Successful Watershed Planning

Forrest Bell, FB Environmental Associates

Workshop Agenda

8:30 – 9:00: Registration and Refreshments

9:00 – 9:10: Welcome (Forrest Bell, FBE)

Part 1: Watershed Management

9:10 – 9:55: Watershed Planning and Septic System Issues (Forrest Bell, FBE and Pat Tarpey, LWWA)

9:50 – 10:20: Using Build-Out Analyses for Lake Watershed Protection in the Region’s Rapidly Growing Communities (Forrest Bell,

FBE)

10:20 – 10:35: Watershed Grants (Andy Chapman, NH DES and Pat Tarpey, LWWA)

10:35 – 10:50: Youth Conservation Corps (Dustin Johnson, AWWA)

10:50-11:00: Break

Part 2: Pollutant Source Tracking

11:00 – 11:10: Pollutants in Surface Waters (Emily DiFranco, FBE)

11:10 – 11:30: Pollutant Source Tracking Methods (Emily DiFranco, FBE)

11:30 – 11:45: Canine Detection Video Demonstration (Environmental Canine Services)

11:45 – 12:00: Questions and Discussion

FB Environmental Associates

Offices in Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME

Small business founded in 2001 to provide lake assessment, protection, and restoration assistance

Work with public sector clients located throughout New England

Lake Winnipesaukee Watershed

WHY DEVELOP A PLAN?

Because we care about the health of our lakes and want to keep them clean for future generations to enjoy.

If a lake doesn’t meet State standards it is required.

Pollution Sources

Past

Point source pollutiondischarged from pipe

Present

Now polluted runoff or nonpoint source pollution(NPS) from many smaller, diffuse sources

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is one of the major nutrients needed for plant growth.

Naturally present in small amounts.

Generally, as phosphorus increases, the amount of algae also increases.

Too Much P= Algae Blooms, Low DO, Fish Kills!

Water Quality & Property Values

For every 3 ft. decline in water

clarity, shorefront property

values can decline as much as

20%.

Declining property values affect

individual landowners and

economics of entire

communities.

With property rights comes

property responsibility

10,000’s YEARS IN NATURAL CONDITIONS

10’s to 100’s YEARS UNDER HUMAN INFLUENCE

Speeding aging of lakes

WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLANNING

Build Public Support

Inventory of the Watershed

Define the Problems

Set Goals

& Develop Solutions

Create an Action Plan

Implement &

Evaluate

WatershedManagement

Cycle

BUILD STRONG LOCAL SUPPORT

Form a Steering Committee

Landowners NH DES

Conservation Districts Town Manager/Planner

USDA/NRCS Town Planners

Lake Associations Conservation Comm.

Develop a Landowner List

Send Postcards

Personal Letters w/map

Watershed Forum

Social Media

Press Releases

Posters & Website

Phone Calls

Publicize the Effort

ASSESS WATER QUALITY

Collect, Organize & Interpret Data

Identify Trends

Compare to Standards

Determine Assimilative Capacity

Set Water Quality Goal

0

1

2

3

Par

ts P

er B

illi

on

(pp

b)

Mean Annual Chloropyll-a Station 1-Fullers, Lake Wentworth, NH

INVENTORY THE WATERSHED

What is contributing to the problem?

Roads /Road Crossings

Residential Properties

Commercial Properties

Municipal Land

Forestry Activities

Agriculture

Golf Courses

Septic Systems

BMP Evaluation

GOAL: Decrease TSS & TP Loadings to the Lakes

Soil Erosion

Winter Sanding

Yard Waste

Fertilizers

IDENTIFY SOURCES OF POLLUTION

Methods

Volunteer Watershed Survey

Shoreline Survey

Septic System Survey

Stream Crossing Survey

ESTIMATE LOADING

Land-Use Modeling

Aerial pollutant loading

Known coefficients

Estimates pollutant load

Local factors added

Identify land uses with highest loading

Can be used to predict water quality in the future

DETERMINE REDUCTIONS NEEDED

# and Types of BMPs needed

Consider Future Development

What are the priorities?

How much will it cost?

Who will pay for the costs?

When will tasks be implemented?

Who will do the work?

How will it be tracked/monitored?

DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN

Education & Outreach

BMPsMonitoring & Assessment

Municipal Ordinances

DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN

Education & Outreach

BMPsMonitoring & Assessment

Municipal Ordinances

Components of a WBMP Plan

EPA’s 9 ELEMENTS

Source ID

Load Reduction Estimates

Management Measures

Technical & Financial Assist.

Education & Outreach

Schedule

Milestones

Evaluation Criteria

Monitoring Component

WQ Analysis & Goal Setting

Proposed Management

Measures

Action Plan

Monitoring & Adaptive Management

Example: Lake Wentworth/ Crescent Lake WBMP

Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

Active Steering Committee

Build-out Analysis

Door-to-Door Septic Survey

Municipal Ordinance Review

BMP Matrix

Conceptual Engineering Designs

Demonstration Sites

PROJECT COMPONENTS

LAKE WENTWORTH WBMP

Part of NH DES 319 Grant for HQW

FBE Developed Watershed-Based Management Plan 2011-2012

STORMWATER/SEPTIC SURVEY

Conduct a Septic and StormwaterSurvey to help address P and DO

concerns in lake

Collect baseline information about the state of septic systems in the shorezone(250 ft.)

Estimate P loading from septic systems

Educate watershed citizens about NPS

SURVEY PLANNING

Identify all properties within250 ft of waterbodies

Determine sector boundaries

625 Parcels Identified

Contact Volunteers

Notify Landowners

Recruiting Volunteers by “Shore”

Coordinated by LWF

Contact “Shore Reps”

Assign Shore Rep to Technical Staff

Set Survey Dates

Inform “Shore Residents”

Hand-Deliver Postcards

Inform neighbors of survey date

AGE- Septic Survey Results

1-10 yrs21%

10-15 yrs10%

15-20 yrs12%

20-25 yrs18%

Greater than 25 yrs21%

I don't know6%

No Response

Not Applicable

8%Other19%

How old is the septic system?

21% = New (1-10 yrs)

22%= (10-20 yrs)

39%= (>20 yrs)

5%= No Response

Pumping Frequency & Distance

20-50 ft6%

50-75 ft22%

Greater than 75 ft

61%

No Response4%

Not Applicable8%

Other12%

What is the approximate distance of your septic system from the lake or

stream?

Every 1-2 yrs38%

Every 3-5 yrs35%

Every 6-10 yrs3% More than 10

yrs2%

Never1%

I don't know5%

No Response

2%

Not Applicable15%

Other21%

How often do you have your septic tank pumped?

Perceptions/Behavior Results

Always, most of the time

53%

Sometimes15%

No, not really27%

No Response4%

When buying laundry detergents or dish

detergents, do you check the labels to buy no-phosphate or low phosphate products?

Success by Sector

79%

69%

48% 50%

74%

37%

76%

49% 51%

65%

11%20%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Sector Number

Total = 54%

Overall Success: 54% Septic and 88% Stormwater