Proposal Funded!
PREP and our partners at the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and UNH are excited to announce a new project award of $550,000 that will provide critical information about Great Bay and inform management decisions. “Resilience and Positive Feedbacks: Water Quality Management and Eelgrass Health in the Great Bay Estuary, NH/ME,”was one of 12 projects selected for funding by NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) Science Collaborative, managed by the University of Michigan Water Center. This critical work to better understand the health of the Great Bay Estuary will begin this September and continue for three years. Results from the three-year study will support decision making for regulated towns, state and federal agencies, and natural resource planners that are investing in water quality and estuarine habitat monitoring. These partners are engaged as part of the Piscataqua Region Monitoring Collaborative.
Project Overview
In the Great Bay Estuary, on the border of New Hampshire (NH) and Maine, loss of eelgrass habitat has resulted in EPA recently releasing a Total Nitrogen General Permit that addresses both point and non-point sources of nitrogen (N). The NH Department of Environmental Services and permitted municipalities are looking to their partners to provide the critical scientific insights needed to meet the new permit requirements. Gaps in understanding of how eelgrass responds to changes in water quality limit the management tools available for ensuring eelgrass health. This project combines hydrodynamic modeling and new field observations along a spatial gradient to delineate the relationships among N loading, in-situ N processing, sediment dynamics, light, and eelgrass resilience. Finally, well-resourced collaboration efforts will link the science to decision making and actions that are urgently needed to facilitate progress on the most contentious management issue for this estuary.
To learn more about this project and the others selected for funding by the NERRS Science Collaborative, check out the announcement below.