NHDES Webinar - Overview of the NH Statewide Cyanobacteria Plan
Overview of the NH statewide cyanobacteria plan On Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 7pm NHDES will host a webinar to provide an overview of the newly released “Cyanobacteria Plan: A Statewide Strategy”. David Neils, NHDES Chief Aquatic Biologist, will discuss the major components of the plan and answer questions from the public. The webinar is open to anyone interested in learning more about cyanobacteria. In November 2023, NHDES released a statewide strategy to prevent the increase of, and eventually control, cyanobacteria blooms in New Hampshire’s surface waters. The plan was required by the state legislature and included input from a 17-person cyanobacteria advisory committee. Included in the plan are several key strategies and goals necessary to curb cyanobacteria blooms occurrences and risks, such as: • Implementation and support for policies and practices that reduce nutrient inputs to reduce bloom occurrences. • Enhanced lake management programs to diagnose blooms and support corrective actions that minimize their occurrence. • Increase public awareness for people who recreate in our water bodies to recognize cyanobacteria blooms and respond accordingly to minimize health risks. • Increase cyanobacteria bloom monitoring capacity to inform the public when and where blooms are occurring. • Prevent, detect and respond to cyanobacteria blooms in surface waters that serve as public drinking water supplies to minimize health risks to customers. The webinar will focus on these key strategies and discuss specific action items to achieve the strategies leaving plenty of time for questions and answers. The webinar will be recorded, and a link of the recording will be posted on the NHDES website at https://www.youtube.com/user/NHDES.