Maps
Maps are essential tools for focusing efforts to restore or protect buffers. The maps below were created used GIS technology and publicly available data layers from the NH GRANIT GIS clearinghouse. For those interested in working with these maps in GIS on the NH Coastal Viewer, CLICK HERE for a User Guide.
The BOB team created four sets of maps to help landowners, communities, resource managers, and policy makers:
⇒ Locate important buffer areas
⇒ Prioritize buffers for conservation or restoration based on their capacity to provide specific benefits
⇒ Focus resources and collaborative efforts to improve buffer management
⇒ Apply to funding opportunities, including New Hampshire’s Aquatic Resource Mitigation fund
Each set of maps has been created at the community scale for the 42 New Hampshire municipalities in the Great Bay watershed. Click on the “PDF” links that appear alongside each town’s name to download the map of interest.
Buffers for Water Quality Protection
These maps help to identify riparian buffer protection and/or restoration priorities to maintain and improve water quality in our rivers, lakes, ponds and estuaries.
These maps are can be usd to support the following activities:
- Identify land protection and restoration projects targeted specifically to improve water quality
- Create riparian buffer restoration plans
- Write buffer ordinance language
- Set up monitoring and/or code enforcement protocols
Wildlife Action Plan Habitats Within Buffers
These maps identify high quality wildlife habitats within riparian buffers based on New Hampshire’s Wildlife Action Plan (WAP). This plan classifies habitats in two tiers: Tier 1 areas are the highest ranked habitats across the state. Tier 2 areas are the highest ranked habitats at a more local scale.
These maps can be used for the following activities:
- Identify riparian corridor protection priorities (many wildlife species depend on riparian corridors for travel, dispersal, and essential habitat)
- Write a wildlife management plan
- Write buffer and wetland ordinance language
- Develop a public lands management plan
Flood Storage and Risk Mitigation Areas
These maps focus on three climate resilience actions: flood storage, risk mitigation, and salt marsh migration. Natural areas that attenuate flood waters (both from extreme precipitation events and rising sea levels) provide dual benefits: they reduce flooding and they keep people and infrastructure out of harm’s way. The areas identified on these maps show where green infrastructure should persist to maximize ecosystem services and reduce people’s exposure to flood risks.
These maps can be used to support the following activities:
- Identify high risk areas for building (due to flood risk)
- Proactively protect high capacity flood storage lands
- Develop a climate resilience plan
- Inform an emergency management process
- Create salt marsh restoration plans and strategically protecting low-lying coastal lands to allow for inland salt marsh migration.
*Note: Our analysis was limited to the geographic availability of LiDAR data which is available for 34 out of 42 communities. Those communities missing include: Brookfield, Danville, Farmington, Kingston, Middleton, New Durham, Northwood and Strafford.
Co-occurring Benefits within Ripiarian Buffers
These maps highlight buffer areas that can provide up to three benefits, i.e., water quality protection, flood storage and risk mitigation, and wildlife habitats as designated in the Wildlife Action Plan.
These maps can be used to support the following ativities:
- Develop and prioritize buffer management and restoration plans
- Identify the most efficient use of resources and effort
- Site construction and development proposals
Maps by Town
Download a map by clicking on “PDF” and saving to your computer. You can see all of the towns by changing the number of entries andsort the table alphabetically by town by clicking on the header.
| TOWN | WATER QUALITY MAPS | WILDLIFE MAPS | FLOOD PROTECTION MAPS | CO-OCCURANCE MAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrington | ||||
| Brentwood | ||||
| Brookfield | ||||
| Candia | ||||
| Chester | ||||
| Danville | ||||
| Deerfield | ||||
| Dover | ||||
| Durham | ||||
| East Kingston | ||||
| Epping | ||||
| Exeter | ||||
| Farmington | ||||
| Fremont | ||||
| Greenland | ||||
| Hampton | ||||
| Hampton Falls | ||||
| Kensington | ||||
| Kingston | ||||
| Lee | ||||
| Madbury | ||||
| Middleton | ||||
| Milton | ||||
| New Durham | ||||
| New Castle | ||||
| Newfields | ||||
| Newington | ||||
| Newmarket | ||||
| North Hampton | ||||
| Northwood | ||||
| Nottingham | ||||
| Portsmouth | ||||
| Raymond | ||||
| Rochester | ||||
| Rollinsford | ||||
| Rye | ||||
| Sandown | ||||
| Seabrook | ||||
| Somersworth | ||||
| Strafford | ||||
| Stratham | ||||
| Wakefield |