The NHDES Watershed Assistance Section and Berry Brook Restoration Project partners hosted a tour of the Berry Brook project site in Dover on August 12th for NHDES Commissioner Tom Burack and several Dover dignitaries. The tour included an overview of the project purpose, visits to multiple restoration activities including stormwater management installations, stream day lighting and channel restoration, and water quality monitoring stations to measure and quantify restoration success. Major project partners on this effort include the City of Dover, UNH Stormwater Center, and NHDES. The tour highlighted the importance and success of this collaborative approach in addressing water quality concerns throughout the Great Bay estuary. This project has been underway for several years and represents a lot of hard, innovative work by many partners who are committed to improving water and habitat quality.
Funding for this project was provided in part by 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. Additional funding sources were the City of Dover, NH DES Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund, Royal Bank of Canada, and Great Bay Stewards. The City of Dover was assisted in this Grant by the
University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (UNHSC) and the Cocheco River Watershed Coalition (CRWC).
Thanks to Sally Soule for Managing this 319 project and putting this great tour together!
For more information about the project check out the UNH Stormwater Center webpage at: http://www.unh.edu/unhsc/berrybrook