| The Sunapee Area Watershed Coalition |
| Minutes of the 6/2/05 Meeting |
| Sunapee Area Watershed Coalition (SAWC) |
| Meeting Summary – June 2, 2005 |
| Ivey Center Rm 201, CSC |
| Vicky Boundy, UVLSRPC, facilitator |
| Introductory Remarks |
| The meeting began with a review of the agenda and questions from the minutes from last meeting. There were none. J. Fichter updated the group on a meeting with DES that was held in the morning covering their (DES) expectations for the management of the Watershed grant; she also reported on a meeting with the town managers from Sunapee, New London, and Newbury. The town managers requested that the SAWC meeting minutes be emailed to them. For New London and Newbury, reports are getting back to the town boards on the status and activities of SAWC. |
| NHRWA Presentation |
| SAWC guest speaker, Jennifer Palmiotto, representing the New Hampshire Rural Water Association, gave a presentation “Drinking Water Protection in the Sunapee Watershed.” The NHRWA is a 20-year old, non-profit, nongovernmental organization, that assists in the protection of drinking water, at the local level, through technical assistance and training. They have a Source Water Protection Program that is intended to assist communities of less than 10,000 in population, usually between 50-200. |
| They also can help to draft plans, do grant writing, and outreach efforts, such as brochures. Her group advocates vigilance and stewardship and lists the protection of resources to: prevent expensive treatment, protect nature, increase public confidence in drinking water, minimize threats to public health, benefit private wells, amongst others. NHRWA also has worked with Waukewan Watershed group as advisors, from which they compiled an inventory of potential threats to Lake Waukewan. |
| Jennifer presented a list of drinking water supplies in the SAWC area. There are 23 “public” drinking water systems of various types in our area, supporting schools, residential communities, motels, etc. She also spoke about specific contaminants, such as underground and above ground storage tanks usually associated with businesses (i.e. gas stations), and other hazardous sites. If SAWC determines that it could use NHRWA services, January 2006 timing might be available. Note: Both NHRWA and UVLSRPC have experience in writing Watershed Plans. |
| SAWC Structure |
| The committee structure was discussed with the following decision: That there shall be a Steering Committee with members to include the town representatives, as well as other involved organizations, such as LSPA, CSC, etc. Volunteers are: |
| · Aimee Ayers and June Fichter, LSPA |
| · Katheryn Holmes and Suzanne Levine, Newbury |
| · Dean Geddes (Alt.), Newbury |
| · Ken Lawson, Springfield and Lake Kolelemook |
| · Cynthia Hayes, Springfield |
| · Terry Dancy, New London |
| · Bill Thomas, CSC |
| · Steve Landigran, Business Community |
| · Steve White (Looking for Sunapee Steering Committee replacement and alternate) |
| The first meeting of the Steering committee is: June 9th, 2005, at the Tracy Library, at 7:00PM. |
| The next SAWC meeting is: Thursday, July 7th, at Ivey Center, Rm 201, at 7:00 PM. |
| SAWC website |
| http://home.earthlink.net/~sunapeewatershed/ |
| Mission Statement: |
| To raise community awareness of important issues concerning the Lake Sunapee watershed and surrounding areas, to formulate clear guidelines for responsible, long-term stewardship of the water resources in those areas, and to promote cooperation among Sunapee watershed towns in using those guidelines for the implementation of programs effective in addressing the salient issues to the common benefit of the area communities. |
| SAWC: The link between land use and water quality |