Watershed News

May 2006

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) Funding Opportunities: EPA announces Region 7 Watershed Improvement Grants - Proposals Due May 11, 2006
2) News: May is American Wetlands Month
3) National River Cleanup Week is May 13-21, 2006
4) Pennsylvania helping to fund solutions to acid mine drainage
5) Center for Watershed Protection Announces the Smart Watershed Benchmarking Tool
6) Call for Abstracts
7) Webcasts: EPA's Watershed Academy Sponsors Webcast on Integrating Wetlands into Watershed Protection Efforts
8) Izaak Walton League to host Stormwater Management Webcasts
9) Outreach and Education: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas' KTVT launches Envirocast
10) River Network's River Rally 2006
11) Upcoming Conferences in 2006

Funding Opportunities

EPA announces Region 7 Watershed Improvement Grants - Proposals Due May 11^th, 2006

simple art drawing of people holding hands in the midst of buildings and a wood stream

The EPA intends to award an estimated $300,000 to eligible applicants to improve water quality in watersheds in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The EPA will award grants to two types of projects - Watershed Improvement Projects (single media) and Watershed Improvement with Pesticide Emphasis Projects (multi-media). These Watershed Improvement Grants will emphasize water quality improvements in agricultural watersheds by supporting innovative ways to use less and lower-risk pesticides and increase farmers' adoption of ecologically-based approaches using integrated crop, pest, soil, and water management methods. EPA is requesting proposals that directly result in on-the-ground activities that produce chemical, physical, and/or biological improvements in water quality in a watershed. Complete details can be found at http://www.epa.gov/region07/economics/r7_grant_opportunities.htm.

News

May is American Wetlands Month

Stylized picture of a crane in a marsh with a city scape in the background

May is the 16^th Anniversary of American Wetlands Month. The Environmental Protection Agency is proud to partner with other federal, state and local agencies and private organizations celebrating American Wetlands Month each May. Events are scheduled across the country to educate, involve and engage Americans who want to better understand the value of one of Earth's most important ecosystems. This year's theme is "It Pays to Save Wetlands." Wetlands benefit our communities. They are valuable because they clean and replenish water supplies and reduce flood risks. In addition, wetlands provide recreational opportunities and aesthetic benefits. They serve as sites for research and education and benefit commercial fishing. To find out more information and see a list of events across the country, visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/awm/

National River Cleanup Week is May 13^th-21^st, 2006

National River Cleanup Week® a 501(c) (3) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to raise the public's awareness of the magnitude of trash accumulating in our nation's waterways. National River Cleanup Week® provides cleanup kits, safety guidelines, support materials and trash bags for local cleanups that register during the designated week. Anyone interested in organizing a cleanup effort in their area is encouraged to call for a registration form from America Outdoors® at (865) 558-3595. Registering your cleanup is free. For more information about this great opportunity, visit http://www.americaoutdoors.org/nrcw/natao10.htm.

Pennsylvania helping to fund solutions to acid mine drainage

Pennsylvania has awarded Growing Greener grants to find creative uses for acid mine drainage water and the metals it contains, including iron oxide, aluminum, manganese, zinc, nickel and cobalt. Some of the acid mine drainage projects that were funded include generation of electricity by running mine water through a turbine, metal reclamation to make ball bearings, use of iron oxide as a corrosion inhibitor on rebar and making snow from treated acid mine drainage runoff. For more information about the Growing Greener Grants Program, visit http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/growinggreener/site/default.asp .

Center for Watershed Protection Announces the Smart Watershed Benchmarking Tool

This self-assessment tool helps local communities integrate and align their urban watershed programs to meet their water resource goals, help local program managers make better decisions on watershed restoration priorities and help local watershed groups work with their local governments to encourage adoption of practices that would improve scores.

This guidance document contains:

The complete benchmarking tool with step-by-step guidance on how to complete the tool and interpret community scores;
detailed profile sheets that describe each of the 14 Smart Watershed programs, including a case study, tips for implementing or improving the program, and further resources and links;
overview of smart watershed programs, its benefits and applications for local communities; and
further details on restoration budgeting and adapting the tool for special community conditions.

To obtain a free copy of the Smart Watershed Benchmarking Tool, visit http://www.cwp.org.

Call for Abstracts

The American Water Resources Association is soliciting abstracts for the 2006 Annual Water Resources Conference to be held November 6^th- 9^th, 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. Abstracts are due by May 15^th, 2006. The conference presents a unique opportunity for water resource practitioners from diverse disciplines to gather and interact together. In addition to offering a broad range of technical, social and legal topics, a number of sessions will focus on topics of current interest, including infrastructure asset management, water (Homeland) security, watershed management, dam rehabilitation or removal, sustainability of drinking water supplies, impacts/solutions of urbanization on water resources, drought and flood management and ecological restoration of wetlands and stream corridors. For more information, go to http://www.awra.org/meetings/Baltimore2006/index.html.

Webcasts

EPA's Watershed Academy Sponsors Webcast on Integrating Wetlands into Watershed Protection Efforts

EPA's Watershed Academy sponsors monthly Webcasts to offer free for watershed practitioners around the globe. In celebration of American Wetlands Month, on Wednesday, May 17^th, Tom Schueler from the Center for Watershed Protection, Jason Naber, a natural resource specialist with Emmons & Olivier Resources and Steve Hobbs, Administrator with the Rice Creek Watershed District will discuss integrating wetlands protection into local watershed management efforts. The focus will be on wetlands located in rural, suburban and urban settings and how they are directly and indirectly impacted by land development. On April 19^th, the Academy hosted a Webcast on Opportunities for Citizen Involvement in the Clean Water Act. Audio versions of these and past Webcasts are available at: http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts.

The Next webcast, slated for June 28^th will feature Charlie MacPherson from Tetra Tech and Chris Conner from EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program, who will discuss the use of social marketing to influence behavior.

Izaak Walton League to host Stormwater Management Webcasts

Stylized picture of a tree with road in all directions and a city scape in the backgrounnd

The Izaak Walton League is hosting a series of webcasts on Alternative Practices for Highway Stormwater Management. This four-part Webcast series will outline the latest techniques available to help transportation agencies save money, comply with water quality and water supply regulations, and improve water quality with context-sensitive stormwater management practices, including low impact development techniques. Each session will include valuable background information and specific guidance on how to apply these principles for highway projects. The series will also address barriers to using innovative stormwater management techniques and how to overcome those barriers. The first webcast is May 18^th, 2006. Visit http://www.iwla.org/sos/sosweb.htm for more information and to register.

Outreach and Education

Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas' KTVT launches Envirocast

The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (TSSWCB) has been able to increase awareness for their water quality message, due in part, through a grant from the EPA's Clean Water Act Section 319 Grant Program. TSSWCB has partnered with StormCenter Communications and the North Central Texas Council of Governments to bring Envirocast to Dallas/Fort Worth's KTVT. The station has a website dedicated to weather and watershed information, including a "find your watershed" feature, current environmental news stories and a learning center with several interactive graphics. A special feature is dedicated to the 2005 hurricane season. Check out this new outreach effort at http://ktvt.iewatershed.com/.

River Network's River Rally 2006

The national River Rally conference will be held May 5^th-9^th in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. The Rally brings together hundreds of watershed and river conservation organizations from across the country to share expertise, trade experiences and celebrate achievements. Participants can choose from nearly 100 different introductory and advanced workshops, meet with Agency representatives, and hear from a variety of speakers on cutting edge topics. For more information, visit http://www.rivernetwork.org/rally.

Upcoming Conferences in 2006

NPDES Permit Writers' Training Course,
June 26^th- 30^th, 2006, Austin, TX;
August 7^th- 11^th, 2006, Davis, California;
September 18^th- 22^nd, 2006, Albany, NY and
October 23^rd- 27^th, 2006, Woodbridge, Virginia.

The objective of the course is to provide the basic regulatory framework and technical considerations that support the development of wastewater discharge permits as required under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit Program. This free course is designed for new permit writers. Contact Betty Peterson at npdescourse@tetratech-ffx.com.

6th Biennial Great Salt Lake Issues Forum: http://www.fogsl.org/
May 4^th, in Salt Lake City, Utah and the 5^th & 6^th at the James V. Hansen Wildlife Education Center at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Brigham City, Utah. The focus of the Forum is Range-wide Migratory Bird Conservation and Great Salt Lake´s Role in Linking Partnerships Within the Western Hemisphere.

5th National Monitoring Conference-Monitoring Networks: Connecting for Clean Water
May 7^th- 11^th, 2006. San José McEnery Convention Center, San José, CA. Organized by the National Water Quality Monitoring Council. http://www.tetratech-ffx.com/nwqmc06/

Community Culture and the Environment: A Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place.
May 10^th- 11^th, 2006. Edison College, Punta Gorda, FL. Organized by the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program. This two day course will provide the tools necessary to build partnerships around environmental issues, including communication, community perceptions, consensus-building and strategic partnership analysis, with a focus on the greater Charlotte Harbor Watershed. For more information, please visit www.CHNEP.org.

Mid-South Watershed Training Program: Essential Elements for Successful Watershed Planning.
May 15^th - 19^th, 2006. University of Arkansas Continuing Education Facility, Fayetteville, Arkansas. This introductory course on watershed management emphasizes the importance of public involvement and utilizing technical tools to develop science-based solutions. Topics include the watershed approach, strategies for watershed management and coordination and integrating stakeholder involvement. For more information or to register, visit http://www.watershedconservation.org/.

EPA Science Forum 2006 Your Health, Your Environment, Your Future
May 16^th to 18^th, 2006. Ronald Regan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C. The Forum will highlight the relationship between our environment and public health and the complementary roles of EPA and other Federal public health agencies. For more information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/scienceforum.

Santa Ana River's Association's River of Life Conference
Friday, May 19^th, 2006, Double Tree Orange County, Orange, CA. May 19^th will be a high energy, fun-filled, educational day for Santa Ana River advocates from crest to coast! The conference will feature Gary Patton of the Planning and Conservation League, who will kickoff the conference with a keynote address on: Two Worlds -- and the River. There will also be panel discussions on finding balance along the Santa Ana River. Learn more about the conference by visiting the web site at http://www.santaanariverwatershed.org/speakers.html

2nd National Water Quality Trading Conference Implementation at the Watershed Scale.
Pittsburgh, PA May 23^rd- 25^th, 2006. Participants will learn specifics on how to make trading happen, including options for trading program designs. A free pre-conference workshop, Learn the Basics of Water Quality Trading, is being offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 22^nd, 2006. This workshop is limited to the first 100 registrants. For more information, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/training and http://www.farmfoundation.org.

2006 New York City Watershed Science and Technical Conference
September 20^th- 21^st, 2006, Fishkill, NY. The conference will bring scientists and technical experts together with watershed stakeholders and the public, to technically inform, present research findings and technical data, exchange ideas, and present information collected to date with regard to the protection of the nation's largest unfiltered surface water supply. For more information, visit http://www.nywea.org/.

2006 Watershed Institute,
October 23^rd-26^th, 2006, Deer Creek Resort and Conference Center, Columbus, OH. The Center for Watershed Protection has designed the 2006 Watershed Institute to equip watershed professionals with the tools needed to develop comprehensive watershed plans. This intensive, interactive four-day program will focus on prioritizing funding and staff, field and desktop methods for completing watershed plans, interpreting and integrating data and practical resources to affect change in the community. For complete details, visit http://www.cwp.org/WI06/wi06info.html.

Looking for funding to implement your watershed plan? Check out EP's New funding website at http://www.epa.gov/owow/funding.html

Be sure to check our EPA's new Watershed Discussion Forum! This new on-line message board offers watershed practitioners and citizens a platform to exchange ideas, so that innovative solutions and ideas can be easily shared. Please visit http://www.epa.gov/watershedforum/ and join in! Anyone can view the discussion, but one must register to post messages.

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