What's New

May 2008

The Seacoast Watershed Information Manager Website: The website provides the tools and information you need to guide sustainable management of your community's water resources.

The Spring 2008 issue of Supply Line with the Source, a newsletter from the NHDES Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau.

2008 NH Drinking Water Week Festival: Drinking water is one of New Hampshire’s most precious resources, and keeping it safe, clean and abundant through careful management and protection is vital to the state’s economy and public health of its residents. To honor this finite resource and celebrate National Drinking Water Week, May 4-10, 2008, the New Hampshire Drinking Water Week Coalition, in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, is sponsoring a water festival, which will be held on May 7 at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

April 2008

2008 Training Workshops Offered for Volunteers Interested in River Monitoring: The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Service’ (DES) Volunteer River Assessment Program (VRAP) is offering volunteer training for people interested in determining the health of their local or nearby river or stream. Interested individuals are encouraged to attend one of the Volunteer Training Workshops being offered through April and early May.  A schedule of the dates and training locations is provided on their website.

Souhegan River instream flows protected: The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services approved the establishment of protected instream flows for the Souhegan Designated River on April 1, 2008.  The Souhegan River Instream Flow project is the first study to recommend protected instream flow values under the Rivers Management and Protection Act.

March 2008

USGS and CDC release online report on water quality in domestic wells: USGS, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has released an online report on the occurrence of 11 priority water-quality constituents of possible health concern in domestic wells located in 16 States across the U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2007/5213/), including New Hampshire.

Road salt pits driver safety against environmental safety: Salt is a staple of the state Department of Transportation's war on icy roads, but balancing its use with environmental concerns has been tricky in a winter of heavy storms. The use of salt at the state and local levels has raised questions about its effect on state rivers, streams and groundwater sources.

DES Annual Drinking Water Source Protection Workshop on Monday May 19, 2008 at the NH Technical Institute in Concord.  If you are a local official, land use planner, water supply manager, or simply want to learn more about how to protect drinking water, this event is designed for you.
This year, the American Ground Water Trust is sponsoring the event and on-line registration is being provided through the AGWT website (www.agwt.org/workshops.htm). The event will offer DES water operator certification. 

River's new path is likely to stay: Engineers gave 100 Epsom residents little hope Wednesday that the Suncook River would return to its former course. They presented four options for how the region could respond to the river's changes.

January 2008

MtBE Widespread in New Hampshire’s Groundwater: The NH DES announced the release of the most comprehensive study to date of the prevalence of MtBE contamination in the state’s groundwater. The study, conducted for DES by the U.S. Geological Survey, documents widespread MtBE contamination throughout the state in both public and private drinking water wells. The highest incidence was in those four counties with the greatest populations. Nearly half of the private wells tested in the higher population areas of Rockingham County contained MtBE.

December 2007

The second annual New Hampshire Water Conference will be held on April 16, 2008 at the Grappone Center in Concord, NH. This year's theme will be Science, Policy, and Management of Water in New Hampshire. The 2008 conference committee is working on developing sessions and a call for abstracts will be issued soon.

DES and NH Rivers Council Sign Partnership Agreement: The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) and the New Hampshire Rivers Council (NHRC) recently signed a partnership agreement at the annual Watershed Conference held in November to further their commons goals of environmental education and the protection of the state’s natural resources. This partnership agreement is the second to be signed as part of a new Partners Program that DES has initiated with a wide range of organizations across New Hampshire.

FEMA to Conduct Independent Evaluation of Recent Flooding in New Hampshire: The NHDES has issued a press release regarding an independent evaluation that FEMA will conduct regarding the specific causes of recent floods in New Hampshire and provide recommendations for improving water management procedures and dam operations to reduce the impacts from future flooding. The release also includes information about the first public meeting for the study. 

October 2007

Report on chlorides in 2 streams in the I-93 corridor: Draft Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Studies for chlorides in two streams in the I-93 corridor from Massachusetts to Manchester, NH are now available for public review and comment. The reports are available from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) website at http://www.des.nh.gov/wmb/tmdl/draft_tmdl.html. One report is for the Policy Porcupine Brook in Salem and Windham, NH. The other report is for the North Tributary to Canobie Lake in Windham, NH. The primary source of chloride to these watersheds is road salt for roadway deicing.