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Watershed News
July 2008
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Watershed News is a publication of EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds. It is designed to provide timely information to groups working at the watershed level.
In this month's newsletter
1) Water Quality Trading Funding: Proposals due September 9, 2008
2) $5 Million Available for West Coast Estuaries Initiative for the California Coast
3) $5 Million Available for San Francisco Bay Area Water Quality Improvement Fund
4) EPA's Watershed Academy to sponsor free July 16th Webcast on the Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund: What’s in it for Watersheds?
5) Free July 23 Watershed Academy Webcast
6) Action Plan to Reduce Nutrients to Mississippi River from 31 States Released
7) New "Impaired Waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads" Web Site
8) Final Rule on Water Transfers
9) Estuaries Preparing to be Climate Ready
10) Announcing the 15th Annual Secchi Dip-In – June 28th - July 20th
11) EPA Issues Training Materials on Financing for Watersheds
12) Draft WaterSense New Homes Specification Released
13) “Conserving America’s Wetlands” 2008 Report Available
14) Proposed Vessel Discharge Permits
15) Water Quality Standards Academy: Basic Course in DC area
16) Southeast Watershed Forum /Regional Dialogue
17) Wetlands 2008: Wetlands and Global Climate Change
18) FLOW 2008: Interdisciplinary Solutions to Instream Flow Problems
19) SAVE THE DATE: Southeast Stormwater Institute
20) WEFTEC.08 Conference
Funding Opportunities
Water Quality Trading Funding: Proposals due September 9, 2008
EPA is accepting nominations of proposals for water quality trading or other market-based projects for its Targeted Watersheds Grants Program. Projects must address reducing nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, or other pollutant loadings that cause low oxygen levels in local waters and which enter the Mississippi River system. Projects must be located in one of the three Mississippi River sub-basins with the highest nutrient loads contributing to hypoxia in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: the Ohio River, the Upper Mississippi River, or the Lower Mississippi River. EPA will award up to $4.2 million to support approximately 15 to 25 outstanding proposals.
$5 Million Available for West Coast Estuaries Initiative for the California Coast
EPA Region 9 is soliciting proposals for projects that conserve, restore and protect the water quality, habitat and environment of California coastal waters, estuaries, bays and near shore waters through comprehensive approaches to water quality management. The emphasis is on supporting implementation activities based on existing plans, such as Comprehensive Conservation Management Plans (Clean Water Act Section 320), State programs such as the Integrated Regional Water Management Plans, and local watershed plans. Proposals due August 25, 2008.
$5 Million Available for San Francisco Bay Area Water Quality Improvement Fund
EPA Region 9 is soliciting proposals for projects that restore and protect the water quality, habitat and environment of the San Francisco Bay and its watersheds through comprehensive approaches to water quality management. Projects may include demonstrations and studies of approaches that will focus on the effectiveness of an integrated approach for the following water quality priorities: invasive species management, reduction of trash in waterways, innovative wetlands restoration, stormwater management, reductions of pollutants identified in draft or completed Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) and climate change impacts on water quality. Proposals due August 25, 2008.
Webcasts
EPA's Watershed Academy to sponsor free July 16th Webcast on the Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund: What’s in it for Watersheds?
EPA's Watershed Academy sponsors free monthly Webcasts for watershed practitioners from around the globe. On Wednesday, July 16th, 2008, Stephanie VonFeck from EPA’s State Revolving Fund Branch and Patti Cale-Finnegan from Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources will discuss the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a large, flexible, and largely untapped source of funding for watershed projects. It provides over $5 billion each year for traditional stormwater and wastewater projects, as well as over $200 million for nonpoint source projects, such as land conservation, agricultural best management practices, and clean-up of contaminated sites. Registration opens July 3rd. Archived audio versions of past webcasts are also available.
Free July 23 Watershed Academy Webcast
Green Streets: From Gray Funnels to Green Sponges
EPA's Watershed Academy sponsors free monthly Webcasts for watershed practitioners from around the globe. On Wednesday, July 23, 2008, Clark Wilson, Senior Urban Designer for Smart Growth Program with the Environmental Protection Agency, and Ellen Greenberg, Visiting Practitioner, University of California Davis, will discuss how communities can more effectively manage rainwater and snow melt where it falls. Green streets can make great places, preserve water quality, and restore our nation's waterways. These and other practices are helping many urban communities like Portland and Seattle address stormwater runoff as well as provide great aesthetic benefits. In addition, green streets and other environmentally-friendly landscape designs can help minimize urban heat island effect, reduce a community's carbon footprint, and cool the planet. Join us for this Webcast to learn how your community can incorporate more green designs into long-term urban and transportation planning. To register, visit http://clu-in.org/live/ and click on the link to the July 23rd Webcast. Archived audio versions of past webcasts are also available at Watershed Academy Webcast Seminars Web site.
News
Action Plan to Reduce Nutrients to Mississippi River from 31 States Released
New "Impaired Waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads" Web Site
EPA recently released a new "Impaired Waters and Total Maximum Daily Loads" (TMDLs) homepage at www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl. The new Web page features an overview of the Clean Water Act section 303(d) program activities, highlights new resources, and provides easier access to program resources, such as EPA’s new Water Quality Assessment and TMDL Information (ATTAINS) Web site.
Final Rule on Water Transfers
EPA is publishing a final rule that clarifies water transfers are excluded from regulation under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program. The rule defines a water transfer as an activity that conveys or connects waters of the United States without subjecting the transferred water to intervening industrial, municipal, or commercial use. This exclusion does not apply to pollutants introduced by the water transfer activity itself to the water being transferred.
Estuaries Preparing to be Climate Ready
EPA has selected six estuaries to be case studies for local action to protect sensitive coastal ecosystems and economies from the potential effects of climate change. This is the first step in EPA’s new “Climate Ready Estuaries” effort to build local ability to adapt to climate change.
The Climate Ready Estuaries program is one of more than 40 specific actions to respond to the water-related impacts of climate change that are described in a draft strategy developed by the National Water Program. The draft strategy is designed to help water resource managers adapt their programs to a changing climate.
Announcing the 15th Annual Secchi Dip-In – June 28th - July 20th 
The Dip-In is a network of volunteer programs and volunteers, each supplying the data for state and local programs and, together with all the other Dip-In participants, gathering and providing continent-wide (and world-wide) information. We accept data from a wide range of turbidity instruments such as turbidity tubes and turbidimeters, and solicit other variables such as temperature and oxygen. We also encourage the involvement of programs that sample rivers and streams, estuaries, and marine environments.
EPA Issues Training Materials on Financing for Watersheds
EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds has just released training materials designed to help nonprofit watershed organizations develop and implement sustainable funding plans. The training materials outline the six key steps of funding plan development, introduce several different fundraising options, and provide case studies of successful financing mechanisms. The goal of the training materials is to give nonprofit watershed organizations an effective process for creating finance plans to ensure their own sustainability, which in turn will help protect water quality.
Draft WaterSense New Homes Specification Released
The WaterSense program has announced a draft specification for water-efficient single-family new homes that provides the criteria new homes will need to meet to be certified and labeled under the WaterSense program. WaterSense labeled new homes will combine WaterSense labeled products with other water-efficient fixtures and practices to reduce the amount of water used by approximately 20 percent.
EPA is inviting all interested parties to provide comments during the 60 day comment period which ends on July 21, 2008. Please send any comments or suggestions regarding this draft specification to watersense-newhomes@erg.com. If you have questions about the draft specification for water-efficient single-family new homes or joining WaterSense, please contact the WaterSense Helpline at (866) WTR-SENS (987-7367) or e-mail watersense-newhomes@erg.com.
“Conserving America’s Wetlands” 2008 Report Available
On Earth Day 2004 the Council on Environmental Quality established a national wetland initiative which included: restoring or creating at least one million wetland acres, improving or enhancing at least one million wetland acres, and protecting at least one million wetland acres. All of these goals were set to be accomplished by Earth Day 2009; however, on Earth Day 2008 the council reported each goal had already been surpassed with approximately 1,197,000 acres restored or created, 1,079,000 acres improved, and 1,324,000 acres protected.
Proposed Vessel Discharge Permits
EPA is proposing two general permits under the Clean Water Act that will cover discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial and recreational vessels. Based on agency estimates, as many as 91,000 commercial vessels and about 13 million recreational boats could be affected. EPA is inviting comments on both proposed permits for a period of 45 days and has scheduled public meetings, a webcast, and a public hearing to discuss these proposed permits.
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops
Water Quality Standards Academy: Basic Course in DC area
July 21-25, 2008, Arlington, VA. Are you relatively new to the Water Quality Standards Program, or do you work in a related program that requires basic knowledge of water quality standards? The Office of Science and Technology's Water Quality Standards Academy - Basic Course is an introductory training course on water quality standards designed for those with fewer than six months of experience with standards. Others may also benefit from the course, including veterans of the water quality standards program who seek a refresher on aspects of standards.
Southeast Watershed Forum ⁄ Regional Dialogue
August 12-14, Charleston, SC. The Southeast Watershed Forum is working with NOAA’s Coastal Services Center, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Gulf of Mexico Program, TVA and other agencies and organizations on the first Regional Quality Growth conference - Building Sustainable Communities for the 21st Century.
The conference will highlight resource protection programs and management strategies to ensure more sustainable communities in a time of unprecedented growth and development pressures, diminished water availability and threats from climate change. Local case studies and presentation are being sought in the following categories: 1) Building Greener Communities; 2) Saving Habitat, Farmland, Green Infrastructure and Community Character, and 3) Designing Resilient Communities. Developers, land use planners, natural resource managers, elected officials, land trusts, watershed groups, universities and local, state and federal agencies will share ideas for creating wiser land use and development strategies for the region. The conference will serve as the Forum’s 11th Watershed Roundtable.
Wetlands 2008: Wetlands and Global Climate Change
September 15-19, 2008, Portland, OR. The overall goal of this conference is to help wetland professionals in the public and private sectors 1) gain a better understanding of the challenges created by climate change and 2) identify discrete activities and actions to take to reduce and mitigate impacts on wetlands and water resources as well as communities. The conference will also address ongoing changes and challenges in wetlands and water resources management.
FLOW 2008: Interdisciplinary Solutions to Instream Flow Problems
October 7-9, 2008, San Antonio, TX. Sponsored by the Instream Flow Council, the conference will provide opportunities to learn about creative, interdisciplinary tools and approaches to instream flow problem-solving, explore the latest developments in instream flow science, policy and public dialogue and build collaborative decision-making skills through an interactive session with Professor Larry Susskind of Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.
SAVE THE DATE: Southeast Stormwater Institute
October 14-16, 2008, Savannah, GA The Southeast Stormwater Institute at the Coastal Georgia Center is an intensive, interactive three-day learning experience specifically designed to help public and private sector stormwater professionals develop or improve municipal stormwater programs, particularly NPDES Phase II permit programs; strengthen stormwater design, construction, and maintenance skills for innovative practices in coastal and non-coastal settings; and understand and apply volume reduction criteria, green infrastructure credits, and the new Georgia Coastal Stormwater Supplement.
WEFTEC.08 Conference
October 18-22, 2008, Chicago, IL. The 81st Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference is the largest conference of its kind in North America and offers water quality professionals from around the world water quality education and training. Learn from your peers about the latest practices, technologies, solutions and regulations in the water quality field. Earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) by participating in workshops and earn Professional Development Hours (PDHs) by attending technical sessions.