Parsons Creek Update for the CWSRF Project
Restoring Parsons Creek 2022-2023 – Clean Water State Revolving Fund / ARPA
The Town of Rye applied for a NH Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan to continue its work tracking and fixing pollution sources to Parsons Creek. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) responded by awarding the Town a American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant for this work. ARPA funds have modest requirements for meetings and reporting but do not require matching funds from the Town. The Town of Rye will be assisted by its consultant, FB Environmental, who has a long history of monitoring, analysis, outreach, and planning in the Parsons Creek watershed. The project is funded at $100,000 and includes the following tasks.
Pollution Source Investigation
FB Environmental has sampled Parsons Creek for Enterococci bacteria on seven dates, covering both dry and wet weather conditions. The sample results can be found in the 2022 Parsons Creek Water Quality Report.
After analyzing the sampling results, 23 selected samples were sent for source-tracking using the state-of-the-art PhyloChip® method, which tests for 59,959 unique microbial species and indicates source type probability and whether certain harmful bacteria are present. The Parsons Creek samples are currently being processed by Veracet at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, and results are anticipated in January or February 2023.
Risk Evaluation
FB Environmental has researched sea level rise and groundwater rise scenarios for Rye. Scenarios produced by NHDES and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been thoroughly reviewed, and FB Environmental is currently creating maps which will show areas at risk within the Town of Rye. These areas will be added to the Town of Rye’s online maps. Rising sea and groundwaters present a risk to septic systems, which can release pollution to surface waters if inundated or too close to groundwater. The Town and FB Environmental will update the septic system and pump-out database.
Regulation and Education
The Town will explore possible updates to ordinances, regulations, and possibly administrative procedures. Options include requiring a septic system inspection during property transfers. The Town will take draft ordinance proposals through public review, and the Selectboard will evaluate whether to adopt them. FB Environmental is currently researching ordinance options and will report these to the Town in early 2023.
The Town and FB Environmental will inform and engage residents on water quality issues and septic system maintenance. This will include a review of the extensive outreach already produced and will satisfy Rye’s requirements under Appendix F & H of the NH MS4 permit for bacteria-impaired surface waters such as Parsons Creek.
The Town, with FB Environmental’s assistance, will update its Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination program and the Stormwater Management Plan, further assisting with MS4 permit requirements.
Further updates will be posted to this page.