What's Caw up to?
Come see the 2025 Picturing Rising Tides Gallery!
Picturing Rising Tides is an annual photo campaign to raise awareness of the impacts to New Hampshire’s coast due to flooding and high tides. The top 10 photos from this event will be displayed in a traveling gallery across the Seacoast, with thanks to Live Free Print & Frame, who generously donated their services to print the images. Thank you to our other sponsors, PREP, VHB, and CAW member, Dale Pike! The latest gallery showings are at
- February 9 – May 1: Rochester Museum of Fine Arts
- February 1-28: Gundalow Company – Albacore Museum
- February 18 – March 31: Great Bay National Estuary Research Reserve
View the calendar below to see when the gallery is coming to a space near you!
Join us for a Picturing Rising Tides reception!
March 7: 1:00-3:00pm
We will be holding a reception at the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts to celebrate the impactful work of our Picturing Rising Tides photographers. This will be held at the James W. Foley Memorial Community Center Suite 135: 150 Wakefield Street Rochester, NH 03867.
Calling for speakers and artists for CAW's 2026 Nh Climate Summit!
Share your work, knowledge, and art at CAW’s 2026 NH Climate Summit. This biennial event will feature stories about local climate impacts and how communities are adapting to those changes in the region and beyond. Youth, students, people with lived or learned experience of climate impacts, people working on connected challenges in the region (e.g., housing security, racial and social justice, public health, etc.), researchers, changemakers, and artists are all encouraged to submit an idea.
Join virtual “Office Hours” to talk out an idea, ask questions, or seek assistance on the submission process. Participation is voluntary. Please register in advance to receive the meeting link.
- Wednesday, February 18, 10:00-11:00 AM (1 spot left!)
- Wednesday, February 25, 10:00-11:00 AM
- Wednesday, March 4, 10:00-11:00 AM
Contact rebecca.a.katz@des.nh.gov with questions about the event or for more information.
What are CAW Members working on?
Check out the new Caring for Our Marshes Guide!
The new Caring for Our Marshes guide offers practical, science-based tips for caring for shoreline properties so nearby salt marshes can thrive and continue to protect homes, wildlife, and coastal communities. This guide is for coastal residents, landscapers and community leaders looking to protect tidal marshes and strengthen the resilience of homes and neighborhoods.
NH Flood Awareness Week: March 9-13, 2016
20th Anniversary of the 2006 Mother's Day Flood
Flooding is New Hampshire’s most common and costly natural disaster. While spring is typically when flooding is most expected, many New Hampshire residents know first-hand that flooding can occur any time of the year.
This year’s theme is the 20th anniversary of the Mother’s Day flood of May 13-17, 2006. Severe rainfall caused widespread and record-breaking flooding across central, southern, and coastal New Hampshire communities. The flooding resulted in over $14 million in statewide damage, impacting over 5,000 buildings and 600 roads, and forcing road closures and evacuations of residential areas. The event remains a grim reminder of the destructive power of floodwaters and the long road to recovery.
Flood Awareness week, held every March, provides information, data, and resources to help prepare for and reduce flood risks. Join the NH Floodplain Management Program’s Flood Lines newsletter to receive daily tips during the week to strengthen flood resiliency.
Learn more by visiting the NH Floodplain Management Program’s 2026 Flood Awareness Week web page or subscribe to Flood Lines for ongoing updates.
NH Coastal Flood Risk Summary Update
The Part I: Science report, which summarizes the latest trends and projections for sea level rise, coastal storms, groundwater rise, and precipitation, is now available online. Accompanying materials such as a brief factsheet and video will be available soon as well. Development of the updated Part II: Guidance for Using Best Available Science is well underway, with a public comment period anticipated to start in mid-April.
NH Coastal Viewer
Several new data layers were added to the NH Coastal Viewer in December. These include projected groundwater rise with various sea level rise scenarios, modeled depth to groundwater, groundwater vulnerability, and saltwater intrusion, as well as an updated shoreline structure inventory. These layers can be found within the “Oceans and Coasts” category on the layers list. This recording from a recent webinar from NHDES Coastal Program and GRANIT provides an overview of the latest NH Coastal Viewer features and describes some of these new layers. Data layers from the NH Coastal Flood Risk Model are expected to be added to the NH Coastal Viewer very soon!
Flood Ready Neighborhoods Framework
The Flood Ready Neighborhoods (FRN) program provides support to neighborhoods experiencing impacts from coastal and stormwater flooding and erosion. The FRN team recently published a Framework for Fostering Flood Ready Neighborhoods, a resource that shares lessons learned from the program so far.
Water Has a Memory: Teaching History and Preparing for the Future - Rodney Roland
Hear how Rodney Roland, Director of Environmental Sustainability at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth approaches flood risk while also focusing on historic preservation.
Welcome New CAW Members!
- Olivia Boyer – TF Moran
- Maeve Nolan – Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast
- Janan Reilly – Fuss & O’Neill
- Merissa Silva Robertson – NH DES Coastal Program
- Colette Tweeddale – Seabrook-Hamptons Estuary Alliance
- Hannah Volk – NH Sea Grant
Funding and Assistance Opportunities
- Seabrook-Hampton Estuary Alliance: Estuary Management Plan Small Grants – Due March 2
-
- SHEA is now welcoming applications for the second round of its EMP Small Grants Program. The grant primarily funds outreach and planning projects that advance 1 or more of the goals of the Estuary Management Plan for entities that conduct work in the HSE Watershed communities. During this round of funding, additional consideration will be provided to projects that meaningfully implement priority EMP actions and goals.
- Apply here!
- EPA Environmental Education Grant – due March 3
- The EPA is now welcoming applications to support locally and regionally focused environmental education projects that promote environmental stewardship and help develop knowledgeable and responsible students, teachers, and community members.
- Apply here!
- NROC – Living Shoreline Planning Series accepting applications for 2026 Cohort! (due March 3)
- The Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) invite coastal communities, Tribes, and non-profit organizations from across New England to apply to participate in our Living Shoreline Planning Series, which will offer free training and technical assistance to help guide you and your team through the process of identifying and developing a conceptual design for a living shoreline.
- Apply here!
Upcoming Events
- February 18: Bayview Lectures – What’s happening with our marine mammals? [more details]
- March 2: UMaine Spring Sustainability Talks – Amplifying the story of food: Sea Run’s connection to education, conservation, clams, and more! [register]
- March 7: Picturing Rising Tides Gallery Reception [more details]
- March 11: Sips of Science – Rooted in Resilience: Managing Forests for the Future [register]
- March 18: Bayview Lectures – What’s happening with our salt marshes? [more details]
- March 21: NH Climate Summit [more details]
- March 23: UMaine Spring Sustainability Talks – Maine’s PFAS Response: A Comprehensive Policy Review [register]
- April 13: UMaine Spring Sustainability Talks – OUR SHORE program for Nature-Based Strategies for Shoreline Erosion [register]
- May 8: Green Lawns & Clean Water [register]
This newsletter is brought to you by the NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup, a collaboration of organizations working to assist communities in NH’s coastal watershed to prepare for the impacts of extreme weather and long-term climate change by providing resources, facilitation, and guidance that enhances readiness and resilience.