State Waterway Guardian Jen Drociak

It’s the job of Jen Drociak of the state Department of Environmental Services to take care of New Hampshire’s rivers, ponds and lakes.

With an 18-word title in front of her name at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services in Concord, it’s better to describe what Jen Drociak does instead of who she is.

Drociak, who has a B.S. in environmental conservation from the University of New Hampshire, takes care of New Hampshire’s rivers, ponds and lakes. She keeps them flowing and tries to assure they are the best possible rivers and bodies of water they can be.

Drociak monitors New Hampshire’s waters for cleanliness, mitigates pollutants, educates the public, enforces standards, makes sure shorelines have an adequate buffer of vegetation to catch runoff, gives technical assistance to 19 Local River Advisory Committees and manages cleanup volunteers while also volunteering.

Drociak, as program and volunteer coordinator, has been the driving force behind the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program, currently celebrating 20 years and 119 cleanups with the fascinating historical exhibit, “Manchester’s Urban Ponds Past, Present and Future: a 20-Year Celebration of the Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration Program” at Manchester’s Millyard Museum.

There are aerial shots in the exhibit of Manchester’s Nutts Pond from the 1950s and today, as different as a walk in the woods and a walk through a mega-mall. There are Ulric Bourgeois’ photos of the famous Hermit of Mosquito Pond, now called Crystal Lake. A large glass case holds antique ice-cutting tools uncovered when the Maxwell Pond/ Black Brook Dam was dismantled over a decade ago. A short film has historical footage of ice dancers on Dorrs Pond. There are also plush toy salmon to be petted by the youngest environmentalists. The display was 10 months in the making. Add cocurating the exhibit with Jeff Barraclough, then of Manchester Historic Association, to the list of what Drociak does.

Scorekeeping is yet another duty of the watershed manager. Her records show that 1,071 volunteers have removed 2,431 bags of trash, 441 tires and 99 shopping carts from Manchester’s ponds during the once semi-annual and now annual cleanups. The Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration was given an EPA Merit Award in 2011.

Q. What is the greatest challenge in your work?

A. Connecting people with bodies of water. This can take the form of education, boots-on-the ground cleanups or enforcing standards. Put people in nature and they have a greater appreciation for it. There has to be a buffer zone of vegetation from 50 feet to 150 feet at shoreline. Mess with this area and increased runoff into the water will cause all kinds of problems.

Q. Do Manchester ponds have problems because of invasive species?

A. Stephens Pond has a large amount of common reed at shoreline. It needs salinity to thrive. Runoff from winter road salt has seen the plant spread. Nutts Pond has Brazilian water weed. We think someone dumping an aquarium into the pond caused it. The plant hasn’t been available for purchase since 1998. Fortunately, it’s been contained to the one pond.

Q. Are you seeing the effects of climate change?

A. New Hampshire’s storms are now more intense and of shorter duration. This has meant increased runoff from roads and properties into the water. We’re in the biggest drought in the state since 2016. Lower water levels mean warmer water and more fish kill. Shorter winters with less snow buildup also mean shallower waters.

Q. Do any interesting cleanup finds stand out over the years?

A. A homemade Wiccan handbook sealed in plastic was unusual. We also removed a metal cash register from Nutts Pond. I guess a Bob Ross Chia Pet head tossed into the water wasn’t someone’s idea of a great gift.

Q. Do you want to give a shoutout to any of your cleanup volunteers?

A. I was delighted when six of our volunteers were recognized by Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig in 2018. Jeff Marcoux assists in maintaining our 10 pond kiosks and does water control management.

Q. What is the most difficult thing to clean up?

A. Storm water inlets to ponds have grates to catch the larger debris, but plastics small enough to make it through settle on adjacent land. Personally, I wish there were no plastic bags or straws. When reusable fabric bags couldn’t be used earlier in the pandemic, I wheeled my groceries to my car.

Q. How can potential volunteers connect with you?

A. Manchester Urban Ponds Restoration has a Facebook page. On the web, go to manchesternh.gov/Departments/Environmental-Protection/Pond-Restoration.

Q. You also have a background and professional interest in photography. What are you working on now?

A. It was a wonderful surprise to learn that my parents had saved all of my childhood toys. They’d been in storage for 40-plus years. I feel like I’m chronicling the pop culture of my youth.

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