Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

A team of researchers with the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program heads out to track water quality on Lake Kanasatka in Moultonborough Thursday, Sept. 24. At the helm is lakeshore resident Kevin Kelly, who has helped measure water quality on the lake for decades. (NH Bulletin photo)

For one NH lake, a costly cyanobacteria treatment is working

For Lake Kanasatka, the cyanobacteria treatment “is doing what it’s supposed to do,” said Amanda McQuaid, director of the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program.

Road crossings pose a threat to slow-moving animals like Eastern box turtles, which are listed as endangered by the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game. (NH Bulletin photo)

Environment

As federal protections shrink, fate of NH wildlife increasingly in state lawmakers’ hands

Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

“As a Northeast state that’s got logging and mining and a lot of activities, I do think the state’s Endangered Species (Conservation) Act is going to be really, really important,” said Erica Fuller of the Conservation Law Foundation.

Environment

As drought expands across central NH this fall, in some places it never went away

Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report indicates more than half of New Hampshire is experiencing moderate drought, while about 41% was abnormally dry.

Penacook Lake, in Concord, is the source of drinking water for the city, including Concord Hospital, residents, schools, and businesses. For this purpose, the water must be treated daily in a series of steps that are monitored by a combination of automated systems and human managers.

Environment

Cyber threats an immense and global challenge for NH’s water suppliers

Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is not aware of any impacts to New Hampshire systems from that particular spree of attacks, spokesperson James Martin said in an email to the Bulletin. But, he added, “systems are always being probed.”

Politics

Why nuclear, why New Hampshire, why now?

Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

“What we do best right now looks like nuclear, and I think we can benefit from expanding that,” said Thomas Barrasso, director of energy innovation for the New Hampshire Department of Energy at a public meeting this June.

The proposed union would create the largest regulated utility in the world, according to NextEra.

Environment

Ayotte silent as neighboring governors sound the alarm on proposed utility merger

Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

Gov. Kelly Ayotte did not join five New England governors in letter opposing proposed merger between Seabrook Station owner NextEra and Dominion utilities.

Meadow Pond, in Hampton, viewed from Gentian Road. The tidal estuary regularly floods during very high tides, spilling over into nearby neighborhoods. While the town of Hampton has worked on engineering solutions to that flooding, which is worsened by climate change, scientists are working on rehabilitating the marsh itself.

Environment

In Hampton, a race to insulate vulnerable neighborhoods against sea-level rise

Molly Rains, New Hampshire Bulletin

Sea-level rise and the increasing intensity of storms and rainfall events, also worsened by climate change, have led to more frequent flooding in coastal areas like Hampton.