Let's Protect Our Rivers​ ​Nashua-Squannacook-Nissitissit
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  • home
  • Stewardship Council
    • Council Membership
    • Council Bylaws and Policies
    • Meeting Minutes
    • Annual Reports
  • Stewardship Plan
  • Council Projects
    • Canoe and Kayak Access Assessment
    • Conservation Agent Network Gatherings
    • Dragonfly Mercury Project
    • Forest Legacy Program
    • Riverbank Surveys
  • Council Grants
    • Community Grants Program >
      • 2024 Community Grant Awards
      • 2023 Community Grant Awards
      • 2022 Community Grant Awards
      • 2021 Community Grant Awards
    • Land Protection Grants >
      • 2024 Land Protection Grants
      • 2023 Land Protection Grant Awards
  • Rivers and Towns
    • The Rivers >
      • Nashua
      • Squannacook
      • Nissitissit
    • Communities >
      • Ayer
      • Bolton
      • Brookline
      • Dunstable
      • Groton
      • Harvard
      • Hollis
      • Lancaster
      • Pepperell
      • Shirley
      • Townsend
  • NPS Wild & Scenic Program
    • Partnership Wild & Scenic Rivers
    • Wild & Scenic Rivers Study Process
    • Partnership W+SR - 20 Years of Success
    • FAQ's
  • Library
    • Timeline
    • NPS Reconnaissance Study 2013
    • Study Act Legislation 2014
    • Town Votes & Board Letters of Endorsement
    • Other Letters of Support
    • Images / Press >
      • Press
    • Videos

Dragonfly Mercury Project

The Stewardship Council participates in a nation-wide study sponsored by the National Park Service and USGS to determine the level of mercury in rivers based on the level found in Dragonfly larvae and skeletons. In late summer 2022, and again in 2023, twenty or more larvae samples were collected from one site on each of our three Wild & Scenic Rivers.

Members of the Stewardship Council, NRWA staff, and volunteers sampled at the West Groton Water Supply District land on the Squannacook River, the Millie Turner dam site on the Nissitissit River, and the boat launch at the Marion Stoddart Conservation Area on the Nashua River. Samples were packed in dry ice and sent to a laboratory in Oregon for analysis of mercury levels, with results for 2022 expected in the fall of 2023. Those results will be posted on this site when received.

NPS and USGS also tests for mercury in dragonflies on the Merrimack River in Lowell/Lawrence area and the Merrimack’s headwaters in the White Mountains.

For more information on the Dragonfly Mercury Project. 

Anyone interested in participating should email Emma Lord at the National Park Service.

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