A bill introduced in the Statehouse could make it easier for towns and cities to combat the damaging effects of runoff into local waterways.
House Bill 332, introduced Feb. 4 by eight cosponsors, would allow the establishment of “village districts” to coordinate environmental policies for local governments which share water bodies. As an example, voters could approve a district’s development and enact consistent policies regarding environmentally-friendly septic systems, polluted runoff and fertilizer regulations.
In the language of the bill, section O specifically references “The protection and remediation of surface water quality within the district” among its provisions.
Polluted runoff poses significant environmental threats to lakes like Winnipesaukee and Winnisquam, and contributes to negative water conditions such as blooms of cyanobacteria throughout the summer.
But runoff of materials containing nitrogen and phosphorus, two major components of algal bloom in the summers and often associated with the fertilization of lakeside lawns, are just some of the harmful materials which cause damage to the health of the lake.
Another perhaps overlooked pollutant: the deicing salt used throughout Granite State winters to keep roadways safe and navigable.
Salt laid down upon the road while plowing can lead to the introduction of chlorides into lakes, rivers and other waterways through runoff. It poses a difficult problem, as municipal leaders and homeowners alike attempt to strike a balance between keeping residents safe and reducing harm to natural resources like our lakes and ponds.
“It’s a tricky thing,” Bree Rossiter, Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance conservation program manager, said Thursday afternoon.
While salting the road is an important part of winter maintenance, every grain washed into the lake could increase its levels of chloride, which is harmful to all aquatic life — flora and fauna alike.
But there are steps residents can take to mitigate the harm. For example, shoveling before applying salt is a good first step, Rossiter said. Use salt sparingly, roughly one cup for two parking spaces should be sufficient, and spacing grains three inches apart can help, too. When the salt’s done its job, sweeping up any excess can help to mitigate harm by reducing the amount transferred to waterways through culverts, hard surfaces and groundwater. It’s worth noting salt loses its deicing effectiveness below 16 degrees, too.
Salt is used in the road-clearing process because it lowers the freezing point of ice by forming brine, and accelerates the process of melting, according to NH LAKES Association. There are a number of reasonable, non-chemical alternatives to road salt, including wood ash, sawdust, pickle brine and coffee grounds, all best used in smaller areas. Sand can also be used to increase traction, but NH LAKES staff suggest using it only sparingly, as it can also have deleterious effects on water quality.
Like the way “our roads transport us,” impervious surfaces, culverts and other mediums transport nutrient and chemical runoff into the lakes, Rossiter said.
Striking the balance between road maintenance and lake health is more or less difficult depending on location, Marion Longo of the Winnisquam Watershed Network said Thursday morning.
“It depends on where you are,” she said, illustrating the difference between town-owned and private roads close to bodies of water versus those a distance away.
Private roads, which may not be salted or consistently plowed, contribute less runoff into lakes like Winnipesaukee and Winnisquam.
“That makes a difference,” she said. “But it really depends on the products that are being used.”
“Runoff is a big problem because it creates a different environment in the lake,” she said, and those environments are often better for invasive species and algal growth. “You change the whole ecosystem and the balance of the lake — that impacts everything.”
Longo also pointed to differences in impact based on the relative size of waterways. For example, Lake Winnisquam is deep and spring-fed, and its waters experience more turnover than some smaller lakes or ponds.
Brian LaRoche, a board member of the Winnisquam Watershed Network, pointed to the difficulty of balancing development with waterway protection when it comes to completing necessary and generally beneficial projects, such as the reconstruction of a road or a culvert, which can exacerbate runoff issues.
“Some of the more recent highway projects have done exactly that,” he said.
But there’s a state program, the Green SnowPro Certification, which may help municipalities and private companies take better care of the environment while still completing work necessary to maintain infrastructure and promote public safety.
In the voluntary municipal version of the program, a town or city would designate up to two individuals to be responsible for overseeing compliance and remaining current on training and education requirements. They’d submit to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services a salt-reduction plan, which is required for initial certification, and then again every five years.
The full educational course covers topics including calibration; application rates; and brine and pre-wetting to help reduce a municipality’s use of salt. That could potentially pay dividends for a town or city’s budget, too.
“We’ve been letting the towns know,” Rossiter said.
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