2021 Grant Projects
Camp Bernadette Stormwater Reduction Project
As 2019 drew to a close, the Wentworth Watershed Association and the Town of Wolfeboro wrapped up the third in a series of projects designed to remove stormwater threats to Lake Wentworth that were identified in the Wentworth-Crescent Watershed Management Plan.
A main component of the Phase 3 effort used EPA-funded monies to construct shoreline improvements that prevent stormwater runoff from entering the lake at Camp Bernadette on Heath Shore. The EPA funds were assigned to the project by a grant from the NH Department of Environmental Services.
Combined with $28,000 in cash split between the Town of Wolfeboro and the Association, as well as administrative services from the Town and volunteer efforts from the Association, the grant had a total value of $103,000.
The work at Bernadette included the construction of stormwater management structures that divert runoff from lawns, roads, and parking areas into rain gardens. Those structures then infiltrate the water and absorb any phosphorus it carries before that pollutant can reach the lake. The grant work at the camp was complemented by a significant investment on the part of the Diocese of Manchester, which owns the facility. In addition to rebuilding a degraded boat ramp, camp management installed gutters, drip edges, and rain barrels to capture runoff from the large roof of the dining hall, the largest structure at the camp.
Birchmont, Wentworth Park
In 2020 and 2021, the Town and Association are partnering on a Phase 4 construction project that will address stormwater issues at two significant sites: Camp Pierce Birchmont on Governor’s Shore and a roadway and beach in the Wentworth Park neighborhood.
At Birchmont, the project will transform a significant portion of the camp’s beach into a “perched” area that prevent sand from washing into the lake. Other structures up slope from the beach will capture and infiltrate water before it can carry debris and pollutants along a boat ramp and other paved surfaces into the lake.
At Wentworth Park, the installation of drains and conduits will prevent water from flowing off the hard-packed road onto a beach area, where erosion has been carrying sediment into the lake. The Phase 4 project has been awarded $100,000 in federal Clean Waters Act monies by EPA and NHDES, matched by $75,000 in Town and Association funds and services.
Initiated in 2010, the Wentworth-Crescent Watershed Management Plan inventoried wetlands, streams, and lakes to identify the most serious threats to water quality. Topping the list of those threats was stormwater runoff from rain and snowmelt, which results in the leaching of phosphorus into the watershed’s surface waters. That unwanted nutrient in turn supports the growth of weeds and algae in the water. The Association plans to begin an update to the Watershed Management Plan during 2021.
About the 319 Grants
The 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA) established the Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program Section 319 addresses the need for greater federal leadership to help focus state and local nonpoint source efforts. Under Section 319, states, territories and tribes receive grant money that supports a wide variety of activities including technical assistance, financial assistance, education, training, technology transfer, demonstration projects and monitoring to assess the success of specific nonpoint source implementation projects.