After graduating from Ohio State University in December I had no idea what my next step would be. Eventually, I stumbled across a service position for the Americorps position at the Newfound Lake Region Association (NLRA) and somehow I knew this was where I wanted to go. At first, I was a bit apprehensive about moving to New Hampshire, especially since it is a 14-hour drive from my family in Ohio, but the opportunity to live and serve somewhere new was too exciting to pass up.
The part about this service position that interested me the most was understanding how stormwater affects the landscape and creating a plan to solve those problems. This is an important part of the NLRA as it protects water quality in the lake. During projects the NLRA works with landowners to install stormwater measures that slow water runoff during storms so the rain doesn’t cause erosion of the soil. These installations reduce the amount of sediment pollution running into the lake and keep Newfound Lake clean. I never really had a chance to work on projects like that at college so I was excited to learn new skills and concepts. My excitement only grew with each new project, even with the very difficult manual labor involved with some of these projects. I enjoyed knowing that my actions helped reduce erosion in and around the lake. I also liked working with the homeowners who were always kind and offered to help during the installation process. Some would even offer to buy lunch or coffee for us while we worked. It was really inspiring to see how interested they were in the installation process and the reasons why we used a certain stormwater management technique.
The project I am most proud of is the Wulamat Beach Association stormwater project. This was a week-long project with the goal of reducing the erosion of beach sand into the lake as well as a number of other issues the landowners were having. There are many reasons for this. The first is that it was by far the biggest project we did all summer and we had a lot of help from the surrounding community members. I feel it impacts the most people since the beach is open to all the houses in the housing association. The biggest reason I’m proud of this project is the drastic change you can see in the beach itself. The best part was seeing all the beautiful plants in the flower beds once the planting was finished. It adds a touch of color to the landscape and helps hold soil in place. Even just a month later you could see the installation was making an impact. The erosion problems on the beach had disappeared and the residents seemed happy with the final product. It is so rewarding to know that the project slowed/stopped the erosion of sediment into the lake.
This summer has made me feel more confident in my ability to adapt to new environments and learn new skills I never thought I would enjoy. The people I met this summer were always kind and interested in what I was doing as a Watershed Steward. I am thankful to everyone who helped me with programs whether it was volunteering or stormwater work.
