Nine Granite State partners collaborate to leverage $14 million for high-impact conservation projects.
CONCORD, NH – The USDA announced a series of funding awards for new partnership projects targeted to enhancing drinking water source protection, climate resiliency and protecting natural resources throughout the United States. Through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), local conservation partners work in collaboration with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help farmers, ranchers and forest landowners throughout the nation to implement systems that conserve water and soil resources, improve the health of wildlife habitats, and increase climate resilience.
The New Hampshire Source Water Protection Partnership (NH Partnership), one of the funding recipients, brings together conservation organizations, state agencies, and local drinking water suppliers from across New Hampshire. The five-year project will leverage $6,857,745 in federal funds with an additional $7 million in state and local funds to execute multi-faceted projects ranging from land conservation to habitat restoration in at least 25 targeted watersheds.
The Merrimack River Watershed Council serves as the lead organization of the NH Partnership, and is joined by the Southeast Land Trust of NH (SELT), the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Trout Unlimited, Connecticut River Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire, with support from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Pennichuck Water and the New Hampshire Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund.
“We are proud to bring together such a wide range of thought leaders, technical experts, and funders and to make real impact on the lives of people, fish and wildlife in our state,” says Matthew Thorne, Executive Director at the Merrimack River Watershed Council. “These investments will get boots on the ground to actualize the type of nature-based ‘green infrastructure’ that keeps our water clean, our climate stable, and our habitat thriving.”
The NH Partnership will work to conserve and restore hundreds to thousands of acres of high-priority lands, restore over 100 miles of streams, expand natural floodplain storage to reduce future flooding, and protect key parcels in public drinking water source areas.
“We are excited at the conservation opportunities that this RCPP initiative presents to the farm and forest landowners here in the Granite State,” said Becky Ross, State Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in New Hampshire. “With the help of the Merrimack River Watershed Council, the New Hampshire Source Water Protection Partnership and more than ten other partners, we will be able to maximize the impact of conservation dollars to protect high priority source water areas, restore habitat for threatened fish and wildlife species, and enhance climate resilience in New Hampshire.”
“The Regional Conservation Partnership Program is public-private partnership working at its best,” said Terry Cosby, Acting Chief for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “These new projects will harness the power of partnership to help bring about solutions to natural resource concerns across the country while supporting our efforts to combat the climate crisis.”