The City of Portsmouth’s water system managers recognized over 100 years ago that good data was necessary to account for their water balance by becoming one of the first water systems in New Hampshire to meter all of their customers. Since then, these efforts have expanded to include water conservation retrofit kits, tiered water rates, radio-read metering, monthly billing, leak detection, water main replacements and water efficiency rebates, together with expanded customer outreach.

The Municipal EcoLink is a monthly e-bulletin designed to inform cities and towns of the latest environmental ideas, trends, grants, rules and more from NHDES. We respectfully request that municipalities electronically distribute or otherwise make available this newsletter to your municipal committees, councils and boards. Please feel free to post it on your municipal website as well.

Read the July 2023 Newsletter  

New Hampshire’s environment offers so many possibilities for summer fun, and one of the most popular is recreating in our lakes! This time of year, our lakes are host to an influx of residents and visitors, many of whom like to enjoy the water from the comfort of their boats. One thing we don’t want our lakes to host, however, are aquatic invasive species. Invasives can severely affect the water, our ecosystems, and our ability to enjoy the lakes.

The Municipal EcoLink is a monthly e-bulletin designed to inform cities and towns of the latest environmental ideas, trends, grants, rules and more from NHDES. We respectfully request that municipalities electronically distribute or otherwise make available this newsletter to your municipal committees, councils and boards. Please feel free to post it on your municipal website as well.

Pollinators play a necessary role in our everyday lives. We wouldn’t be able to survive without them! Pollinators include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and any other insect or animal that moves pollen within flowers. These little guys are responsible for much of our ecological survival.

Since late May the smoke from wildfires in eastern Canada has traveled down to the U.S. and caused major problems for our air quality. While New Hampshire was spared some of the more drastic impacts, we did feel the effects. In fact, we initially had to issue two smoke advisories over the span of one week to account for the particle air pollution coming from our northern neighbor.

Three New Hampshire award winners, including NHDES Assistant Director of the Water Division Ted Diers, were among the individuals and organizations honored by the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment at an international ceremony hosted by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management in Boston on June 7, 2023. The Gulf of Maine Council presented international awards to honor individuals and organizations that have made a significant difference in protecting the health and sustainability of the Gulf of Maine watershed.