The Waterline Watershed News from Northwood to Newmarket

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1 The Waterline Watershed News from Northwood to Newmarket Volume 15, Issue 1 April 2015 LRWA is a non-profit, sustainability driven, nature inspired group of members working for a clean and healthy watershed. Boating on the Lamprey River There are several wonderful places in the Lamprey River system to kayak or canoe. The most often used sections are from the Raymond/Epping line to Newmarket. Popular put-in/take-outs are: Mary Blair Park to Mill Street bridge to Route 87 (Epping) Wadleigh Falls (Lee) to Wiswall Dam (Durham) Macallen Dam backwater up-river to below Packers Falls with diversions in the moat (Newmarket) If you have other favorite areas, LRWA would love to hear about your outing. More information is needed by those who paddle the Deerfield/Candia/Raymond neck of the river. Join LRWA on a Family Friendly Group Paddle - May 30 Meet at the Town Beach behind the Lamprey River Elementary School around 9:30 am. Shove off will be at 10 am. The paddle will be from Town Beach to downtown and then back to Town Beach. Historian Paul Brown will be with us to point out places of interest and local history. Registration is requested to assist us with preparations. dawn.genes@lrwa-nh.org Growth is "smart" when it gives us great communities, with more choices and personal freedom, good return on public investment, greater opportunity across the community, a thriving natural environment, and a legacy we can be proud to leave our children and grandchildren. River Herring Run 2015 No, it s not a road race. It s a race by the river herring to spawn in the upper sections of the Lamprey River watershed. NH Fish and Game staff will give 1,000 river herring a ride from the fish ladder in Newmarket to above the dam at Wadleigh Falls in Lee. Why? Because the fish are unable to make it over the dam at Wadleigh Falls, prohibiting them from potentially reaching an additional 70 miles of main-river and tributary spawning grounds. The Lamprey River is the only river in the Great Bay region with an annual increase in river herring returns. The fish ladder in Newmarket was installed in In 2012 a ladder was installed at the Wiswall Dam in Durham. A year later, 97 fish were radio tagged to see where the next barrier was. They bumped into the dam at Wadleigh Falls and could not go further. Even though the dam is in ruins the hydrology of the site is such that the fish get within about five feet of success but cannot make the final push through the last elevation gain against such a strong current. Multiple agencies and organizations are very interested in rectifying this situation. The capture and release of 1,000 herring upstream from the Wadleigh Falls dam is to learn just how far they might go if they could. Unless log jams a few miles upriver from the stocking site are a barrier it is conceivable that river herring could go all the way to Deerfield like they once did many years ago! LRWA is seeking river herring spotters who will keep an eye out for these fish and report if and where they have been seen. The event will occur approximately the first week of May, depending on when the river herring begin their run. If you are interested in participating, contact LRWA at volunteer@lrwa-nh.org or call Our streams and rivers are closer than you think thanks for keeping them clean! LRWA Spring 2015 Page 1

2 NH s 35th Midwinter Eagle Survey Posts Record Numbers Eagles like rivers, lakes and estuaries! NH Audubon completed the 35th annual New Hampshire Mid-winter Bald Eagle Survey, part of the national Mid-winter Bald Eagle Survey coordinated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The 2015 count results are truly remarkable shattering last year s Count Day total and posting a new state record high for number of Bald Eagles seen! Overall, a record 102 volunteer observers participated in the 2015 Count Day, and located 90 individual eagles on Count Day alone, surpassing 2014 s previous high of 67 birds by an astonishing 34%. If you think you have spotted a bald eagle you just might be right. Here are the results in our region of Great Bay: Total of 27 Bald Eagles seen, including 26 individuals (12 adults, 14 immatures) seen on Count Day (29 observers), plus 1 additional eagle (1 adult) confirmed during the two-week Count Period. Teams covering Adams Point on Great Bay all day saw at least 11 individual eagles! Other region results are: Androscoggin River 10, Connecticut River 19, Lakes Region 16, Merrimack River 33, and Saco/Ossipie River 5. Swallows Six species of swallows breed in New Hampshire, and populations of five of these have been declining since the 1960s. These declines are part of a more widespread decline of aerial insectivores (birds that capture insects on the wing, including swifts, swallows, nighthawks, and flycatchers) across northeastern North America. Biologists are unsure why these species are declining, but possible explanations include pesticides (on both breeding and wintering grounds), habitat loss, and climate change. Go Ahead Be Selfish It may save your health! There are many motivators for changes in behavior. One of these is selfishness. Often seen as a negative, perhaps we should all be selfish when it comes to water. Why? You should be selfish about the water you drink. You should expect clean water to drink whether it comes from your well or from a public source. To achieve this, you must demand that others not dirty YOUR water. Here s what others need to do to be sure that you get the clean water you deserve: 1. Insist that oil and gas and other foul things do not run off parking lots into waterways. 2. Keep thick bushy vegetation next to streams and rivers so it can filter out pollutants before reaching your water. 3. Fight nutrient pollution it reduces your property values. Lawn fertilizers are a big source of nitrogen to our streams so is pet waste. Yuk! 4. Get used to less salt on the roads because it is getting into your well and threatening your heart health. All actions on the land affect the quality of our water above and below ground. If it s on the ground, it ends up in your water. Demand that all steps be taken to ensure that you have clean water to drink because the alternative is a costly expense to you. If others abuse the landscape you must pay for water treatment to clean up their mess. How fair is that? Go ahead. Be selfish about your water. The first step in effective conservation of these species is to collect data on the distribution and abundance of swallows in New Hampshire, focusing on the colonial species that are showing the steepest declines: Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Bank Swallow, and Purple Martin. Get more information and record keeping materials LRWA Spring 2015 Page 2

3 C A L E N D A R O F EVENTS HERRING RUN 2015 LEE AND EPPING, HOPEFULLY RAYMOND APPROXIMATELY MAY 1 Volunteer to be on the lookout for river herring after release above the Wadeigh Falls dam. Contact LRWA at or volunteer@lrwa-nh.org to find out more. HISTORY HIKE AT WISWALL FALLS WISWALL ROAD, DURHAM MAY 3, 11 AM TO NOON Learn about the mills that once used this spot and the rich natural resources of the area. RIVER HERRING COUNT W NH FISH AND GAME MACALLEN DAM, DOWNTOWN NEWMARKET MAY 9 10 AM TO 1 PM See fish using the ladder, hold one in a bucket, learn about their challenging journey from river to sea to river again. Are You Living On the Edge? If You re Not Burffering We re All Suffering In a recent survey by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership the following actions were ranked as critical by Lamprey River towns: 1. Increase naturally vegetated buffers adjacent to all streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and wetlands to a minimum of 100 from the water resource. 2. Increase setback requirements for septic systems and primary structures to at least 100 from all streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and wetlands. 3. Adopt regulations preventing the application of fertilizer within 100 of all streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, estuaries, and wetlands. 4. Adopt model stormwater management regulations BIKE IT! A GROUP BIKE RIDE TO ENJOY THE SCENIC LAMPREY RIVER MAY 17, Miles bike route led by Suzanne Petersen, Wild and Scenic Committee RAYMOND BY WATER RAYMOND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-TOWN BEACH MAY 30, 2015 Annual LRWA sponsored water outing. Historian Paul Brown will paddle along to relate local history. Register by ing LRWA at volunteer@lrws-nh.org HISTORY AND NATURE EXPLORATION MARY BLAIR PARK, EPPING JUNE 7, 10 AM TO NOON Learn about the former mills, the teacher who the park is named after and current recreational opportunities. BEMIS CONSTRUCTION GREG BEMIS PO BOX 339 RAYMOND, NH EXCAVATION*SEPTIC SYSTEMS WELL LINES*WATER LINES RESIDENTIAL/COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL GREAT LAMPREY RIVER CLEANUP NORTHWOOD TO NEWMARKET SEPTEMBER 19, AM-11 AM River-wide clean up from several key stations. Local coordinators needed. Contact: volunteer@lrwa-nh.org LRWA ANNUAL MEETING JERIMIAH SMITH GRANGE, LEE OCTOBER 16, PM Program, Spaghetti Supper, Volunteer Awards LRWA Spring 2015 Page 3

4 Route 27 Raymond, NH Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30-6, Saturday 8-5, Sunday 9-3 LRWA Spring 2015 Page 4

5 DIY Project That Helps Water Catch it if you can! This past winter was a tough one! Everyone is ready for some warmth and our thoughts turn to our lawns and gardens. Not all water that falls on your property soaks into the ground. As water flows off your property, it can wash pollutants, such as soil, lawn chemicals and pet waste into where we swim, fish and what we drink. The solution? Let the water soak into the soil so that it can be filtered and adsorbed. Here s two ways you can Soak Up the rain: Rain Garden Support River Conservation Yes I want to help promote clean water for wildlife and for people! Enclosed is my check for: $30 $50 $100 $250 (Your membership donation is tax deductible.) Name: Address: Do you prefer e-news? Yes No Both Make checks payable and mail to: Lamprey River Watershed Association, 43 North River Road, Lee NH Don t be a drip Driveway Infiltration Trench Water = Life Save IT! For more information about rain gardens go to Other resources: Nice video on benefits of rain gardens How Syracuse NY cleaned up their lake The Meadow and the Parking Lot Once upon a time there was a meadow of lush green grass. When 3 inches of rain fell, most of the rain soaked into the ground, recharging the ground water. Very little water left the meadow only 1,630 gallons. Then this meadow became a parking lot and now when it rains 3 inches or 25,806 gallons of water runs off, unable to soak into the ground. This storm water runoff has gasoline and oil and heavy metals and salt and sometimes is very warm. This warm, dirty water goes straight to the river causing the river to suffocate and die. Everyone was very sad and asked what can be done? One very clever person said why don t we catch this water and clean it before it reaches the river and let the water soak back into the ground? Everyone agreed that this was a great idea and all went out to help, starting with their own house and driveway and cheered when the stores they visited were soaking up the rain. The End. LRWA Spring 2015 Page 5

6 Lamprey River Watershed Association 43 North River Road Lee, NH Follow Us On Find Us On Facebook: LampreyRiverWatershedAssociation 14 towns - ONE river H E L P WA N T E D: P E R S O N S T O T E S T WATE R Each summer, a group of dedicated volunteers donate a few hours a month to sampling the water in the Lamprey, North Branch, North, Little or Piscassic Rivers. This information is very valuable for documenting the current river water quality marks the 18 th year of data collection through the Volunteer River Assessment Program coordinated by NH DES. Training for volunteers is provided and no prior experience is necessary. The sampling kit is provided. There are two sites each in Deerfield, Candia, Raymond and Newmarket, three in Epping and Nottingham, and one in Lee and one in Durham. Sampling on the Piscassic can be added if a volunteer will come forward this will be sampled on a more regular basis. How do we know if the water in our rivers and streams is safe enough to use for fishing, swimming, recreation or to drink? Who determines water quality? How is data collected? Temperature, ph, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and specific conductance are measured. It takes about two but not more than three hours to complete a sampling turn. You may sample on dates that work with your schedule. Sampling takes place in the morning and is preferably concluded by 10 am. Training for new volunteers and a refresher for returning volunteers will be scheduled based on your responses. volunteer@lrwa-nh.org to let us know you want to do something to help the health of your river. Call if you do not get a reply within 3 days in case your message went to the junk box. LRWA Spring 2015 Page 6