NATIONAL
ESTUARY
PROGRAM
POLLUTION IDENTIFICATION AND REPORTING &EPA
The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) is a collaborative watershed program that works in New Hampshire and southernmost Maine to protect
and restore the Great Bay Estuary and Hampton-Seabrook Estuary. PREP encourages coastal watershed communities and citizens to work with their state
agencies to improve the environmental health of the region's estuaries. One way to do this is to enlist citizens and municipal workers in water pollution
identification and reporting efforts. However, interviews with state agency personnel revealed that citizens often can not accurately identify pollution in-
cidents and many do not know who to contact when a problem is identified.
THE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM IN ACTION
Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership
To address these issues, PREP
developed an outreach program
to help identify pollution inci-
dents, especially those that re-
quire immediate action, and to
provide clear information as to
what state or local agency is re-
sponsible for addressing a par-
ticular incident. Materials creat-
ed to convey this information
included large posters for mu-
nicipal offices, bookmarks for li-
braries, a website, and a 32-
page interpretive guide to
surface water conditions. Out-
reach was targeted to municipal
public works departments and
Conservation Commissions, with
secondary audiences including
municipal building inspectors,
health officers, watershed orga-
nizations, and the general public.
The entire effort was part of
PREP's broader "Be Part of the
Solution" campaign that encour-
ages watershed stewardship.
The water pollution identification
field guide describes 22 condi-
tions that commonly can be
found in or around surface water
in the coastal watershed, includ-
ing oil sheens, brown water, or-
ange slime, trash, rotten egg
smell, and foam. For each condi-
tion, likely causes are explained
as well as the environmental/so-
cial impacts, corrective actions,
and preventive actions. An ex-
tensive listing of resources is
presented to help readers learn
more about the conditions.
Emergency situations are high-
lighted and clear response pro-
cedures are provided.
The guide was designed for the
layperson who works or recre-
ates outdoors. Easily under-
standable interpretation of sur-
face water conditions helps
readers distinguish a pollution
incident from a natural phenom-
enon. Clear reporting procedures
are offered for pollution inci-
dents. The guide also suggests
actions that communities can
EFFECTIVE
EFFICIENT
ADAPTIVE
COLLABORATIVE
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take to prevent water pollution
and protect vital water resourc-
es. The campaign has reached
thousands and encouraged ef-
fective cooperation among many
stakeholders to manage critical
natural resources.
More than 1,700 guides and 900
posters and bookmarks have
been distributed. In addition to
being well received by the target
audiences, some unintended au-
diences have found the materi-
als particularly useful. Watershed
advisory groups, lake associa-
tions, and volunteer water quality
monitoring groups have showed
particular interest in the guides
and distributed them as part of
their volunteer training pro-
grams. An informal survey of
municipal public works depart-
ments revealed that the attrac-
tive posters were often placed in
high visibility areas, such as
lunch rooms and maintenance
garages, that were frequented
by work crews and office staff.
Interviews with state agency
personnel suggest that the out-
reach efforts likely improved the
quality and quantity of pollution
incident reports; however, a cor-
relation between outreach ef-
forts and the number of pollution
reports is inconclusive. It is clear
that the interpretive guides,
posters, and bookmarks contrib-
ute to a stewardship ethic re-
garding water resources that
highlights everyone's responsi-
bility to maintain shared re-
sources. The outreach project
reinforces the notion that water
resource protection is every citi-
zen's responsibility and that
each individual can be an impor-
tant part of the solution to our
environmental challenges.
Visit www.prep.unh.edu to
learn more about this and other
PREP efforts.
EPA's National Estuary Program
(NEP) is a unique and successful
coastal watershed-based program
established in 1987 under the
Clean Water Act Amendments.
The NEP involves the public and
collaborates with partners to pro-
tect, restore, and maintain the wa-
ter quality and ecological integrity
of 28 estuaries of national signifi-
cance located in 18 coastal states
and Puerto Rico.
For more information about the
NEP go to www.epa.gov/owow/
estuaries.
The NEP: Implementing the Clean Water Act in ways that are Effective, Efficient, Adaptive, and Collaborative.
EPA-842F09001
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