AWWA News
Grants from NHDES and MEDEP will support AWWA's work to reduce pollution from roads and residential properties and continue our educational programs for the communities.
We are enhancing our "AWWA in the Schools" programs and will be busy with the students at the Wakefield Paul School and Acton Elementary School this spring.
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| Salmon Falls Watershed at Risk |
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According to the Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Piscataqua-Salmon Falls watershed ranks 3rd in the nation in terms of total acreage of private forest projected to experience increased housing density from 2000 to 2030.
More worrisome is the finding that the Piscataqua-Salmon Falls watershed ranks 1st in the nation projected to experience the most change in water quality as a result of those increases in housing density on private forest lands.
Acton and Wakefield contain the headwaters of the Salmon Falls River in Great East Lake, Horn Pond, Lake Ivanhoe, Lovell Lake and Wilson Lake. This study illustrates how critical it is that the time to act is now to preserve the high quality waters we depend upon. AWWA is working with the Towns and lake associations to spread the word that how land is used has a direct effect on the quality of the water it drains to. Read the full report “Private Forests, Pubic Benefits” for more detailed information. The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership has convened the Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative to improve watershed planning and management — and to protect water supply sources — in the Salmon Falls River watershed. The collaborative will coordinate long-term source water protection efforts among planning commissions, land trusts, watershed associations, water systems, and town, state, and federal agencies in New Hampshire and Maine. The collaborative's goal is to protect and sustain high quality drinking water in the Salmon Falls River watershed. This project includes collaborative planning for a workshop, development of a stakeholder generated white paper, and implementation of select source water protection actions based on stakeholder priorities identified through the workshop and in the white paper. The Salmon Falls Watershed Collaborative will host a one-day workshop on October 27, 2010. The workshop will be designed to contribute to building a sense of shared purpose among participants in the Salmon Falls Watershed. Organizations will include Maine and New Hampshire state agencies, water systems, local governments (select boards, planning boards, conservation commissions, and town staff), watershed groups, lake associations, land trusts, regional planning commissions, and other conservation organizations. Click here to register. |
