Developers and environmentalists working hand-in-hand on new legislative proposals? That’s just one of the ideas that emerged at the “State of the Estuaries” conference, which brought policy makers, environmentalists and interested citizens together in Portsmouth on Friday, Oct. 27.

Every three years, the New Hampshire Estuaries Project offers an overview of our progress in protecting Great Bay. The 2006 report says we’ve done right by the estuary in many areas, but steady population growth gives reason to be concerned. The full report can be viewed on the Web at www.nhep.unh.edu.

“We have to acknowledge that we can’t solve the world’s problems, but the protection of this estuary is well within our grasp,” said coastal scientist Phil Trowbridge of the Estuaries Project, who made the overview presentation.
In fact, since the last conference, the organization has funded over $1 million in on-the-ground projects, including storm water improvements, shoreline buffer upgrades, land conservation and other efforts, according to director Jennifer Hunter.
Several indicators of water quality show improvement. Fecal coliform bacteria levels have decreased by 73 percent over the past 17 years, and tests indicate that concentrations of toxic contaminants have decreased 17-68 percent over the last 12 years. Other areas of progress include the protection of 11 percent of the land area within the watershed, and restoration of salt marsh habitats.

The most obvious area of decline is a drop in the oyster population—the number of harvestable oysters has declined 95 percent since 1993. Meanwhile, the current number of harvestable clams in the Hampton-Seabrook Harbor, a smaller but still crucial estuary, is 31 percent of the average level and decreasing. Some of these numbers are connected with disease and predation by invasive species.

However, among indicators influenced by human activity, it’s clear that increased population growth in the 42 communities of the Great Bay watershed has increased pollution, especially non-source point pollution, the kind that comes from parking lot runoff, fertilized lawns, pet waste and leaking septic systems.

Nitrogen concentrations have increased by 59 percent in the past 25 years. The negative effects, such as algae blooms and low oxygen levels, are not evident yet, but they should be, based on similar trends at other estuaries. The experts who work on this research are concerned that the gradual increase will reach a threshold, after which there will be a quick shift resulting in “dead zones” around the bay.

Eelgrass coverage has been declining, especially in terms of overall biomass, or combined weight. Eelgrass beds are shallow-water ecosystems that are important habitats, food sources and sediment stabilizers. They both depend on and contribute to good water quality. Trowbridge said the cause of the current decline is not known, but such declines are typically due to disturbance from land use activities. 

Impervious, or paved, surfaces are being added to the watershed at an average rate of 1,185 acres per year over the last 15 years, and land consumption per person is increasing, an indicator of sprawling growth patterns. Impervious surfaces increase the pollutant load, sediment load, volume and velocity of storm water flowing through the estuaries.
“I find this data particularly disconcerting,” Trowbridge said. The group had been hoping that data shared with town governments at the time of the last report would help decrease the rate of consumption.

The data is collected by a variety of organizations, including local planning commissions, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. EPA, the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, and a variety of University of New Hampshire coastal, marine and storm water programs. NHEP itself is a local-state-federal partnership, funded by the Clean Water Act and administered by the University of New Hampshire.

N.H. Sen. Maggie Hassan, who chairs the committee exploring municipal wastewater treatment options in the Great Bay area, gave the lunchtime presentation on the project, which recently received funding to continue its work. She spoke of the power of unexpected collaborations that might meet the environmental needs of the area as it continues to grow, especially in terms of workforce housing.

“There is a natural coming together of interests, of those who want to protect the beauty of the state and those who want to build workforce housing,” she said. “One of the biggest obstacles to us setting good policy and following through is time. Informally, formally, anyway you can, start working with them to find out how you might work together, and then come to the Legislature with proposals.”

At the conclusion of his overview, Trowbridge ticked off a list of things that haven’t yet been measured or whose effects cannot be measured, the effects of stressors like nitrogen loading, pharmaceutical products, personal care products and global warming.

“The more we learn, the more we realize what we do not know. The more we realize what we do not know, the more we realize we need to protect this resource,” he said.