Highlights for 2007:
· Change in Commission officers
· Review Rockingham County Conservation District’s report of their annual Cox Farm conservation easement monitoring.
· Continue to work with the Boy Scouts from Troop 18 to make improvements to the Town Forest.
· Meet briefly with Kevin Flanders from PeopleGIS to make better use of the internet to obtain and share information about conservation efforts in Plaistow.
· Continue the annual water sampling program.
At the first meeting after the March Town Meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to elect Jill Senter as Chairman and Tim Moore as Secretary.
The easement monitoring report received from the Rockingham County Conservation District stated that no easement encroachments were observed and that the current owners of the property are maintaining their status as good care-takers of the land by observing all of the stipulations of the easements. Great job for all involved! The Cox Farm is an excellent example of how well-maintained open space can contribute to the quality of life for all residents and why it is so crucial to preserve all forest and open space that we can afford.
Troop 18 continues to have a very successful program of encouraging its member scouts to advance to the rank of Eagle Scout. One requirement for obtaining this rank is the completion of an Eagle Scout project. This project must be planned and carried out by the Eagle Scout candidate. The project also involves the supervision of other scouts and volunteers to complete the work as planned. This year William Horton’s project was the construction of trail signs for trails in the Town Forest. These signs will add to the enjoyment of the Town Forest. Hikers will be able to plan their routes in advance and can easily follow the color-coded trail makers. So, whether you are looking for a short walk or a long walk, the trail signs will let you select a route that is just right for you. Please remember the motto from our National Parks,
“Take only pictures, leave only footprints!”
Like all town departments, the Conservation Commission met with Kevin Flanders from PeopleGIS, a software company contracted by the Town to make better use of GIS (Graphical Information System) to both make the day-to-day task easier and more efficient as well as to provide internet interfaces so that much more information can be shared with the town residents on the Town’s web site (www.plaistow.com). Our first task will be to make available all of the data points we have collected over the last 2 decades of water sampling. We will also be providing various water quality standards including drinking water standards.
We continued our annual sampling of the streams, brooks, and rivers in Plaistow at 17 different points. Below are the results of the testing for nitrates and nitrites over the past 20+ years:
Sample Point |
Test Type (mg/l) |
1983 (mg/l) |
1993 (mg/l) |
2003 (mg/l) |
2004 (mg/l) |
2005 (mg/l) |
2006 (mg/l) |
2007 (mg/l) |
Little River at the intersection of Old County Rd and Kingston Rd |
Nitrates |
< 0.10 |
0.5 |
0.56 |
0.7 |
0.20 |
0.34 |
< 0.20 |
Nitrites |
< 0.10 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
Little River at the Atkinson / Plaistow Town Line |
Nitrates |
0.14 |
0.5 |
1.34 |
0.59 |
0.24 |
0.53 |
0.59 |
Nitrites |
< 0.10 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
< 0.05 |
Note the “<” symbol means less than and gets reported when the available measurement techniques measure some quantity of a substance but it is so small that it can not be measured accurately. These points are often referred to as Minimum Detectable Limit (MDL) points.
The unit of measure for both nitrates and nitrites is milligrams per liter (mg/l). Drinking water standards require less than 10 mg/l for nitrates.
Although the water quality in our streams does not meet drinking water standards for some measures such as pH and coliform, neither does it pose a severe health risk.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Moore
Secretary
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