The Seacoast Watershed Information Manager is an online resource providing residents and communities with information to improve decision-making about our water resources in coastal watersheds in southern Maine and adjacent seacoast New Hampshire. This website focuses on water quality, water supply, land use change, and their economic interactions. The SWIM area covers 1,800 square miles from the Piscataqua, Cocheco, and Salmon Falls Rivers to the Kennebunk River, representing one of the fastest growing regions in the northeastern United States.
The SWIM web site includes:
- Water Resource Library: A clearinghouse of reports, publications, books, articles, and related watershed information.
- Clickable Watershed Map: An overview of the 15 watersheds and 38 towns with contacts, current projects, and active organizations.
- Maps: Including three ways of accessing geographic information.
- viewing aerial photos of the focus area with the ability to zoom in and observe vegetation cover
- using Google Earth software to add town parcels, plant and animal locations, soils, and wetlands
- custom mapping services available from the Wells Reserve
- Community Forum: News, events, and ideas affecting water resources.
- Tools: Computer models for understanding and predicting the effects of management decisions on water quality and supply.
- Calendar: Upcoming workshops and trainings concerning water issues.
SWIM is designed to be interactive. Users can contribute library entries, events for the calendar, comments for the forums, topics for the stories, and suggestions for website improvements. Send us your ideas through the Contacts page.
SWIM was created by the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve with support from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Coastal Services Center in South Carolina, the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in New Hampshire, and Laudholm Trust. |
