New Hampshire Water & Watershed Conference – March 15, 2019 at Plymouth State University
Note: The agenda below is subject to change. We are working on a few final details so there will be some additional edits and the order of talks may change.
8:00 am – 8:45 am: Registration and networking – Merrill Place Lobby
8:45 am – 9:45 am: Plenary Session:
The Million-Dollar Question: How are New Hampshire’s lakes and rivers doing? – David Neils, Chief Aquatic Biologist for NHDES
For years, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) has collected data from our surface waters. Various reports summarize these data for individual waterbodies and the biennial water quality assessment serves as the primary process for determining impairment. However, until recently, a statewide approach to monitoring and reporting was lacking. Come learn about the state’s new strategy for a coordinated approach to surface water monitoring and an updated assessment of the condition of our waterbodies.
9:45 am – 10:30 am: Poster Session
10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Morning Talks (4 breakout sessions, 3 talks per session)
Economy of Water Chair: Amy Villamanga
- Historical climate warming in the White Mountains of New Hampshire: implications for snowmaking water needs at ski areas – Geoff Wilson, Mark Green, and Ken Mark
- What Is Our Water Worth and What Does Our Water Cost? A Review of economic data on water in New Hampshire – Thomas O’Brien, Alison Watts and Shannon Rogers
- Deliberative Multicriteria Analysis: An Application in the Great Bay Watershed – Rich Howarth & Shannon Rogers
GIS and Remote Sensing for Environmental Science and Management Chair: Shane Csiki
- Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Snow Science: Shared Lessons for Pushing the Envelope – Jennifer Jacobs, Michael Palace, Adam Hunsaker
- Using GIS technology to improve watershed management planning and implementation tracking of surface waters – Margaret Burns & Laura Diemer
- Beyond the Blue Lines—Researching NH’s Hydrography – Joshua Keeley and Frederick Chormann
Community Conservation Partnerships Chair: Judy Tumosa
- Water Quality and the Work of Your Local Conservation District – Stacy Luke
- Sustaining the Saco River – Emily Greene
- Stony Brook Streamflow Restoration Project – A Case Study of Coordinated Management of Shared Water Resources – Hayley O’Grady and David Roman
Water Quality and Quantity Regulations Chair: Vivien Taylor
- Review of the Drinking Water and Groundwater Standards for Arsenic – Paul Susca and Cynthia Klevens
- Understanding Wetland Priority Resource Areas – Rick Van De Poll and Mary Ann Tilton
- Newmarket’s Battle Between Capital and Compliance – Renee Bourdeau and Sean Grieg
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm: Afternoon Talks (3 breakout sessions, 3 talks per session)
Fish and Freshwater Fragmentation Chair: Amy Villamanga
- Management Implications for Brook Trout in a Fragmented Landscape – Dianne Timmins
- Movement and Genetics of Eastern Brook Trout Post Restoration in the Beebe River Watershed – Jared Lamy and Joshua Hoekwater
- Prioritizing Culvert Replacement Projects to Restore Habitat Connectivity in the Warner River Watershed – Katerina Crowley and Ben Nugent
Roles & Concerns of Sediments: From Land to Water Chair: Carolyn Greenough
- Applying an alternate approach to watershed management for two New Hampshire lakes with unique water quality stressors and responses – Laura Diemer
- Using Reservoir Size, Watershed Characteristics, and Sediment Transport Proxies to Estimate Impounded Sediment Volume and Dominant Grain Size at Dams in New England – Christian Olsen, Anne Lightbody and Sean Smith
- Emergency Erosion Control Techniques for Severe Weather Conditions During Active Timber Harvest – Jim Frohn
Use of New Technology in Water Resources Chair: Michelle Shattuck
- Environmental DNA to detect fish in coastal systems – Devin Thomas and Alison Watts
- Spatiotemporal trends in solute export and concentration-discharge relationships determined by a high-frequency in situ optical sensor network – Hannah Fazekas
- The role of ‘unseen’ water in managing NH water resources – Mark Green
2:30 pm – 2:45 pm: Break
2:45 pm – 3:45 pm: Panel Discussion:
Positive Outcomes to Address a Changing Water Landscape: One Step at a Time – Moderator Shane Csiki, NH Geological Survey
In recent years, many towns in New Hampshire have commented that the form of our water resources, whether it be increased river dynamics, or watershed processes, is changing. Addressing these issues in its entirety, at once, is daunting, but towns have taken actions to address new and emerging problems. Our panel of representatives from local communities will share their experiences implementing projects that demonstrate positive steps to address our changing watershed processes. You will have the opportunity to engage with our panel and ask questions on how best to execute successful projects (in addition to the challenges!) so that New Hampshire can continue to accumulate positive changes through successful projects, one step at a time.
Throughout the Day: Posters on New Hampshire Water Topics
- Temporal trends of physical and chemical parameters measured in tributaries of the Saco/Ossipee Watershed – Jillian Emerson and Victoria Green
- A Contest-Based Crowdsourcing Scheme to Monitor Household Water Quality – Scott Greenwood
- Every Drop: A clean water movement of enjoyment & protection – Trevor Mattera
- The Androscoggin River Watershed Stream Crossing Assessment Project – Ashley Newell