Principal Investigators: William H. McDowell
Abstract: In New Hampshire, state regulations, planning board decisions and zoning classifications all address the environmental consequences of development and rapid population growth. The state is under significant development pressure, which puts both the quality and quantity of its water supplies at risk, and yet the decisions made by these various resource managers often occur without a real understanding of the cumulative consequence to water resources or ecosystem services. This project will provide salary for the Center's Acting Director to meet with state representatives, local town officials, watershed groups, scientists and the general public to discuss NH WRRC findings regarding the impacts of population growth on potable water supply and ecosystem health in New Hampshire and the region. The NH WRRC website (https://wrrc.unh.edu/) is also used to disseminate information on water resources, and is updated and maintained by salary provided by this project. The time of the Acting Director is increasingly spent discussing current and future research in the Lamprey River Hydrologic Observatory, which is partially funded by the longstanding 104B project “Water Quality and the Landscape: Long-term monitoring of a rapidly developing suburban watershed.”
The Information Transfer project also provides salary for the NH WRRC Acting Director to participate on the planning committee of the NH Water and Watershed Conference and to organize the Annual Lamprey River Symposium. The annual NH Water and Watershed Conference which is designed to meet the information and networking needs of lake, river, and watershed groups; environmental organizations; volunteer monitors; municipal board and staff members; elected officials; local and regional planners; policy makers; scientists; educators; consultants and students. The goal of the Annual Lamprey River Symposium is to facilitate discussion and collaboration between scientists working in the Lamprey River basin and to engage state & local officials, watershed organizations, and concerned citizens with the science and its implications for Great Bay and the entire coastal watershed.