The Merrimack Conservation Partnership (MCP) announced the 2024 recipients of its eighth round of Environmental Science, Education and Outreach grants in the Merrimack Valley Watershed region of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. In this round of grants, the MCP awarded grants totaling $25,000 to eight projects that will help fund environmental science, education, and outreach activities related directly to the Merrimack River or its watershed. Funds can be used for activities such as youth or public environmental educational activities, development of outreach and educational materials, river clean ups, water quality testing and monitoring activities, and other science, education, and outreach efforts.

In 2010, the Merrimack was identified by the US Forest Service as the most threatened watershed in the nation in terms of projected loss of private forestland over the next 20 years. The two-state region of the Merrimack Watershed spans a total of 2.1 million acres and 3,275 square miles, of which 54% is in New Hampshire and 46% in Massachusetts. The Merrimack River starts in Franklin, NH and flows through eight of New Hampshire’s largest cities, then continues into Massachusetts to its mouth at Newburyport.

Launched in 2012, the Merrimack Conservation Partnership is a collaborative effort of private organizations and public agencies working on land conservation in the Merrimack Valley Watershed. The partners share a vision of conserving (on a strictly willing-seller/donor basis) the region’s most ecologically significant forests and the key connections between them for wildlife passage and human recreation.

The 2024 Grant Award winners are:

Applicant:  Merrimack River Watershed Council
MCP Grant Award:  $3,842
Total Project Costs:  $76,779

Summary:
Water Quality Program Analyst
The Merrimack River Watershed Council’s Water Quality Program Analyst has a multi-faceted role with a number of activities that address water quality issues, especially in the lower Merrimack watershed in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Funding will support the continuation of education programs in-classroom and outdoors exposing students to STEM career paths and environmental stewardship. The program analyst also coordinates trash clean-up events throughout the river system and surrounding lands, giving local volunteers a better understanding of the need for ongoing river restoration, and works on water quality monitoring with staff and volunteers to provide data to better understand the effects of changing environmental conditions and increasing human impacts.

Applicant:  Appalachian Mountain Club
MCP Grant Award:  $3,842
Estimated Total Project Costs:  $63,871

Summary: 
Living Downstream
This project addresses the need to understand the extent of—and to communicate—environmental risk of mercury in the Merrimack River watershed, with a focus on engaging communities in Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts, through hands-on, place-based environmental education. The Dragonfly Mercury Project is a national-scale research and monitoring project that has developed and is implementing sampling of aquatic dragonfly larvae that can be used as biosentinels, highlighting waterbodies at relatively higher or lower risk for mercury contamination in foodwebs. The Appalachian Mountain Club will continue to engage communities in sampling programs and developing educational materials based on their research.

Applicant:  Ipswich River Watershed Association
MCP Grant Award:  $1,921
Total Project Costs:  $20,032

Summary: 
Parker, Ipswich, Essex Rivers (PIE-Rivers) Partnership-based Water Quality Monitoring
The Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) began the RiverWatch program to address water quality threats to the river. The PIE-Rivers Partnership was then created to increase collaboration around common restoration and water quality goals among regional stakeholders. IRWA will continue to provide training and materials to volunteers to perform monthly and bi-monthly river monitoring procedures. They will also continue to support monitoring outreach by maintaining the River Health webpage and uploading quality-controlled data to the EOA Water Quality Exchange for incorporation in the How’s My Waterway? water quality portal. MCP funding supports staff time for volunteer recruitment training and implementation of monitoring and outreach activities.

Applicant: Groundwork Lawrence
MCP Grant Award: $3,842
Total Project Costs: $76,608

Summary: 
Green Team
The Green Team environmental education and jobs skills program in Lawrence, Massachusetts, provides paid employment to high school students, engaging them in environmentally focused project-based learning. During the summer of 2025, some of these students will participate in a program to contribute to environmental improvements along the Shawsheen River, which passes through Lawrence before emptying into the Merrimack River. Participants will focus on efforts to address invasive species challenges along the Shawsheen River and litter and debris along both the Shawsheen and Merrimack Rivers with the goal of improving the environment and biodiversity and reducing pollutants entering the water.

Applicant:  Nashua River Watershed Association
MCP Grant Award: $2,487
Estimated Total Project Costs:  $4,315

Summary: 
Nature Quest Program for Nashua Families
City parks, along with Nashua, New Hampshire’s waterways, provide a natural “classroom” for teaching youth about protecting land and water. One Saturday each month during January through May 2025, Nashua River Watershed Association (NRWA) staff will lead “Nature Quest” for Nashua families with an afternoon exploration at one local urban park with trails. Using original downloadable scavenger hunts, data sheets, and simple nature guides, families will explore the connections between water and land in each ecosystem including wetlands, ponds, rivers, forests, and fields. NRWA staff will lead each exploration. Materials generated from the program will be curated for display at the Nashua Public Library Children’s Room and online.

Applicant:  Team Haverhill
MCP Grant Award:  $1,383
Estimated Total Project Costs:  $4,714

Summary: 
Outdoor Information Kiosks Along the Merrimack River
The Bradford Rail Trail runs along the Merrimack River occupying 1.3 miles of the former Pan Am rail lines in Haverhill, Massachusetts. This recreational trail is popular for walkers, runners and cyclists. Currently, three information kiosks positioned on the trail are empty. Team Haverhill will work collaboratively with the City of Haverhill Conservation Department to design and install high-quality informational signage for these kiosks to provide an engaging and educational experience. They will provide maps, trail information, and nature educational content. These new kiosks will educate visitors about the surrounding natural habitat along the river and raise awareness of the importance of open space in the community.

Applicant: The Nature Conservancy
MCP Grant Award:  $3,842
Estimated Total Project Costs:  $9,785

Summary: 
Partnership with Unchartered Tutoring
Through a customized curriculum co-designed and implemented by staff at Unchartered Tutoring, The Nature Conservancy will deliver educational programming to two elementary schools in Manchester, New Hampshire. Students engaged in the after-school program will participate in a series of hands-on STEAM learning activities designed to inform and engage children with facts about  the Merrimack River watershed, scientific observation and data collection methods. The curriculum will instruct students about watershed functions, their place within a watershed, water quality and riverine/riparian habitats, using science and language to connect the river to their everyday lives. The curriculum developed will then be made available to multiple school districts’ after-school programming in several communities with in the Merrimack River watershed.

Applicant:  Merrimack County Conservation District
MCP Grant Award:  $3,842
Estimated Total Project Costs:  $8,145

Summary: 
Suncook River Education Program
The Merrimack County Conservation District is working to develop an education program for first and second grade students focused on the natural history, cultural heritage, and water quality of the Suncook River, an important tributary to the Merrimack River. Many students have families whose homes and lives were suddenly and negatively affected by the 2006 floods on the river. Teaching students the importance of respecting their local watershed is vital to the health and safety of the community, environment and drinking water and may inspire more student scientists who will have a deep understanding of how their own actions directly impact the world around them and downstream. Students will work with an Enviroscape 3-D Watershed model to demonstrate the effects of point and nonpoint source pollution and erosion on a watershed. Students will also use water sampling, benthic macroinvertebrate sampling and other hands-on activities to understand the quality of their local water resources. It is the intent of this program to expand into additional grades in the future.