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Portsmouth Council approves renewal of intermunicipal agreement for Great Bay adaptive management
Summary
Council approved an amendment to renew and update the Municipal Alliance for Adaptive Management (MAM) agreement under the Great Bay Total Nitrogen General Permit, removing a cap on data‑investment and adding communities; staff said the group has raised about $1.8 million plus roughly $1 million in congressionally directed spending.
The City Council authorized renewal and modest updates to the intermunicipal agreement for the Municipal Alliance for Adaptive Management (MAM), the cooperative body that coordinates nitrogen‑reduction monitoring and projects under the Great Bay Total Nitrogen General Permit.
Staff described the changes as limited: adding two member communities, aligning the agreement’s executive‑board language with actual practice, and removing a cap on the dollar amount available for data gathering and analysis should additional communities join. Staff said the MAM partners have collectively secured about $1.8 million in funding and approximately $1 million in congressionally directed spending to support science and tracking work.
Councilors asked about cost‑allocation and whether shares could be reallocated based on actual usage versus design flows; staff responded that Portsmouth’s higher share reflects its combined design flows from two treatment plants and that the formula currently in use remains preferable given long‑term planning and pending upgrades in some smaller communities. Councilor Buck moved the renewal and the council approved the amendment on a voice vote.
Why it matters: The MAM agreement governs a regional, collaborative approach to tracking nitrogen reductions in the Great Bay watershed. Continued collaboration and funding support regional compliance with state and federal permit requirements and helps prioritize where collective resources are spent on monitoring and infrastructure.
