Our Watersheds
Salmon Falls Watershed
Great East Lake, Horn Pond, Lake Ivanhoe/Round Pond, Lovell Lake & Wilson Lake
The Salmon Falls watershed is 330 square miles, is shared by 21 towns, and is found in both Maine and New Hampshire. Municipal water systems in both states use the Salmon Falls river to supply more than 47,000 people with drinking water.
Rising at Great East Lake, it flows southeast joining the waters of Horn Pond, Wilson Lake, Lake Ivanhoe/Round Pond and Lovell Lake to meet the Cochecho River near Dover, NH, forming the Piscataqua River. The Salmon Falls River is the largest tributary to the Piscataqua-Great Bay Estuary system.
The Salmon Falls is a great recreation resource used by many people for boating, fishing, hiking and wildlife watching. Population growth and polluted runoff associated with residential and commercial development are the biggest threats to water quality. According to a study published by the Forest Service of the US Department of Agriculture “Private Forests, Public Benefits,” the Piscataqua-Salmon Falls watershed ranks 1st in the nation projected to experience the most change in water quality as a result of increases in housing density on private forest lands. This study illustrates how critical it is that the time to act is now to preserve the high quality waters we depend upon. AWWA is working with the Towns and lake associations to spread the word that how land is used has a direct effect on the quality of the water to which it drains. Check out some of the lakes located in the Salmon Falls Watershed below!
