MRVTU Projects
Witches Brook Wild Brook Trout Management Project
Merrimack River Valley and Squan-a-Tissit TU chapters are engaged in water quality monitoring of the Witches Spring Brook Wild Brook Trout Management area in Hollis, NH. MRV Chapter Director Dave Parry is our project coordinator and is assisted by volunteers from both chapters. The project is part of the Volunteer River Assessment Program of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. This study will provide information vital to the protection of this natural trout habitat. With various developments in the vicinity of Witches Brook, this study is crucial to ensure that the quality of this natural resource remains undisturbed. Witches Spring Brook is considered one of the most prolific Wild Brook Trout water in southern New Hampshire. It also feeds the aquifer to the Pennichuck water supply, providing drinking water for Nashua.
Brennan Dam Removal
DURING
BEFORE
AFTER
Over $200,000 Awarded from Aquatic Resource Mitigation Funds for Dam Removal and Partial Restoration of Brennan Brook in Francestown.
Concord, NH –The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) announced that the Governor and Executive Council recently approved an Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) Fund project in Francestown for $202,730.
The grant awarded to Trout Unlimited will support the removal of the dam structure on Brennan Brook to re-establish stream connectivity, improve aquatic organism passage, and restore surrounding wetland systems. Wild brook trout are a high-priority population for restoration efforts and will benefit from the restored connectivity of more than 4 miles of habitat upstream as well as 8 miles of downstream habitat. Brennan Brook flows through the highest ranked wildlife habitat for NH as outlined in the New Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG) Wildlife Action Plan (WAP).
The ARM Fund Program manages mitigation payment funds paid to offset unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources. Competitive grants fund projects that restore, enhance, and preserve aquatic resources and associated upland buffers across nine watersheds, also called service areas .pdf Icon. Over $35 million in compensatory funds have supported 141 projects, including irreplaceable-resource preservation, aquatic barrier removal (culvert replacement and dam removal), and living shoreline projects since New Hampshire’s ARM program began in 2006. The goal of the program is to meet the federal goal of “no net loss” of functions and values of aquatic resources by supporting restoration, enhancement, and preservation.
For more information about the ARM Fund Program, please visit the NHDES website or email des.arm@des.nh.gov.
(Reposted from the NHDES website.)
MRVTU is committed to assisting the restoration of the stream shores, removal of invasive species and the preservation of the wild eastern brook trout that inhabit this important coldwater stream.