Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

We work with towns, researchers, and local orgs to offer scientifically-informed solutions & tackle big clean water challenges. The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) is a collaborative-driven local organization and National Estuary Program. We are dedicated to protecting and restoring our region’s waterways and estuaries. We believe our 52 community watershed can have it better. We wo

rk with towns, researchers, and local organizations to offer scientifically-informed solutions to improve the health of our waters. Through region-wide collaboration and a non-regulatory approach, we’re here to tackle big clean water challenges. We are not an advocacy organization and do not impose regulation. We offer grant funding, process facilitation, workshops for skills-based planning, and outreach (like community building and project guidance). We also conduct habitat restoration to help our ecosystem bounce back, monitor our estuaries–from eelgrass acreage data to water temperature and plankton samples–and publish publicly available data about health trends that impact the entire watershed. Every five years, we publish our findings in the freely and publicly available State of Our Estuaries Report. This report includes data and best practices the whole watershed can use in their decision making. We are housed within the School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering at University of New Hampshire and are part of the National Estuary Program (NEP), a place-based program to protect and restore 28 estuaries of national significance. Our work is guided by a Management Committee of local leaders across varied organizations. This Committee drives the development of our Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), a plan detailing strategies and actions to tackle environmental challenges and promote sustainable estuary and watershed resources.