SB 0105

AN ACT relative to instream flow plan requirements.

SPONSORS: Sen. Francoeur, Dist 14; Sen. Flanders, Dist 7; Sen. Johnson, Dist 3; Sen. Eaton, Dist 10; Sen. Prescott, Dist 19; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Rep. Whalley, Merr 5; Rep. Calawa, Hills 17

This bill directs that the commissioner and department of environmental services shall not adopt, implement, or enforce any requirements pertaining to protected instream flow that were not in effect on December 1, 2000 until the long-range comprehensive plan required under RSA 483:10-a and specified studies have been prepared and adopted by the department.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Purpose. The general court finds that the long-range comprehensive plan required under RSA 483:10-a has not been completed and adopted. The general court further finds that no state specific studies have been done which provide state specific data from which to identify required levels, if any, of protected instream flows. The general court also finds that such studies should be undertaken and completed before any protected instream flow levels are adopted, implemented, or enforced under RSA 483.

2 New Section; Instream Flow Study Requirements. Amend RSA 483 by inserting after section 10-a the following new section:

I. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner and the department of environmental services shall not adopt, implement, or enforce any requirements pertaining to protected instream flow that were not in effect on December 1, 2000 until the plan required under RSA 483:10-a has been adopted and until each of the studies and plans in paragraph II have been prepared and adopted by the department.

II. The department of environmental services shall prepare and adopt studies and plans relating to the following:

(a) The use of the state's impoundments and lakes as the initial mechanism to augment and maintain protected instream flow levels; and

(b) The use of New Hampshire river specific instream flow data to establish protected instream flows.

The Department stated this bill requires the preparation and adoption of plans for the use of impoundments and lakes for flow augmentation, and for NH river specific flow data to establish protected instream flows. The instream flow protection program presently has temporary federal funding for staff only and no state funding. The Department assumes the plan would include the following tasks:

· Establishment of protected instream flows on all rivers and streams that are third order of above (approximately 8,600 miles of total stream, 2,672 third order or above)

· Inventory, operation attributes and history, ownership, and usable storage volume for all impoundments with 10 acre or greater normal pool (approximately 604 total active impoundments with 10 acre or greater pool area)

· A low flow reservoir/stream routing model for all streams.

· Impoundment-specific analysis of possible operational models for 272 private impoundments, 130 municipally-owned impoundments, and 185 state-owned impoundments, and 17 federal impoundments, for a total of 604 impoundments.

· The level of effort for these tasks is about the same as the level of effort associated with the real-time flood forecasting and reservoir operations model for the Winnipesaukee River Basin. That model is funded at $250,000.

· The plan would be completed in four years and would be accomplished by a contractor with one additional full-time staff person at the labor grade 26 level needed to coordinate the project, provide data managed by the Department to the contractor, and develop public participation in the plan.

· Total watershed area is 9,304 square miles.