On September 11th as part of Greater Seacoast United Way Day of Caring, the Hodgson Brook Restoration Project in Portsmouth will host volunteers from area companies who will assist with a stream restoration project on the Pease Tradeport. Volunteers will install plants along the brook that will filter pollutants and improve habitat. The project is part of an on-going effort to improve Hodgson Brook’s water and habitat quality.
Healthy stream buffers are an effective and inexpensive way to protect water. Natural plantings slow down stormwater runoff and reduce flooding by giving water more time to soak into the ground. The new “filter strip” of trees and shrubs installed by the volunteers will prevent sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides and other pollutants from reaching the stream. The plantings will also shade the brook and provide cooler water temperatures for fish and other life.
The buffer restoration project is funded in part through the Gulf of Maine Association, as a 2013 Leadership Grant recipient from the Royal Bank of Canada Blue Water Project. Additional funding is provided through a Watershed Assistance Grant from the NH Department of Environmental Services with Clean Water Act Section 319 funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Local partners for the buffer enhancement project include UNH Cooperative Extension, volunteers from local businesses, the Pease Development Authority, NH DES, and the Blue Ocean Society for Maine Conservation.
What: Hodgson Brook buffer restoration
Where: The corner of Rye St and Corporate Dr. Pease Tradeport, Portsmouth, NH
When: September 11, 2013 8:30-4:00 pm
FMI please contact: Candace Dolan, Hodgson Brook Restoration Project Coordinator, 603-559-1529 hodgsonbrook@blueoceansociety.org
Read on for more about volunteer involvement in Hodgson Brook restoration efforts….. This will be the sixth large project in the Hodgson Brook watershed where area business employees and local residents have provided assistance. Previous volunteer efforts included removing trash and construction debris from the stream, restoring another 150 ft. of stream buffer behind a local business, stenciling over 500 storm drains with the message “Do not dump drains to stream” and installing 7 residential rain gardens which collect and treat stormwater flowing from roof tops and driveways. These efforts are designed to clean polluted stormwater before it flows into Hodgson Brook.
Hodgson Brook Buffer Enhancement Project Site
Location where volunteers will install over ninety plants along 700′ of Hodgson Brook to provide water and habitat quality benefits.