Watershed News

June 2007

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) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Announces Funding for Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Transportation Projects
2) Grant for Assisting Livestock Operations
3) Delaware Estuary Watershed Grants Program
4) STORET
5) Bass Lake (WI): Phosphorus Reductions in Lake Restore Fishery
6) Watershed Academy June 21st Webcast to feature STORET-EPA's repository of water quality monitoring data
7) Water Environment Federation to host Webcast on Innovative Approaches to Watershed Management on June 14, 2007
8) 2nd Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit, June 14, 2007
9) Western State Workshop: Strengthening the Roles of Land Trusts and Local Governments in Protecting and Restoring Wetlands and Riparian Areas
10) 10th Annual Southeast Watershed Roundtable: Sustaining Our Water Infrastructure through Watershed-Based Approaches
11) Call for Abstracts: Watershed Science and Technical Conference
12) 10th Annual River Symposium and Environmental Flows Conference

Funding Opportunities

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Announces Funding for Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Transportation Projects

The FHWA's Integrating Transportation and Resource Planning to Develop Ecosystem Based Infrastructure Projects grant solicitation is open. Funded pilot projects will establish or assist in the efforts to conduct an integrated planning effort and develop ecosystem-based approaches for transportation projects as outlined in Eco-Logical: an Ecosystem Approach to Developing Infrastructure Projects. This document is available at http://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/ecological/eco_index.asp.

Applications must be submitted via grants.gov by Friday, June 22, 2007 at 5 p.m. EST. For additional information about this solicitation please visit http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=13223&mode=VIEW and click on "How to Apply."

Grant for Assisting Livestock Operations

EPA is requesting applications from organizations for an $7.9 million grant to provide technical assistance to livestock operators to prevent water discharges and reduce air emissions.

Nationally, there are an estimated 1.3 million farms holding livestock in the United States. Approximately 238,000 of these farms are considered animal feeding operations. These operations generate more than 500 million tons of animal waste annually and, as a consequence, continually face the challenge of how best to manage these wastes in a manner that minimizes adverse impacts on the environment. This project will assist livestock operations by ensuring that farmers are aware of environmental impacts from their facilities and understand how best to address them. The deadline for grant applications is July 9, 2007. For more information, visit http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=7.

Delaware Estuary Watershed Grants Program

Launched in 2003, the Delaware Estuary Watershed Grants Program (DEWGP) provides support to organizations working on a local level to protect and improve watersheds in the estuary, while building citizen-based resource stewardship. The mission of the grants program is to address the health and living resources of the three states that share the land and water of the estuary - Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Under the 2007 DEWGP grants of $20,000 to $75,000 will be awarded on a competitive basis to projects that provide for physical restoration of habitat and/or demonstrate innovative or regional approaches for improving the Delaware Estuary Watersheds. Public or nonprofit private agencies, institutions, and organizations, educational institutions, and local and state government are eligible to apply. A remote workshop for prospective applicants will be held June 27, 2007, and applications must be postmarked: July 27, 2007. For more information, visit http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Browse_All_Programs&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3796

Watershed Tool of the Month

STORET

EPA’s STOrage and RETrieval system (STORET) database contains biological, chemical, and physical data on surface and ground water collected by federal, state and local agencies, Indian Tribes, volunteer groups, academics, and others. All 50 States, territories, and jurisdictions of the U.S. are represented in the system. All field work data is keyed to the specific location at which the field work is conducted, thereby linking water quality measurements to the place they represent. STORET is web-enabled and available to the public. With a standard web browser, you can browse the system interactively or create files to be downloaded to your computer. If you want to query and download data from STORET, go to http://www.epa.gov/storet/dbtop.html. On June 21st, EPA will host a free Webcast on the use of STORET and its benefits. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts.

Spotlight: Watersheds at Work

Bass Lake (WI): Phosphorus Reductions in Lake Restore Fishery

Livestock operations and other agricultural activities contributed to nutrient overenrichment and fish kills in Bass Lake in northeastern Wisconsin, forcing it to be added to the state's 303(d) list of impaired waters. The Marinette County Land and Water Conservation Department (LWCD) led an effort to reduce polluted runoff by installing state-of-the-art barnyard control practices combined with other in-lake treatment techniques that reduced phosphorus levels in the lake. The Bass Lake restoration project achieved total maximum daily load (TMDL) targets by reducing the average phosphorus concentrations from 490 µg/L to 10 µg/L, and the lake will be removed from the state's 303(d) list in the next listing cycle. For more information about this success story, visit http://www.epa.gov/owow/nps/Success319/state/wi_bass.htm.

Webcasts

Watershed Academy June 21st Webcast to feature STORET—EPA’s repository of water quality monitoring data

On May 23, 2007, EPA’s Watershed Academy sponsored a Webcast on ”Long-Term Stewardship of Wetland Mitigation Sites” featuring Palmer Hough from US EPA’s Wetlands Division, Jessica Wilkinson from the Environmental Law Institute, and Deborah Rogers with the Center for Natural Lands Management. The Webcast covered the basics of the Clean Water Act Section 404 program and compensatory mitigation. Speakers also covered potential stewardship opportunities in mitigation. The seminar attracted more than 266 participants from 36 states and D.C. The archived version of the Webcast is now posted at http://www.cluin.org/live/archive.cfm. On June 21st, the Academy will host a Webcast on EPA’s water quality data STOrage and RETrieval (STORET) system. Speakers will provide an overview of the STORET program and discuss the importance of data management to watershed protection. They will provide a quick primer on how to access data from the STORET system and use that data to characterize a watershed. Future developments in STORET – in particular, those relevant to watershed organizations – will also be discussed. For more information or to access archived audio versions of past Webcasts, please visit http://www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts

Water Environment Federation to host Webcast on Innovative Approaches to Watershed Management on June 14, 2007

The Water Environment Federation (WEF) will host a free webcast entitled Case Studies: Innovative Approaches to Watershed Management. Learn from your peers how watershed-based approaches can promote sustainability in your utility, your municipality and the environment; increase your return on dollars spent, and address more regulatory issues with more efficient actions. An interactive panel discussion with the speakers will include time for audience questions. The registration deadline is June 7th.

For more information and to register, visit the WEF website at http://www.wef.org/ConferencesTraining/TrainingProfessionalDevelopment/Webcasts/WatershedMgmtCaseStudies.htm.

Outreach and Education

2nd Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit, June 14, 2007

On June 14th, the Alice Ferguson Foundation will present the 2nd Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit. The Summit will be held at The World Bank in Washington, DC. The registration fee is $50 and includes lunch and morning and afternoon snack breaks. Registration information can be found at http://www.TrashFreePotomac.org.

For more information on the 2007 Potomac Watershed Trash Summit, including sponsorships, exhibiting, or registration, please contact:

Penny Weaver, Alice Ferguson Foundation
E-mail: TrashSummit@fergusonfoundation.org

Upcoming Conferences and Workshops

Western State Workshop: Strengthening the Roles of Land Trusts and Local Governments in Protecting and Restoring Wetlands and Riparian Areas

June 3-6, 2007, Treasure Mountain Inn, Park City, Utah. This workshop, let by the Association of State Wetland Mangers, Sponsors and cooperating parties, will be for technical and semi-technical staff of land trusts, local governments, state agencies, and federal agencies. IT will present “how to” information concerning the protection and restoration of wetlands and riparian areas. For more information,
http://www.aswm.org/calendar/lt&lg/lt&lg2.htm.

10th Annual Southeast Watershed Roundtable: Sustaining Our Water Infrastructure through Watershed-Based Approaches

August 1-3, 2007, Braselton, Georgia. Presenters from around the Southeast and beyond will showcase communities, utilities and industries blending innovative strategies for water supply, waste-water and watershed management, based on the EPA´s Four Pillars of Sustainable Water Infrastructure:

Better Management;
Full Cost Pricing;
Water Efficiency;
and Watershed Approach.

For more information, visit http://www.southeastwaterforum.org /index.asp.

Call for Abstracts: Watershed Science and Technical Conference

“Clean Water Through Protection and Partnership” September 11 &12, 2007 Hotel Thayer, West Point, New York. For more information, visit: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lgss/pdfs/2007callforabstracts.pdf.

10th Annual River Symposium and Environmental Flows Conference

September 3-6, 2007, Brisbane, Australia. This year's symposium will focus on the emerging field of river management and Environmental Flows. The program will feature presentations on innovative practices and case studies from all over the world and a wide range of perspectives on managing river flows for people and ecosystem health. For more information or to register, visit http://www.riversymposium.com.

Be sure to check out these two new exciting Watershed Tools!

Watershed Plan Builder
http://www.epa.gov/watershedplanning

Nonpoint Source Outreach Toolbox
http://epa.gov/nps/toolbox

Be sure to check EPA and Watershed Funding Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/funding.html

To subscribe to Watershed News, simply send a blank e-mail to:
watershed-news-subscribe@lists.epa.gov

Mention of any commercial enterprise, product, or publication does not constitute endorsement by EPA. Also, EPA does not endorse any group´s policies, activities or positions on any federal, state or local legislation.

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