Meeting Announcements:

Baker River Watershed Association
Annual Meeting - April 29, 2009 at 7 PM

NH Water Resources
Plan Process Public Meeting - March 31, 2009 at 7 PM

The BRWA is involved in a number of community initiatives and educational events to help protect the water quality of the Baker River, maintain the river’s shoreline, and improve the ecology of the Baker River watershed.

Each year, the BRWA monitors water quality in the river. Three or four sites within each town that the river flows through are sampled for a total of twelve sites. The samples are taken four times per year. The results of the water quality samples are reported to each Town Office. These data are used by local officials to assess the safety of the water for swimming and other purposes.

• 2004 Water Quality Results (E. coli)
• 2005 Water Quality Results (E. coli)
• 2006 Water Quality Results (E. coli)
• 2007 Water Quality Results (E.coli)
• 2007 Water Quality Results (specific conductance)
• 2008 Water Quality Results (E.coli)
• 2008 Water Quality Results (specific conductance)
• 2009 Water Quality Results (E.coli)
• 2009 Water Quality Results (specific conductance)

The BRWA has held several workshops for riparian land owners on bank erosion and stabilization techniques. These “Shrub Your Buffer” events are designed to explain the benefits of various devices designed to control bank erosion along the river. In 2003, a workshop was held at the site of recently installed erosion control devices and provided participants the opportunity to see the benefits of newly installed bendway weirs, rip rap along the river banks and vegetation. The weirs were designed to redirect the flow of the river and reduce velocities to allow vegetation to establish and stabilize the river bank. The vegetation used was a mix of native species to protect the bank from rill erosion and to provide a forested buffer at the top of the river bank.

Future community initiatives involve providing additional educational workshops, working with local towns to adopt better river protection measures and watershed planning techniques, and, in conjunction with Plymouth State University, developing an environmental education trail along the Baker River in Plymouth.