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Water Resources

Aquifer Protection/Groundwater Protection | Blasting | Lakes and Ponds/Public Waters | Shoreland Protection | Stormwater | Wastewater Engineering/Septic Systems | Water Resources | Wetlands/Wetland Buffers

back to topAquifer/Groundwater Protection

back to topBlasting

back to topLakes and Ponds/Public Waters

back to topShoreland Protection

back to topStormwater

Wastewater Engineering/Septic Systems

back to topWater Resources

  • State Water Plan Process: Municipalities Have a Crucial Stake, New Hampshire Town and City, April 2009
    Water has shaped the history of New Hampshire's communities, in many ways defines their unique character today and will continue to influence their future. The state boasts more than 1,000 lakes and large ponds, 17,000 miles of mapped rivers and streams, 238 miles of ocean and estuarine coastline, and hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands. Stratified-drift aquifer deposits cover 14 percent of the state and groundwater in bedrock fractures provides water supply via public and private wells to most rural New Hampshire communities. We rely on these water resources for water supply, hydroelectric generation, recreation, tourism, fish and wildlife habitat, scenic beauty and the state's exceptional quality of life.
  • DES Water Resources Primer - January 2009
    The Water Resources Primer was developed to inform policy makers and citizens about the state's water resources and the challenges faced in sustainably managing them. It was developed as part of an initiative to develop a statewide, comprehensive water resources plan, spearheaded by the Legislature's Statutory Water Resources Committee. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is the lead author, although the document was significantly influenced and improved by the contributions of many volunteer stakeholders and experts.
  • Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership
    The mission of Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) is to protect and improve the water quality and overall health of the region's two estuaries – Great Bay & Hampton-Seabrook. We monitor and research the region's water ways, encourage all who live, work and play on the Seacoast to take actions to help protect and preserve the places we love, support development patterns that protect water quality, maintain open spaces and important habitat, and restore estuarine resources.
  • Buffers for Wetlands and Surface Waters - A Guidebook for New Hampshire Municipalities pdf file(November 1995, Revised May 1997)
  • Best management Practices to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution: A Guide for Citizens and Town Officials pdf file- DES, January 2004

back to topWetlands/Wetland Buffers

  • Wetlands Protection in New Hampshire pdf file- Nashua Regional Planning Commission Fact sheet, November 2016
  • NH Method
    The Method for Inventorying and Evaluating Freshwater Wetlands in New Hampshire (NH Method) provides communities, conservation groups and natural resources consultants a practical method for evaluating wetland functions. Originally published in 1991, the NH Method (2011) has been updated for the first time in 20 years.
  • Wetlands Bureau, Department of Environmental Services
  • See the results of the Municipal Land Use Regulation Annual Survey for municipalities with Wetland Protection or Wetlands Buffering requirements.
  • NH Towns' Wetland Buffer Requirements pdf file(January 2010) This chart begun by Betsy Janeway, Webster, added onto by Chris Parker, Dover, and now Francie Von Mertens, Peterborough. Accuracy/completeness not guaranteed and does not represent a thorough inventory of town wetland/shoreland ordinances. Send updates/corrections/additions to Francie Von Mertens vonmertens@myfairpoint.net (603) 924-6550 (Provided with expressed permission.)
  • While there has been interest in protecting vernal pools, protecting adequate upland where most of the species live most of the year (non-breeding season) is critical. Rather than placing a circle of a defined radius around the vernal pool, by identifying the adjacent habitat where vernal pool species (typically amphibians) would live in non-breeding season, one can produce an uneven buffer that is more effective in protecting the species that use vernal pools. (From a Plan-link posting by Sandy Crystall, Bow Planning Board on October 20, 2015)
  • Municipal Guide to Wetland Protection
    Audobon Society of NH, Nashua Regional Planning Commission, NH Association of Conservation Commissions, NH Office of State Planning, NH Wetlands Bureau, September, 1993 (a very limited number of copies of this publication are available by contacting OSI.
  • Protecting New Hampshire's Wetlands: Municipal Issues, New Hampshire Town and City, July/August 2005
  • Prime Wetland Designation Activities: 2005- 2008
    From 2005 to 2008, the NHEP supported seven Prime Wetlands designation projects in the Seacoast. In 2008, warrant articles to adopt Prime Wetlands were on the town ballot in the communities of Fremont, Hampton Falls, Brentwood, and Newfields. Three of the four warrants were approved. This report utilizes interviews with Conservation Commission Chairs and key conservation professionals to document the activities leading up to the town vote in each of these towns. NHEP expenditures and outreach materials used by the communities are also included. The report concludes with recommendations for other communities preparing Prime Wetland designations.
  • Clues to Identifying Forested Wetlands pdf file
    Wetlands perform many functions that are important to the health of our environment – they protect water quality in our lakes and for drinking, help ensure adequate water supplies, and provide wildlife habitat, flood control, and nurseries for finfish and shellfish. It is for these reasons that wetlands are protected under New Hampshire state law.

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NH Office of Strategic Initiatives