Conservation groups tell Senate committee open space protects water, reduces flood and health costs; funding sought for cyanobacteria response

Conservation and water advocates appeared before the New Hampshire Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to present a new report on the value of open space and to press for renewed funding and policy attention to lakes, rivers and dams.

Matt Leahy, public policy director for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and Barbara Richter of the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions told the committee the report, produced jointly by conservation commissions, the Forest Society, The Nature Conservancy, the New Hampshire Timberland Owners, the New Hampshire Land Trust Coalition and other partners, summarizes economic and ecosystem services from protected lands. Leahy said the organizations would send the committee the full report and related materials.

The report ties open space to multiple public benefits. "The outdoor recreation economy accounts for $3,900,000,000 in value added annually to the state," Richter told the committee. She also highlighted flood losses estimated at $200,000,000 from 2000 to 2019 and cited state Department of Environmental Services estimates that a single acre of wetland provides $150,000 to $200,000 in groundwater recharge and flood-storage value. Richter said land conservation in the Piscataqua–Salmond Falls watershed avoided an estimated $40,000,000 in treatment costs over a 10-year period.

Richter noted additional services from trees and forests: "New Hampshire trees were estimated to remove 115,000 tons of air pollution in 2010, resulting in improved health valued at $44,100,000," she said. Leahy added that roughly 70 to 72 percent of New Hampshire's forestland is privately owned, which the presenters said underscores the role of private landowners in statewide conservation efforts.

Andrea Lamoreaux, president of New Hampshire Lakes, and Michelle Tremblay, president of the board of directors for the New Hampshire Rivers Council, described current threats to surface waters and bills they expect during the coming session. Lamoreaux said, "Our lakes and rivers are continuing to be threatened by cyanobacteria," and noted extended cyanobacteria warnings at Province Lake and recurring blooms on Lake Winnipesaukee. She said the cyanobacteria mitigation loan and grant program created by the legislature in recent years has been depleted and that advocates are working on bills to restore sustainable funding and to help municipalities collaborate on surface-water issues.

Lamoreaux and Tremblay also raised salt intrusion and invasive species as mounting problems. Lamoreaux said freshwaters are "becoming saltier" and that evidence suggests higher salinity may favor cyanobacteria and invasive animals such as the spiny water flea, recently found in Newfound Lake after earlier detections in Winnipesaukee and Winnisquam.

Tremblay described dam-safety work and restoration as linked to flood storage and ecosystem resilience. "There are about 5,300 dams and about 2,600 of them are active. 814 of them are high risk. Privately owned is about 75% and municipal is 14%," she told the committee, and she urged funding that supports willing landowners and dam removal where appropriate. She also said harmful algal blooms now appear in some rivers and that threatened and endangered species rulemaking is likely to be an issue in the near term.

Committee members asked questions about private ownership of forestland, links between cyanobacteria and health research, and financing options. Senator Herbert Conti thanked the presenters and said he intended to follow up on funding approaches. Presenters said they would follow up by emailing the committee the full report and supporting documents.

No formal motions or votes were recorded during the presentation; the session concluded after the presenters finished their remarks and invited additional questions and follow-up.

The groups asked the committee to consider restoring or replenishing the cyanobacteria mitigation loan and grant fund, to support collaborative municipal responses to surface-water threats, and to consider funding for dam removal and safety work tied to flood mitigation and ecological restoration.