The DNREC Watershed Assessment Section held its third annual Statewide Tributary Action Teams Conference on Saturday, March 12, 2005 at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. The all-day event featured Tributary Action Team updates, a keynote speaker, a variety of speakers and presentations on watershed-related topics and a presentation about the Pollution Control Strategy formation process. A continental breakfast, a large buffet lunch and several static poster presentations, for which several organizations and agencies provided displays and educational materials, rounded out the day.
The day began with opening remarks by Scott Koenig, the Director of Public Works for the City of Dover. Representatives from the Inland Bays, Nanticoke and Murderkill TATs and the Appoquinimink River Association gave updates on the progress their respective groups have made over the last year and highlighted projects and activities taking place in their watersheds.
Following the TAT updates, conference participants heard presentations centered on “Educating the Public on Nonpoint Source Pollution,” which consisted of three brief, highly informative presentations:
- Sara Wozniak of the Appoquinimink River Association discussed the results of the Delaware Survey of Nonpoint Source Educational Materials.
- Kim Cole and Crystal Nagyiski, with DNREC, described the Delaware Coastal Programs’ Coast-A-Syst program.
- Jen Gochenaur from the Delaware Nature Society described their “Smartyards Backyard Habitat” program.
The keynote speaker was Lois Gibbs, who became well known for her activism in Love Canal, New York in the late 1970s. She later founded the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in Washington, DC. Lois gave a very energetic talk on getting people at the grassroots level involved in influencing environmental policy-making decisions. For more information about her organization, you can visit the Center for Health, Environment and Justice website.
Attendees then enjoyed a large buffet lunch, and some took time during the break to take a walking tour of historic downtown Dover, including the Governor’s Mansion, guided by Elaine Brenchly of the DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation. Others used the opportunity to network or to peruse the array of posters on display from DelDOT, Delaware Nature Society, Center for Inland Bays, Appoquinimink River Association, several from the Department of Agriculture, and severalt other DNREC branches.
After lunch, the group returned to work. The first afternoon session consisted of a round-robin format of short presentations with displays. Participants were divided into four groups, and each group moved through the seven presentations in the 90-minute period. This gave everyone a focused look at several watershed topics in a short period of time. Presentations included Impervious Cover Trends, Riparian Landowners’ Beliefs about Buffers, Strategies for State Policies and Spending, Green Infrastructure, Green Technology in Stormwater BMPs, Advanced Residential Septic Units and Transferable Development Rights.
In the final session, Kathy Bunting-Howarth gave a presentation describing the process of creating the Pollution Control Strategies. She outlined the various steps from the formation of the Tributary Action Teams in the watersheds, the interaction between the Teams and DNREC as the recommendations are refined, the final goal of public workshops, public hearings and the promulgation of the strategies as regulations.
Despite being under the weather, Kevin Donnelly, the Director of the DNREC Division of Water Resources, attended the conference to give the closing remarks. Kevin thanked the audience for attending and thanked the TAT members in attendance for their time and efforts in the Pollution Control Strategy process to date. He emphasized the importance of the citizens’ involvement in the process of designing strategies that were as acceptable as possible for all stakeholders, rather than simply having DNREC solely design regulations without citizen input. Kevin also encouraged everyone to continue their diligence in working for water quality improvements in our rivers and bays in every way possible.
Conference participants were asked to complete an evaluation form at the end of the conference. Most comments were very favorable, and people seemed to enjoy the format and the opportunity to concentrate on the information presented in the various topics. The afternoon round-robin presentation session was very well received, although the room was'nt large enough to avoid overhearing neighboring groups. We'll change that if we use the same format in future conferences.
We invite you to download and review the presentations that were so much a part of this year's conference:
Appoquinimink River Association — Protecting a Piece of Paradise
2.8 MB Adobe Acrobat version
2.2 MB Macromedia FlashPaper version
Delaware Coast-A-Syst — Environmental Stewardship for Homeowners
Delaware Nature Society — Smartyards & Backyard Habitats
Delaware Nonpoint Educational Materials Survey
Inland Bays Team Update
The Watershed Assessment Section wishes to thank all that attended, and we look forward to another successful conference next year!
