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5/2/07 - NHEP Public Outreach and Education Team (POET) Meeting
Dave Kellam led this meeting of the NHEP Public Outreach and Education Team (POET) that began with an update on the status of NHEP outreach activities, including the "Be Part of the Solution: Identify and Report Water Pollution" campaign. The group also reviewed the completion ratings for 28 POET-related Action Plans from the NHEP Management Plan in preparation for the NHEP Progress Report to be published later this year. The team also discussed the 2008 projects, which will include V.I.P Boat Tours of Great Bay, continuation of the Eye On Estuaries series, and a survey of coastal decision-makers to complete the NHEP Strategic Communication Plan. Contact Dave Kellam for more information.

5/12/07 - Buffer Presentation at the Annual Cocheco River Sweep
On the banks of the beautiful Cocheco River in Farmington, Jodi Castallo discussed the ecological function of buffers and the importance of protecting these areas to maintain water quality. Her audience were kayakers and canoeists who participated in the annual trip sponsored by the Cocheco River Watershed Coalition. Contact Jodi Castallo for more information.

Be Part of the Solution: Identify and Report Water Pollution Campaign
This latest outreach effort by the NHEP is designed to help people who work or recreate near surface water recognize a water pollution incident and know who to contact to report it. For example, foam on the water can be natural occurance or an indication of a pollution incident. The guide identifies characteristics of both natural and "human-caused" foam and suggests that the municipal health inspector be contacted if pollution is suspected. The campaign includes a variety of materials that support the outreach goal, such as a large poster, bookmarks, and a 32-page, full color guide that describes 22 conditions that a person could encounter in fresh or estuarine habitats. Potentially extreme situations that should be considered emergency situations are highlighted to facilitate quick action. The guide also includes an extensive resources section that includes a listing of relevant NH Department of Environmental Services programs, contact information for fire departments, code enforcement/building inspector offices, public works/road agents, and health officers for each of the 42 coastal watershed communities, and summaries of several NHEP programs, such as the Local Grants Program, the Community Technical Assistance Program, and the Coastal Illicit Discharge Elimination, Municipal Storm Sewer Mapping, & Illicit Discharge Detection Surveys Grant Program. Contact Dave Kellam to order copies of the guide and other materials. Read the Guide. See the Poster. Read the Bookmark

Impacts of Wastewater Treatment Facilities on Receiving Water Quality
The Squamscott River has had extended episodes of low dissolved oxygen (DO) that have been recorded at a site near its mouth over the past few years. These episodes were recorded as a result of temporally intensive monitoring by a datasonde, whereas data for the rest of the river has been spotty. Thus, the spatial extent of low DO episodes is not known. This study was designed to better characterize the spatial extent of DO conditions along the full length of the river, as well as to determine nutrient and other water quality parameters along the transect to help understand possible causes of low DO levels. Sampling and measurements were taken on five dates in 2005 and one in 2006. Only one date, August 19, 2005, showed spatially extensive low DO levels. The nutrient and chlorophyll a levels at the different sampling sites in the Squamscott River did not appear to have any discernable relationship with DO levels. The Exeter WWTF was a consistently significant source of nutrients to the river, but DO conditions at the outfall pipe were never below target levels. Overall, conditions recorded by the datasonde for 2005 showed greatly diminished episodes of depressed DO levels compared to previous years. Future studies should focus first on verifying the spatial extent of conditions that are conducive to depressed DO levels as indicated by existing sonde data. Read Report

2006 Great Bay Water Quality (DataSonde) Monitoring Program
The University of New Hampshire (UNH) completed this project with the objective to: (1) support in situ water quality monitoring for the April – December sampling season at the Lamprey River (LR), Squamscott River (SQ), Oyster River (OR), Great Bay (GB) and Coastal Marine Lab (CML) sites; and (2) fund the deployment of in situ water quality monitoring at the Salmon Falls (SF) for July, August and September. The data and all associated meta-data for the GB, LR, SQ and OR sites are available at http://cdmo.baruch.sc.edu/home.html and by following the links to: (a) NERR Data; (b) NERR Data and Associated Metadata; (c) NERR SWMP Water Quality Data; and (d) Great Bay (GRB). For the CML site, DataSondes were successfully deployed as planned. The data for these deployments will be uploaded to the NHDES Environmental Monitoring Database. Read Report

Impervious Surface Maps Available for All 42 Communities
In May, each Planning Board and Conservation Commission Chair in the 42 coastal watershed communities received a map of their town or city, that displayed 1990, 2000, and 2005 impervious surfaces, conservation lands identified in the Land Conservation Plan for New Hampshire’s Coastal Watersheds, roads, surface waters, and impervious surface summary statistics. Maps were accompanied by a list of NHEP programs and resources designed to help communities identify and protect natural resources. The 42 town maps are available on the NHEP website.