Salmon Falls Collaborative: A Regional Drinking Water Protection Project

The Salmon Falls River forms part of the border between Maine and New Hampshire.  Its watershed includes 18 municipalities, 6 Great Ponds and hundreds of smaller waterbodies and wetlands.  The river and its contributing aquifers are the source of water for over 35,000 residents of Southern Maine and New Hampshire.  In their publication “Private Forests, Public Benefits”, the US Forest Service identified the Salmon Falls River as one of the most threatened in the nation with regard to a predicted decline in water quality due to conversion of private forested lands to housing.  An alliance of 23 national organizations known as the Source Water Collaborative united to protect drinking water at the source has chosen the Salmon Falls River watershed for a pilot study in developing watershed wide drinking water source protection.

A workshop was held on October 27, 2010 in which over 80 stakeholders from the watershed met to develop priorities and goals for drinking water protection using a new technology called keypad polling.  Keypad polling is a wireless technology that allows community participation in a planning event and can quickly focus discussion and decision making.  The presenters will outline the steps taken in planning the workshop, identifying and convening the stakeholder group and demonstrate the efficacy of keypad polling in a mock session with the audience.  Preliminary results of the Collaborative Workshop will be shared.