Activity Report Explorer

Granite Broads • Entered by Nancy Frost on July 27, 2020

July Monthly Meeting

July 23, 2020

Key Issue: Water-related Conservation
Activity Type: Broadband Meeting (prep, implementation & follow up)
Key Partners: NH Rivers Council; NH Waterkeeper for Conservation Law Foundation

Short Description of Activity

Based on survey response we lengthened our scheduled meeting to 90 minutes and set the 4th Thursday as our regular meeting date. This month we set aside planned agenda because we were joined by two surprise guests, Melissa Paly the NH Waterkeeper for the Conservation Law Foundation and Michele Trembley, Board President of the New Hampshire Rivers Council. (Invited by one of our Granite Broads who has worked with their organizations.) Our guests described the work of their organizations on the Merrimack River, including past and current projects that might be of interest to our group. The Waterkeeper for the Piscataqua Estuary identified development as the most serious reason for the Piscataqua being classified as an at-risk estuary with particular concerns around wastewater treatment standards, septic systems and road-building impacts. She provided the group with a short lesson on how to design and manage septic systems to protect groundwater. She also provided some examples of stewardship activities in the region that might still be going on in a restructured way during the pandemic. Michele Tremblay gave us a whirlwind introduction to the efforts the NH Rivers Council has engaged in on the upper reaches of the Merrimack River. She explained that the impact of different nutrient loads varied as one goes downstream with an over supply of phosphorus being the limiting factor in the swampy freshwater areas where it causes algal blooms vs an oversupply of nitrogen being the limiting factor for the brackish water in estuaries. She reminded us that more water means more pollution in the river, with large storms washing particularly significant amounts of these nutrients and other pollution into water bodies. Her group has entirely made up of volunteers. They have a number of successful stewardship projects including:
–an annual “bug night” where volunteers with traps collect bugs along the river, identify what they find and measure in a lab or at home
–a septic system audit project that encourages home owners to initiate good practices and earn a designation as a Water Steward
–water quality monitoring projects on two of the principle tributaries of the Merrimack (continuing during pandemic)
Both of our speakers encouraged members to watch a NH PBS film (The Merrimack: The River at Risk) premiering this month.

Reflection/Evaluation

The goal of the meeting was to educate ourselves on what makes a healthy estuary—a goal met beautifully by our surprise guest speakers who also provided hints of possible collaborative partnerships and stewardship opportunities.