffers • Preserve wetlands and natural areas • Stormwater retrofit projects

  8. Pollution Source: Transportation (oils, carbon, nitrogen, road salt) Regional planning to encourage efficient transportation • Invest in mass transport • High efficiency/alternative vehicles • Stricter NOx tailpipe emissions requirements • Stormwater treatment

  9. Pollution Source: Energy Production (burning fossil fuels) Encourage transition to renewable energy and stricter NOx emissions requirements

  10. Pollution Source: Wastewater Treatment Plants • Treatment plant upgrades to remove nutrients • Nutrient trading or other strategies to maximize cost effectiveness • Couple nutrient removal with commodity production (e.g. algae)

  11. Pollution Source: Agriculture • Sustainable on-site fertilizer application • Minimize inorganic N fertilizer use • Proven best management practices (e.g. sediment and erosion control) • Manure containment • Buffers along waterways • Organic farming

  12. Pollution Source: Septic Systems (typically only remove ~25% of N) • Encourage or require maintenance (tank pump out) • Encourage or require best available technology for new or replacement systems (~50% N removal) • Larger setbacks from surface waters to let vegetated buffers take up N and bacteria

  13. Pollution Source: Landscaping Fertilizer • Homeowner/business outreach to reduce/eliminate fertilizer use • Buffers and setbacks from surface waters • Encourage/require slow-release fertilizers • Minimize lawns, utilize low-N species • Rain gardens (runoff treatment)

  14. Impervious Surfaces in the Piscataqua Region Watershed 1990 28,710 acres 4.3% 2000 42,618 acres 6.3% 2005 50,351 acres 7.5% Data Source: UNH CSRC

  15. Science Symposium May 11, 2011 • Ten scientists to define the solid science, gaps in information and needed additional research • Dialogue with the Alliance communities and other stakeholders

  16. Lack of Federal and State Funding is critical to any solution • Poor return of tax revenues to NH • Clean water needs to be given increased national priority • Local constituent support can only be achieved with significant federal and state contributions • NH tradition of local (town) control – citizen involvement provides the motive force for change

  17. Innovation Required Innovative approaches require cooperative, collaborative and integrated actions of federal, state, local governments with industrial partners Bio-extraction-payback of initial investment, e.g. shellfish (oysters, mussels) Septage processing on trucks (Norway, Nova Scotia, Netherlands, et al)

  18. Initial Priority Actions • Developed list of seven initial priorities during a facilitated brainstorming session. Three priority actions selected based on “low cost, impact oriented projects that demonstrate immediate results” • Landowner Outreach - Lawn care, septic maintenance, general water quality education • Consistent Stormwater Regulations - Modify/develop a model ordinance, encourage adoption by members • Hot Spots - Identify existing research, develop a central information database, host a symposium to present current science.

  19. NH Governor John E. Lynch by Executive Order is establishing a commission to create a “20 Year Water Sustainability Plan for New Hampshire.”

  20. Information and Contacts Southeast Watershed Alliance P.O. Box 22122 Portsmouth, NH 03801 www.southeastwatershedalliance.org Walter G. Fries, Chairman wgfries@aol.com 603-642-8478

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