Berry Brook success on tap at Oct. 29 neighborhood meeting

posted on: 10/20/2014

Dover is famous for several things: the birthplace of Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson, New Hampshire’s oldest permanent settlement, where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were created, and Berry Brook. Berry Brook?

The .9-mile stream that starts across from the Hannaford Plaza and ends at Sixth Street where it discharges into the Cocheco River is indeed a national celebrity. This urban stream has been the site of lots of scientific and public policy buzz for the past few years.

Berry Brook is both notorious and famous. It is notorious for being on the list of federally “impaired” waterways. In other words, it is polluted. It is contaminated by high levels of bacteria and it lacks the aquatic insects that should be found in clean water. It runs through a neighborhood that has many houses and lots of pavement. Proportionally, the area that drains into Berry Brook is more than 30 percent roof or pavement. Waterways in areas with that much hard surface are hardly ever clean.

Berry Brook is now famous among scientists and engineers as a model of what urban planners and public works departments can do to improve the water. The City of Dover and the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center have partnered on several projects that have effectively lowered the percentage of hard surfaces to 14 percent without actually removing those hard surfaces (with plans to get below 10 percent). Stormwater run-off that normally flows untreated into the stream has been diverted to structures that can clean the water: rain gardens, bioretention areas, and tree filters. One thousand feet of stream bed that had been lost has been reestablished. The result of this work is well worth celebrating: Berry Brook is recovering. Sampling shows that water is improving and the stream is much nicer to look at. All this work has been accomplished with funding assistance from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

Come learn about the buzz and see for yourself what has been happening around Berry Brook during the neighborhood meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Horne Street School. The meeting will begin with a half-mile walking tour from 5 to 6 p.m., followed by a meeting from 6 to 7 p.m. See before-and-after photos of project sites, quiz the engineers about their work, and take a tour of this hub of activity. Tell us if you have noticed a difference; we want to hear from you. Learn what small steps everyone can take to help Berry Brook continue its improvement. Participants can enter a raffle for a rain barrel to help reduce stormwater run-off at their residence.

For more information, contact Dean Peschel at d.peschel@dover.nh.gov.