The New Hampshire House of Representatives will soon consider House Bill 107-FN-A, which would provide an appropriation for costs involved in controlling invasive aquatic species.
This important bill addresses invasive aquatic species that have already been discovered in New Hampshireโs lakes and waterways, and provides funds to roll back some of the infestations and reduce the likelihood of their further expansion into waters where they are not yet a significant problem.
The Department of Environmental Services currently has funds to address roughly one-third of the stateโs infestations. The additional funds sought would provide the initial money for a five-year plan to assist the Office of the Liminologist/Exotic Species Program Coordinator, which coordinates the efforts of Lake Association and River Keeper volunteers across the state and provides them with the resources to detect and reduce invasive aquatics. It is important to note that New Hampshire law requires the use of licensed pesticide applicators in cases requiring the use of chemical herbicides.
The five-year plan calls for expenditures totaling $19.5 million dollars: $5 million each for the first and second years, $4 million for the third year, $3 million for the fourth year and $2.5 million for the fifth, and final, year. Since the current Legislature cannot bind a future Legislature, the appropriation sought is for the first two yearsโ funding of $10 million in non-lapsing and continually appropriated funds.
The danger in not addressing this problem is that invasive aquatics can suddenly overwhelm bodies of water. Two invasive aquatics are of particular concern. Variable milfoil, which has established itself in New Hampshire, reproduces through fragmentation โ pieces of a plant traveling through the water and settling in a new location. Under optimum conditions, variable milfoil plants can grow an inch a day.
Asian clams have also been found in New Hampshire. Asian clams can self-fertilize and release 35,000 offspring a year. They can form dense clusters of 5,000 clams per square meter and damage machinery. They compete with native fish and shellfish and release phosphorous and nitrogen, increasing the likelihood of oxygen depletion and algae growth and making potentially hazardous cyanobacteria blooms more likely to occur.
An average of $3.9 million annually over a five year period, in a $3 billion biennial general fund, should be seen as something of an insurance policy: It may seem an unnecessary expenditure until you very much regret not having made it. Itโs also worth noting that pristine bodies of water are an important piece of the tourism that is our stateโs second largest industry, generating more than $5 billion in annual revenue.
(James W. McConnell lives in North Swanzey.)