Water Quality | Lamprey River

Wild and Scenic River	Reporting Cycle	Miles by Water Quality Classification	Listed Impairments
Lamprey	2016	Good: 0 Impaired: 23 Unassessed: 0	Mercury; Ammonia (Total); pH; Escherichia coli; Dissolved Oxygen Saturation; Phosphorus (Total); Total Suspended Solids

Wild and Scenic Rivers, like all rivers, are protected under the Clean Water Act, which requires states to establish water quality standards for waters within their jurisdiction. Every two years, states are required to report whether these standards are being met. In 2018, NPS compiled information from the most recent state assessments to identify the water quality status of all designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. Based on the information available at the time, NPS determined that roughly 44% of all Wild and Scenic River miles did not meet their water quality standards, with temperature, mercury, and metals being the most common causes of impairment. Want to learn more about Wild and Scenic River water quality? Read the full report found on the rivers.gov website here.


Overall Lamprey River water quality meets Clean Water Act standards for fishable-swimmable conditions

by Suzanne Petersen, Lamprey River Advisory Committee, outreach specialist


The Lamprey River is fortunate to be located in a hub of active research led by the University of New Hampshire (UNH), the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership. Volunteers from the Lamprey River Watershed Association also contribute valuable data. These data often date back two to three decades. To help understand what these data mean not just to scientists but also to the wider community, the Lamprey River Advisory Committee has funded four long-term assessments by UNH students whose work has been supervised by UNH faculty. By combining data from these sources, water quality in the Lamprey can be tracked over time and distance.These reports are available on www.LampreyRiver.org in summary formats as well as full reports. Certain impairments, such as mercury, are common to almost all surface waters due to atmospheric deposition and certain site-specific impairments have been documented; however, overall the Lamprey River meets Clean Water Act standards for fishable-swimmable conditions.The following list outlines trend analyses for water quality that have been undertaken for the Lamprey River:

• dissolved oxygen, acidity, nitrate, 2015

• specific conductance, E. coli, and turbidity, 2018

• phosphorus and heavy metals, 2019

• nutrient budgets, 2020

Sample summary poster, Charlie Xue, University of NH, 2020

---

Return to Main Article