Estuary Management Plan
The Vision for the Estuary:
A sustainable, healthy, and resilient environment providing ecosystem services for the benefit of communities and wildlife.
The Estuary Management Plan is a vibrant working document, regularly updated by SHEA to manage goals, objectives, and actions as they are evaluated against expected milestones and timeframes. Adjusted accordingly to changes in threats, conditions, and uses of the estuary with the goal of providing a holistic approach for understanding and managing the current stressors on the estuary. Using science, data, and policies to formulate effective management strategies that can be implemented by the communities of Hampton, Hampton Falls, and Seabrook to support a sustainable, healthy, and resilient ecosystem for the benefit of communities and wildlife.
The impetus for developing the EMP was to streamline all previous and ongoing efforts related to the estuary into a single guiding document for more effective stakeholder collaboration. The EMP serves as a roadmap for the collaborative management of the estuary across stakeholder groups, regardless of political boundaries. Municipalities can adopt all or a portion of the EMP as a companion document to their individual master plans so that each town’s vision aligns with the collective vision for the estuary.
Project Resources
Planning & Regulations Audit
A summary of planning and regulations that are pertinent to managing the Hampton-Seabrook estuary. This report includes master plans, zoning ordinances, land use regulations of the Towns of Hampton, Hampton Falls, and Seabrook, as well as a summary of information and recommendations from existing local and regional natural resource studies and reports.View Resource
Visioning Survey Effort
In June 2021, the Seabrook Hamptons Estuary Alliance (SHEA), with the help of Farrell Strategic Group (FSG), surveyed residents and visitors of Hampton, Hampton Falls, and Seabrook. This 30-question online survey aimed to gather input on estuary uses, values, priorities, future visions, and concerns. The survey results highlight the need for an estuary management plan to preserve and enhance the estuary's health and community character.View Resource
Estuary Management Plan
The complete Estuary Management plan. View Resource
Regulatory Audit
This audit was conducted as a follow-up to the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary Management Plan with the purpose to outline the land use planning and regulatory action items identified in the Estuary Management Plan (EMP) and to guide SHEA and municipalities in implementation of the EMP actions. View Resource
