Water may be our most basic and precious resource, however, as the New Hampshire climate gets warmer and wetter, residents and towns are finding it increasingly difficult to get access to it. On this episode of “The State We’re In,” Melanie Plenda talks with Mary Stampone, New Hampshire state climatologist and an associate professor of geography at the University of New Hampshire, whose undergraduate courses in environmental geography include courses on weather, climate, and natural hazards.
By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew
This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Melanie Plenda:
The region is in the midst of a drought. What does that look like in New Hampshire? And what led to the drought here?
Mary Stampone:
Drought in New England is typically caused by a lack of precipitation, but it can be exacerbated by temperature. For example, in summer, the higher temperatures can cause more water to evaporate from lakes, ponds and soil, and this can cause conditions to deteriorate rapidly during long spells without rain. But in winter, we're largely concerned with groundwater levels, because at temperatures below freezing, frozen ground limits groundwater recharge from the surface — under normal conditions, we also see most of our water on the surface as snow. So drought conditions tend to persist through the winter months until spring.
Melanie Plenda:
What needs to happen over the winter or into the spring to alleviate these drought conditions?
Mary Stampone:
Recent rainfall over the holidays allowed for some slow improvement, but groundwater levels are still below normal. We really need to see some snow. Ideally, we want to have a consistent snowpack through the winter, through early spring, followed by a slow, steady snowmelt to balance the water use during the spring leaf-out, which can draw a lot of groundwater when we already have low groundwater levels.
Melanie Plenda:
Is that likely to happen this year, do you think?
Mary Stampone:
It's hard to say for now, but we still have plenty of winter left. One of the concerns, though, going forward is that as our winters have warmed, we're seeing more instances of snowmelts as well as rain on snow events within the winter season. In the short term, that water can keep conditions from deteriorating in real time, but it lessens the amount of snow melt going into the spring, which can exacerbate spring dryness.
Melanie Plenda:
Is it true that, generally, New Hampshire’s climate is getting warmer and wetter — and if so, then why are we going through a drought?
Mary Stampone:
We are overall becoming warmer and wetter, but we still have a substantial variability in how much precipitation we get from year to year, season to season, month to month.
What we also see as we get warmer is that the precipitation is coming in these bigger events, and we're kind of getting it all at once, rather than having it spread out. Then you combine that with the warmer temperatures, and we have a potential for having longer, drier periods between rain events that leaves us vulnerable to drought.
Melanie Plenda:
How will all this affect New Hampshire’s agriculture?
Mary Stampone:
We've already seen some substantial impacts on agriculture, but given these impacts from recent droughts, many farmers, in coordination with state agencies, are really investing in building drought resiliency, which can include everything from more infrastructure — but probably more importantly — more water-efficient practices that will, long term, reduce our vulnerability to drought.
Melanie Plenda:
So many New Hampshire residents rely on wells. What can they do to prepare for a drier future?
Mary Stampone:
First and foremost, reduce water use where you can. Consider your indoor water use, and if you are able to invest in more water-efficient appliances, that's a great start. Consider your outdoor water use. If you have a garden, hand-water if possible, think about your yard and having a perfect green grass yard made of clover — other plants like that — can be more drought-resistant and still look nice. So think about your individual water use and try to conserve where you can.
Melanie Plenda:
What can towns do to help with this issue? What sort of proposals are on the table?
Mary Stampone:
I know several towns in the Seacoast have invested in redundant water systems so we have one or more than one water source. If we rely on stream flow and if stream levels are low, we can go to a groundwater system — things like that.
Water regulations are also a tool — limiting outdoor water use or un-essential water use during the driest parts of the summer season can help. Also education — educating citizens on water use in ways that individuals can reduce.
Melanie Plenda:
What about at the state level? What can be done there to help alleviate the problem?
Mary Stampone:
Policy and support for communities during drought periods can greatly improve our resilience, but assistance for towns and individuals to increase water efficiencies as well as improve infrastructure. A lot of the investments that the state made following the 2001 drought and as well as in the 2016 drought, for people to dig deeper wells or, again, grants to improve water efficiencies, have all actually helped build resilience to drought. All of these improvements help us as we kind of move into this future where we may see, may see more summer drought.
Melanie Plenda:
Is that more of a tough sell, given some of legislators’ attitudes about climate change?
Mary Stampone:
I don't think it should. I mean, these are practices that our state agencies and our state government have already engaged in in recent droughts dating back decades. This isn't a new phenomenon for New Hampshire. We do see dry periods from time to time, and these investments have been made in the past, and I don't see why these policies should change in the future.
The impacts can be great, and they impact our economy — agriculture, but also tourism, water quality, water availability, and so these are pressures that we've faced for a while, and we'll continue to face, and our state has addressed them, and hopefully they'll continue to do that.
Melanie Plenda:
What advice do you have for New Hampshire residents who are concerned about this issue?
Mary Stampone:
At the individual level, think about how you use water, and if there are ways that you can be more efficient in your water use and reduce your water use. Going forward, every drop counts. And one thing going into the summer season is that the soils are going to use more water, plants are going to use more water, people are going to use more water. But we don't know how much rain we're going to get, and in the winter, we don't know how much snow we're going to get. Building in water-efficiency practices, regardless of the drought conditions, is a really good thing that people can do.
Melanie Plenda:
Mary Stampone, New Hampshire state climatologist and associate professor of geography at the University of New Hampshire, thank you for joining us today.
“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visitcollaborativenh.org.