WREN Briefs
|
Drinking Water Protection Workshops
Ridgeway, Elk County
June 21
for system operators and interested citizens
*****
June 22
for planners, municipal officials and interested citizens
more info at
www.sourcewaterpa.org |
|
AWWA wants Drinking Water Protected from Frac Operations
| | Read AWWA letter to EPA re their Hydraulic Fracturing Study |
Common Waters Fund - Upper Delaware Forest Mangement Program
| The Pinchot Institute has received 52 applications for the first round of CWF funding. The application deadline for the first round of funding was May 2, 2011. There are 38 forest stewardship applications (32 for new plans and 6 for plan updates) and 14 forest management practices applications. Awards will be announced in June. The deadline for the next round of funding is August 1, 2011.
Contact Monroe, Pike or Wayne Conservation Districts for more information.
|
|
More on Common Waters
| 
|
| National Park Service Trails Assistance | The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program is the community assistance arm of the National Park Service. RTCA supports community-led conservation and outdoor recreation projects.
Deadline for applications is August 1. Find out more.
|
|
Gas Leases on
Watershed Lands
|
Charlie Abdalla, professor of ag and environmental economics, College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, will be investigating gas leasing on public water supply watershed lands, what lands have been leased and the decision process leading to leasing. Dr. Abdalla is seeking information on current and proposed leases.
|
River Sojourns
|
June is Rivers Month.
A River sojourn calendar has been posted on the POWR website
|
|
Join Our List
|  |
|
|
|
WREN AWARDS $71, 723 TO 15 LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS
| |
 1 - Blair County - Bellwood-Antis School District - Beyond the Schoolhouse2 - Cambria County- Conservation District - Potential Watershed Impacts from Marcellus Shale Development 3 - Chester and Delaware counties - Chester Ridley Crum Watersheds Association - Stormwater Basin Naturalization Outreach and Demonstration 4 - Crawford County, Conservation District - Crawford County Rain Barrel Rebate Program 5 - Dauphin County - Conservation District - Spring Creek Riparian Buffer Project6 - Lawrence County, Conservation District- Stormwater BMP Education and Outreach7 - Philadelphia County- Queen Village Neighborhood Association - Dog Waste Remediation and Water Resource Awareness8 - S chuylkill County - Schuylkill Headwaters Association - "Art of Rain" Rain Barrel Workshop/Art Contest 9 - Somerset County- Shade Creek Watershed Association- Reitz #1 Interpretive Trail of Mine Discharge Water and Wetlands 10- Multiple SEPA counties - Partnership for the Delaware Estuary- Commercial Guide for Stormwater Management 11 - Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, Green Treks Network- Students Create Stormwater BMP's: Education in Action12 - Allegheny County - River Alert Information Network (RAIN) - From the River to the Tap: What you can do to Keep it Clean13 - Potter County- Conservation District - Potter County Public Water Supply Protection & Awareness14 - Columbia and Luzerne counties - Susquehanna Greenway Partnership/SEDA Cog Community Resource Center - Source Water Protection Education for Susquehanna Greenway River Towns15 - Tioga County - Conservation District- Tioga County Source Water Protection Education Project |
|
LESSONS LEARNED IS FOCUS OF WREN MEETING IN JUNE
|
| | Participants keep telling WREN that sharing and networking is the highlight of the annual meeting of WREN Project Leaders. WREN's own variation of Speed Dating, Speed Learning, allows new grantees the opportunity to hear from many experienced project leaders about what worked, and what didn't. We'll also work with Eric Eckl on what works for getting the word out - how do we communicate beyond the choir - with his newly expanded Water Words the Work program.
The WREN annual meeting is designed to bring together community groups and water suppliers to share experiences in watershed education and learn about resources available to improve their local projects. Select representatives of public water suppliers working on Source Water Protection efforts will also attend.
The June 14-15 meeting will be held this year at Dickinson College in Carlisle.The meeting is by invitation only, for recipients of WREN grants and water systems in DEP's SWPTAP program. Be sure to reserve your spot with Kathleen Porter. |
|
WREN OFFERS TWO FREE WORKSHOPS IN JUNE
|
| |
Learn what You Can Do To Protect Drinking Water
Communities undergoing natural gas development have expressed a keen interest in protecting the purity of public water supplies. To help communities, planners, and public water systems learn more about available tools and management options to protect drinking water now and for future generations, WREN and PA DEP are bringing a pair of free workshops to Ridgway, Elk County, on June 21st and June 22nd at the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning & Development Commission facilities.
On June 21st , the "Protecting Public Drinking Water: Source Water Protection Solutions" Workshop will cover the basics of source water protection, outline roles and responsibilities, and introduce tools like DEP's Source Water Protection Technical Assistance Program and PA Rural Water's assistance program that provide protection plans that focus on prevention, before contamination happens. WREN's Julie Kollar, and Mark Stephens, P.G. at DEP North Central Region will present. The workshop will run from 1 pm - 4:45 pm and is approved by DEP for 3.5 contact hours for water operators.
On June 22nd, WREN will offer "Source Water Protection through Planning & Leadership," featuring advanced source water protection training with a "train the trainer" workshop for planners, local governments, water systems, and interested citizens who want to learn more about source water protection strategies. WREN's Julie Kollar and DEP's Mark Stephens will be joined by PMPEI-certified planning instructor D. Jeffrey Pierce, Director of Community Planning at Olsen and Associates, LLC who will present "Planning Tools for Municipalities, along with Professor Ross H. Pifer, Director, Agricultural Law and Reference Center, Penn State Law who will present "State Pre-Emption of a Municipality's Authority to Regulate Oil and Gas Operations." Mark Szybist, Staff Attorney at PennFuture will wrap up with a session covering "What Municipalities Can Do Now." The workshop will be conducted from 10 am - 2:15 pm, also at the North Central PA Regional Planning & development Commission in Ridgeway.
To learn more, download a flyer and register online, go to www.sourcewaterpa.org
|
WREN AND FRIENDS RECYCLE RAIN IN STYLE
| | |
Manayunk Project a Success
 Conservation and creativity joined forces on Main Street in Manayunk, PA for the Art on a Rain Barrel Design Contest. The Friends of the Manyunk Canal , a not-for-profit group dedicated to the preservation of the Philadelphia waterway, collected submissions from local artists to promote their Art of Recycling Rain program. The finished barrels were displayed in full working order during the EcoArts Festival on September 26, 2010 for a community vote with prizes for the winners.
The real prize for Manayunk is that the barrels are still in use at local community centers, schools, and businesses. The eye-catching barrels don't just collect rainwater, they continue to promote and educate about water conservation and pollution, pulling people to Do-It-Yourself Rain Barrel Workshops. These Art of Recycling Rain workshops (funded by WREN) distributed over 90 affordable, 100% recycled rain barrels to participants, along with the know-how to install and use them properly. Artwork was not included - but anyone can find some inspiration and create a backyard work of art and conservation!
Friends of the Manayunk Canal can be found at http://www.manayunkcanal.org for more information on their workshops and other events. The rain barrels used in the contest and workshops were supplied by http://www.upcycleproducts.com.
|
|
PENNVEST APPLICATION HELP AVAILABLE
|
| Conservation Districts, Municipalities, Non-Profits get help
The PENNVEST Nonpoint Source Pollution (NPS) Program application process is complex and time-consuming and has stymied applicants not familiar with the process. Through a grant to PACD, Paul Herzer has been hired in their Harrisburg office to help applicants for NPS grants or loans for urban stormwater, agriculture, brownfield or acid mine drainage projects. Paul's services are available at no cost. Contact him if you have questions and need guidance on submitting PENNVEST applications. Now is the time to start planning projects for the next round of applications in late summer/early fall. Paul can be reached at paul-herzer@pacd.org or 717-712-6996. For more information on Pennvest programs, visit http://www.pennvest.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennvest_internet/9242 |
|
Plumbing Codes and Stormwater BMP's Conflict
| |
PA Environmental Council's Downspout Disconnect project in Allegheny County has pointed out a conflict between the state Uniform Construction Code and many municipal stormwater ordinances. Depending on local interpretation, the UCC may prohibit use of rain barrels as a stormwater Best Management Practice. Read Project Director Janie French's analysis of the conflict.
Can you do this in your community? |
|
Nature Conservancy and Bethlehem Authority Protect 22,000 Acres
| |  Working Woodlands protect drinking water source Bethlehem, PA's drinking water comes from large forested tracts in the Pocono Mountains in Northeast PA. In the largest private conservation deal in Pennsylvania history, the Bethlehem Authority agreed to join the Nature Conservancy's Working Woodlands program, which provides forest landowners with a rigorous analysis of their property and access to forest certification and carbon markets, in exchange for a commitment to practice sustainable forestry. Clean drinking water, wildlife, recreation, and Pennsylvania's forest products industry will all benefit. Read more ... |
|
| Water Policy News is published three times a year by the Water Resources Education Network, a project of the League of Women Voters of PA - Citizen Education Fund. Please send your water education related programs and activities to WREN Communications Director.
|
|
|
