Transition of Coastal and Estuaries Programs from OEP to DES

Over the past year, the New Hampshire Coastal Program (NHCP) and the New Hampshire Estuaries Project have been housed within the Office of State Planning, the Office of Energy and Planning, and now the Department of Environmental Services (DES). Though our host has changed, the program continues to serve the state's coastal communities. The NHCP transitioned from the Office of Energy and Planning to the Department of Environmental Services on July 1, 2004. This move was the result of legislation recently enacted to restructure various agencies within state government.

Located in the watershed management bureau at DES, we now work side-by-side with DES staff working on non-point source pollution, water quality assessments, biomonitoring, watershed assistance, lakes and rivers. We also continue to work primarily out of the downtown Portsmouth location on Court Street, though a move to Pease Tradeport is scheduled for September. Both the Coastal Program and Estuaries Project provides technical and monetary assistance to communities, regional planning commissions, and organizations for a variety of projects, funding everything from habitat restoration to water quality abatement to master plans. The NHCP webpage will also transition to DES in August. The new address is http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/index.htm.

Please visit the site frequently to see where we go next!