Water Pollution in New Hampshire

Plymouth State University's Center for the environment and the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) put together a report about the status of New Hampshire's water. The report entitled "New Hampshire's Citizens Value and Use Water in Many Ways A Preliminary Report of the New Hampshire Water and Watershed Survey-statewide perspectives with an oversample in the Piscataqua Region Watershed 2014" included results from the Watershed Survey which asked New Hampshire residents questions such as how they use water (lawn care etc.), weed killer usage, and their knowledge of how they are affecting the water supply.

The report included some interesting results from the survey. Thirty three percent of New Hampshire residences spread a chemical weed killer or fertilizer. The survey showed that fifty-eight percent of residences indicated that they knew certain actions on their property can have an impact on the overall water in the community. Additionally, fifty-eight percent indicate that they knew their actions on their property could have an impact on overall water in the community.

This may not appear negative but the survey also showed that ninety percent of the residence who took the survey are concerned with the level of pollution in local streams, rivers, lakes, and bays. In addition, seventy percent agree that they would be willing to pay higher water and sewer fees to improve the cleanliness of the lakes, rivers, streams, and bays in their community.

Dr. Shannon Rogers, the Assistant Professor Environmental Science & Policy Center for the Environment at Plymouth State University was the lead author of the report. Overall, the report was a success and has promoted action to lower water pollution.

"We presented our results at the recent NH Water and Watersheds Conference held at PSU on March 21st.  We received positive feedback and will be following up with some key partners, including the NH Department of Environmental Services about how this work can contribute to and further the State's Water Sustainability efforts.  We will also be working on developing social indicators for State around water resources," said Dr. Rogers.

 Aside from Dr. Rogers, there are two Plymouth State Masters students in Environmental Science and Policy,  Jonathon Loos and Chelsea Berg, also contributed to the report.

Overall, the report by Dr. Rogers and her colleagues shows that water pollution has become a serious issue in New Hampshire that can longer be ignored.

The report concluded by stating, "This survey is just the start of a much-needed investment in building a body of knowledge regarding the uses, values and behaviors of New Hampshire and Piscataqua Region residents in regards to water resources. We will be working on several initiatives, including outreach/education, indicators, and geographic visualization of select results. It is our hope that this survey will serve as a stepping-stone to further investigation and implementation of action." It may only be the beginning, but New Hampshire is on it's way to having cleaner water.