Upper Merrimack River Local Advisory Committee
Annual Report • 2010
This past year marked the Upper Merrimack River Local
Advisory Committee’s (UMRLAC) 20th anniversary.
Established in 1990, the UMRLAC has represented its six
communities of Boscawen, Bow, Canterbury, Concord, Franklin,
and Northfield in a variety of studies and planning
activities related to the upper Merrimack River and its
watershed, and serves as the area’s advisory board on its
designation in the state’s Rivers Management and Protection
program. The anniversary observances included a commendation
from Governor Lynch, a field trip on the Merrimack, and a
Bug Ball with a volunteer recognition event. Volunteers were
presented with dragonfly lapel pins and temporary tattoos
(for the kids). Thank you to anniversary celebration
sponsors Stonyfield Farms, Eastern Mountain Sports, Shaw’s,
Hannaford, and Concord Camera.The UMRLAC owes much of its
success to strong municipal support and that from its
Adopt-a-River Site Sponsors. The Program’s Adopt-a-River
Site Sponsors include Aquarian Analytical Laboratories,
Inc., Aries Engineering, Inc., Checkmate Expert Payroll
Services, Elektrisola, Exxex/Briar Hydro, Franklin Savings
Bank, Franklin Wastewater Treatment Facility, Public Service
of NH (Corporate and Merrimack Station), and Watts
Regulator/Webster Valve. The UMRLAC also thanks the
Conservation Commissions and Towns and Cities of Boscawen,
Bow, Canterbury, Concord, Franklin, and Northfield for their
ongoing support.
The UMRLAC continues to implement the Upper Merrimack
Management and Implementation Plan with assistance from
the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission (CNHRPC).
The Commission and the UMRLAC are working together on a
project to study and map buffers and setbacks for the six
municipalities in the upper Merrimack River area. To date,
the completed study has been presented to the planning
boards of Bow, Boscawen, Concord, Franklin, and Northfield
to provide them with valuable information and to assist them
in their master planning and ordinance revision processes.
The UMRLAC and CNHRPC are working to schedule a meeting with
Canterbury’s Planning Board. Many thanks to Vanessa Goold
and Matt Monahan, CNHRPC, for their great work on this
continuing effort.
The UMRLAC provided local
comment on several project plans and proposals important to
our region. Reviews included applications for the Tannery
Brook dam repair (Boscawen); Grappone expansion (Bow);
Sewalls Falls bridge work, steam plant expansion, Dame
School construction, Prolerized paving, Penacook Family
Physicians site changes, and proposed gas station and store
(Concord); US Route 3 turn lane in Franklin, expansion of
and improvements at the Franklin Waste Water Treatment
Plant, Watts Regulator site changes (Franklin).
The UMRLAC’s legislative testimony was heard on the portion
of NH House Bill 2 that would have eliminated state advisory
boards, commissions, and committees that provide
opportunities for citizen participation in New Hampshire’s
state government. The UMRLAC was successful in its efforts
to assure that the UMRLAC builds on its twenty-year history
of local representation and will continue into the future.
The Committee also reviewed and commented on Stream Crossing
Rules.
This year the UMRLAC marked its fifteenth year of citizen
science with its Upper Merrimack Monitoring Program (UMMP).
The support of the towns, cities, and Adopt-a-River Site
sponsors made possible equipment and supply purchases as
well as maintenance to protect existing investments such as
the UMMP’s stereomicroscopes. Over the UMMP’s fifteen-year
history, over 79,000 invertebrates have been quantified and
identified.
Working with Adopt-a-River Site sponsor Essex Hydro, the
UMRLAC monitored environmental conditions on the Contoocook
River near its confluence with the Merrimack. These data are
essential to assist Essex with its ongoing permit for its
hydroelectric operations.
Special thanks go to St. Paul’s School for graciously
hosting UMRLAC’s “Bug Nights” educational and research
program, which continues its popularity in the region with
dozens of individuals volunteering their collection and
identification services.
The UMRLAC assisted Bow High School student, Cali Hatem by
providing equipment loans and guidance on his independent
study project monitoring water quality on Turee Pond. Mr.
Hatem presented the results of his study to the UMRLAC. The
Committee received presentations from experts on several
issues including anti-degradation of water quality
standards. Michele Tremblay and Steve Landry presented
watershed science and provided a hands-on water quality
monitoring training to Cub Scouts and their families in Bow.
This year, the UMRLAC created an online, interactive data
and mapping tool at
www.MerrimackRiver.org
to assist health officers and others needing to gauge water
quality in the Merrimack. The program also received
assistance from UNH graduate student Renee Fitsik in its
study of volunteer generated water quality data. Ms. Fitsik
conducted a study of the Upper Merrimack Monitoring
Program’s fifteen years of water quality data.
The UMRLAC elected the following slate of officers in
November: Michele Tremblay, Chair; Steve Landry, Vice-Chair,
Krista Crowell, Treasurer; and Gary Lynn, Secretary. The
UMRLAC welcomed Donna Liolis, Bob Sharon, and Nita
Tomaszewski from Franklin and David Kirkpatrick from Bow as
the newest UMRLACers. Thank you to Brian Sullivan for his
continued support—the UMRLAC sadly bids him adieu as his
professional duties with the City of Franklin grow.
Please visit UMRLAC’s website
for further information on the river, committee membership,
activities, summaries from prior meetings, upcoming meeting
agendas, maps, water quality data, and photographs of brave
and selfless volunteers in action. The UMRLAC meets on a
rotating basis in its six represented communities on the
second Monday of each month at 7:00
pm. Many thanks to the Towns and Cities of Boscawen,
Bow, Canterbury, Concord, Franklin, and Northfield for
graciously hosting Upper Merrimack River Local Advisory
Committee meetings and for their continued support. All are
welcome to attend the meetings.
For additional information, please contact Michele Tremblay
at 603.796.2615, www.MerrimackRiver.org, or any of your
municipal representatives listed below.
Boscawen
Stephen C. Landry
Michele L. Tremblay
Bow
Krista Crowell
David Kirkpatrick
Gary Lynn
Canterbury
Anne Emerson
Nancy Roy
Concord
Alan Bartlett
Rick Chormann
Franklin
Donna Liolis
Tucker Noack
Robert Sharon
Nita Tomaszewski
Northfield
Harry Anderson
William Dawson
