Associated People Chris Feurt Annie Cox
Building Capacity and Collaborating to Protect Source Water
The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership 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 Salmon Falls River flows from an ecologically diverse land area shared by the states of Maine and New Hampshire, and drains into the Great Bay estuary, a coastal ecosystem of national importance. Approximately 28,000 people rely on public water systems in the Salmon Falls watershed to provide clean drinking water. Many other households rely on private groundwater wells within this region to provide clean drinking water. While the watershed is a critical drinking water source it is also threatened by future increases in polluted runoff resulting from population growth and the associated conversion of forested land to developed areas. The U.S Forest Service 2009 report Private Forests, Public Benefits identified the rivers in the Piscataqua Region as the most threatened in the nation with regard to a potential decline in water quality due to conversion of private forested lands to housing.
The collaborative coordinates 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.
Associated People Chris Feurt Tin Smith
On October 5th the Coastal Training Program partnered with Protect Kittery Waters, Spruce Creek Association, FB Environmental, Robert's Maine Grill, and the Great Works Regional Land Trust to host a day-long field trip showcasing watershed restoration efforts on Spruce Creek and Shorey's Brook. The day began at Kittery Town Hall where Mary Ann Conroy (Public Works, Kittery) and William Straub (CMA Engineers) spoke about the tree box filter and raingarden they installed with Maine DEP 319 funding.
Associated People Annie Cox Chris Feurt
I participated in a watershed hike this past Tuesday in the York and Kittery Water Districts. Not only did we see the beauty of the trails around Mount Agamenticus, but concepts about the larger context of the watersheds were discussed. Water district staff and operators attended along with watershed groups, land trusts, and other municipal staff involved with source water protection. After a quick introduciton and history talk on top of Mt. Agamenticus, the group embarked on a 1.5 mile hike through the York and Kittery Watersheds.
Associated People Chris Feurt
The Coastal Training Program is looking forward to attending our neighboring Reserve’s collaborative effort: New Hampshire Coastal Adaptation Workgroup (NH CAW).
The Land Conservation Plan for Maine’s Piscataqua Region Watersheds aims to identify and describe areas that represent the best opportunities to conserve the critical ecological, biological, and water resources of southern Maine's coastal watersheds. These Conservation Focus Areas (CFA) are presented in the plan as a series of double-sided pages that include a map of each specific area plus detailed information about its significant resources. Each CFA fact sheet is available individually here:
Associated People Tin Smith Chris Feurt
The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership has released its Land Conservation Plan for Maine's Piscataqua Region Watersheds (14MB PDF).
The plan provides a scientific and experienced-based guide for the protection of natural resources vital to thriving communities. It is designed to assist citizens who are involved in sustaining and improving their communities by serving on select boards, planning boards, conservation commissions, economic development boards, schools, or non-profit community organizations such as land trusts, watershed coalitions, conservation groups, and recreation clubs.
Associated People Jacob Aman Ashley Pinkham Tin Smith
This summer, the Wells Reserve is an active participant in the Maine Road-Stream Crossing Survey: a joint project of the Maine Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf of Maine Coastal Program. Four teams comprising of summer interns and Reserve employees are surveying the culverts of the Kennebunk River Watershed to see if they pose barriers to fish and wildlife passage.
The Wells Conservation Commission and the Great Works Regional Land Trust are negotiating to conserve two parcels of land totaling 418 acres. Article 17 on the upcoming town ballot requests up to $450,000 for the properties. The funds are already in the town's Land Bank Account and will not impact property taxes.
The Wells Reserve has produced or assisted with every key conservation planning document prepared for southern Maine watersheds over the past decade. The most recent issue of the Watermark newsletter includes a chart to show which plans cover each town and watershed. You can download the watershed conservation chart below (it's a small PDF).
Associated People Chris Feurt
Coastal Training Program (CTP) coordinator Chris Feurt is in Burlington, Vermont today, speaking at the 14th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management. This year’s theme is “People and Place: Linking Culture and Nature.”
Chris’s talk is titled “Understanding the ‘system’ in ecosystem management—social science tools for natural resource managers.” Her case study stems from the CTP “Protecting Our Children’s Water” initiative, where social science methodologies are applied to community-based ecosystem management. Here is part of her abstract…
Stakeholder and institutional analysis combined with instructional design and collaborative learning methodologies facilitated watershed partnerships in coastal watersheds in southern Maine. An understanding of the cultural roots of conflict, motivational forces guiding resource management and perceived barriers to collaboration guided this place-based design of the national science to management initiative. The social science methodologies applied in this case study yielded surprising and valuable perspectives about the social system influencing community based ecosystem management. A conceptual framework for integrating social science tools into ecosystem management is proposed.
Associated People Chris Feurt
A Watershed Council met this morning at the Wells Reserve to continue its collaborative work toward protecting water resources while ensuring clean water for today and for the next generation.
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