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July 04. 2012 9:47PM
Town skeptical over Pawtuckaway proposal
NOTTINGHAM — After dealing with three, “hundred-year” floods and a proposed water bottling facility in the past decade, the town remains very skeptical of a proposed plan to use Lake Pawtuckaway to preserve areas downstream.
After hearing from about 100 residents last week, Ted Diers, administrator for the water management bureau with the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, returned to town to discuss the matter during a selectman's meeting Monday night.
Diers apologized for the state's breakdown in responding to public comments and concerns, which he describes as a “pretty egregious oversight.” Nonetheless, he tried to reassure area residents that the state is listening and will not impose a plan to save one waterway at the expense of another.
He promised to provide answers in writing – hopefully in the next couple of weeks — to address the many concerns and suggestions brought up by residents since the plan was proposed a year ago.
“This is not yet a done deal and there will be changes to the water management plan,” Diers said.
Diers said DES officials are in the process of finding answers, organizing facts and trimming down the draft to reduce confusion and redundancy.
“I am not going to rush into this,” Diers said, adding the DES has not even started a two-year pilot program on the Lamprey, which was slated to begin in 2011.
Diers said for the past 25 years, state officials have been studying the instream flow on two rivers — the Lamprey and the Souhegan. He added separate water management plans were drafted to help conserve “the critters” living in each watershed.
Before USA Springs went bankrupt, Selectman Chair Mary Bonser recalled how the DES previously authorized the company – despite detrimental evidence and strong opposition from community members — to withdraw water from beneath Nottingham and Barrington.
Bonser stressed that the town will fight the state if the current plan is imposed without providing the community with clear evidence how the change would impact Pawtuckaway Lake.
As part of the plan, the DES proposes to reduce the drawdown from 7 feet to 4.82 feet in Pawtuckaway Lake – which would measure 20.18 feet on the state operated Dolloff Dam at the southern end of the community.
Bonser said if the state wants to protect the Lamprey River watershed she suggested the “turn off the spigot to Durham,” which is permitted to draw drinking water from the river.
Diers said the plan for the Lamprey watershed, which is still being drafted, currently proposes to use water in Lake Pawtuckaway to recharge downstream areas during drought conditions. He added this deliberate surge would mimic natural rainfall, but not be used to resupply aquifers in other communities.
“They don't get to use that pulse,” Diers said. “It has to go through them.”
Diers said Durham and the University of New Hampshire, which both draw drinking water out of the Lamprey, will have to create water management plans, which must be approved by the state as a part of the process.
Questions regarding the investigation of levels of inland waters at Pawtuckaway Lake should be directed to Kent Finemore, assistant chief engineer with DES's dam bureau, at 271-0566 or via e-mail Kent.Finemore@des.nh.gov.
After hearing from about 100 residents last week, Ted Diers, administrator for the water management bureau with the N.H. Department of Environmental Services, returned to town to discuss the matter during a selectman's meeting Monday night.
Diers apologized for the state's breakdown in responding to public comments and concerns, which he describes as a “pretty egregious oversight.” Nonetheless, he tried to reassure area residents that the state is listening and will not impose a plan to save one waterway at the expense of another.
He promised to provide answers in writing – hopefully in the next couple of weeks — to address the many concerns and suggestions brought up by residents since the plan was proposed a year ago.
“This is not yet a done deal and there will be changes to the water management plan,” Diers said.
Diers said DES officials are in the process of finding answers, organizing facts and trimming down the draft to reduce confusion and redundancy.
“I am not going to rush into this,” Diers said, adding the DES has not even started a two-year pilot program on the Lamprey, which was slated to begin in 2011.
Diers said for the past 25 years, state officials have been studying the instream flow on two rivers — the Lamprey and the Souhegan. He added separate water management plans were drafted to help conserve “the critters” living in each watershed.
Before USA Springs went bankrupt, Selectman Chair Mary Bonser recalled how the DES previously authorized the company – despite detrimental evidence and strong opposition from community members — to withdraw water from beneath Nottingham and Barrington.
Bonser stressed that the town will fight the state if the current plan is imposed without providing the community with clear evidence how the change would impact Pawtuckaway Lake.
As part of the plan, the DES proposes to reduce the drawdown from 7 feet to 4.82 feet in Pawtuckaway Lake – which would measure 20.18 feet on the state operated Dolloff Dam at the southern end of the community.
Bonser said if the state wants to protect the Lamprey River watershed she suggested the “turn off the spigot to Durham,” which is permitted to draw drinking water from the river.
Diers said the plan for the Lamprey watershed, which is still being drafted, currently proposes to use water in Lake Pawtuckaway to recharge downstream areas during drought conditions. He added this deliberate surge would mimic natural rainfall, but not be used to resupply aquifers in other communities.
“They don't get to use that pulse,” Diers said. “It has to go through them.”
Diers said Durham and the University of New Hampshire, which both draw drinking water out of the Lamprey, will have to create water management plans, which must be approved by the state as a part of the process.
Questions regarding the investigation of levels of inland waters at Pawtuckaway Lake should be directed to Kent Finemore, assistant chief engineer with DES's dam bureau, at 271-0566 or via e-mail Kent.Finemore@des.nh.gov.