State Conference Focuses on Water Sustainability

For four decades, New Hampshire has been the fastest growing state in New England.
Harry Stewart, the Water Division Director for the state’s environmental services department, says on average the state sees 10 to 12 thousand new homes or development projects every year.
1157 :54 every housing unit adds several hundred gallons per day of demand for drinking water supply, and it also puts demand on our ability to deal with wastewater.

Speaking at the state’s first water conference, Stewart said New Hampshire uses about 172 million gallons of water a day.
That’s enough to fill a swimming pool six feet deep, 25 feet wide and 400 football fields long.
Those homes and businesses generate wastewater that’s also straining the state’s treatment plants.
30 plants are at 80-percent capacity or above, and Stewart says upgrading them will be a costly undertaking.
1157 2:54 municipalities have reported to DES a need of about 250 million dollars going forward in a 15 to 20 year period in terms of upgrading infrastructure, we believe because of federal permit requirements we believe it’s a low figure, it’s probably more like 500 million dollars.

The quality of the state’s water is also in jeopardy.
142 rivers lakes or streams in the state are polluted –mainly with mercury coming from power plants.
And a large portion of the state’s drinking water is surrounded by unprotected land, says Dan Sundquist, with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.
“1149 :29 about 800-thousand people depend on public water supplies statewide, but only 11 percent of their well head and reservoir areas are protected in any way, this hasn’t changed in ten years since we initially did the study statewide.”

Speakers at the conference say there are other – much tougher - challenges ahead to keeping water safe and available.
Climate change may cause more frequent droughts in the state.
Currently the state has a drought about every three years.
But Dr. Cameron Wake, a UNH climate change research center professor, says if the world continues to use fossil fuels at its current rate it will be much more difficult to provide water.
“Essentially we have a drought every year under the higher emissions scenario, this is not a climatic event that New England is really capable of dealing with right now, we just assume there’s going to water, and in the future these droughts are going to happen when there’s the greatest stress because their going to happen in summer cause they’re being driven by really warm summer temperatures”

The water conference brought together academics, state agencies, scientists and environmentalists from across the state to discuss water issues collaboratively for the first time.
Organizers say they expect the water conference to become a yearly event.
Governor John Lynch - who also spoke - thinks it’s essential for the state.
1174 :31 protecting water and water supplies is so important in NH, and because it’s not a crisis now, now’s the time to act, and this conference brings people together of various backgrounds, including representatives, to talk about how we can put those protections in place so we can preserve the water for future generations.

Despite what may sound like negative news about the state’s water - many speakers say New Hampshire’s water is in relatively good shape – especially compared with southwestern states that are lacking water and experiencing unprecedented growth.
For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.