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Study committee warns New Hampshire faces large shortfall to maintain state‑owned dams; proposal to levy shorefront fee draws opposition
Summary
Peter Leishman summarized a study committee finding that New Hampshire owns 276 dams and may need hundreds of millions to rehabilitate them; the committee proposed a shorefront fee on taxable waterfront created by state impoundments, prompting opposition from farmers, conservation groups and landowners.
CONCORD — Representative Peter Leishman told the Resources committee a legislative study found the state owns 276 dams and faces a major funding gap to keep those structures safe and operable.
Leishman said the dam portfolio includes 64 high‑hazard structures (failure could threaten lives), 34 significant‑hazard dams and many smaller impoundments. He told lawmakers repair and rehabilitation costs across the portfolio could exceed $400 million; current annual revenues earmarked for dam maintenance average about $7 million and are insufficient to meet a 50‑year rehabilitation schedule, which the committee estimated would require about $16 million per year.
The study committee considered multiple revenue options and recommended a targeted…
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