ASSESSING THE STATUS OF
WATERSHED PROGRAMS IN
PENNSYLVANIA
Julie Vastine and Claire Jordy
Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM)
March 5, 2017
Pennsylvania Watershed Conference
AGENDA
1.
ALLARM and audience introduction
2.
History of the watershed field in PA
3.
Project scope
4.
Group activity: we want to hear from you!
5.
Initial findings
6.
Wrap up
WHO IS ALLARM?
•
Full time staff and 16 Dickinson College students
•
Founded in 1986 to “empower communities with scientific tools to understand the
health of their streams and participate in local decision making”
•
40% supported by the college, 60% funded by federal, state, family foundation
grants
WHO ARE YOU?
•
Name
•
Organization
•
Position
HISTORY OF WATERSHED FIELD STUDY
•
Goals: “to understand how and why watershed
organizations form; understand the roles watershed
groups play in developing and implementing rural and
environmental policy; and develop typologies of
organizations and assess the relative effectiveness of
these organizational types” (p. 7)
•
Outcomes:
•
•
Profile of a typical PA watershed organization
Role of watershed organizations
CONTEXT OF PROJECT
•
Desire to understand the current status of watershed movement – examine field
from 2005-2015
•
Need for data to understand the capacity of local watershed organizations to be
a tool for increased education, outreach, restoration, and policy efforts
•
Need to assess what additional support these groups need to enhance
effectiveness
Project Partners
•
Foundation for PA Watersheds
•
Dr. Kathy Brasier, Penn State
•
Dr. Heather Bedi, Dickinson College
•
ALLARM
Dickinson College,
Department of Environmental Studies
WATERSHED ASSESSMENT GRANT
•
Process:
•
•
•
Conduct research with key informants in the field to inform history of the movement in
the state
Initial phase of interviewing, collecting data
Outcome:
•
•
Comprehensive watershed organization list
Summary of watershed history from 2005-2015
GROUP CONVERSATION
What are your experiences in the past 10 years?
Disclaimer: We would like to use your information as data for this project. It will not be recorded.
INITIAL FINDINGS
TYPES OF GROUPS
PAST WATER QUALITY ISSUES
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Funding
http://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/woodentile/images/funding.jpg
Community
Environment
LIMITATIONS
Group dynamics
Funding
Community Resources
INFLUENTIAL PROGRAMS/RESOURCES
Highest distribution
of 319 Funding
($238.5 million), 2003
Growing Greener
Grant 1, 1999
POWR is
created,
1993
1996
DCNR splits
from DEP, 1995
ALLARM
founded, 1986
Delaware
Riverkeeper
Network
established,
1988
1998
Senior
Environmental
Corps created,
1997
PA CVMP
created, 1996
2000
2002
2004
Growing
Greener Grant
2, 2005 (total
of $645 million
allocated)
2006
FUNDING
2008
2010
C-SAW is created,
2001
PennFuture
created, 1998
POWR merges with
PEC, 2008
PA CVMP ends,
2009
2012
2014
2016
Executive Order 13508:
Chesapeake Bay Action Plan,
2012
MS4 Phase 2, 1999
RESOURCES & POLICY
PennVest
founded, 1988
Important Lesson: state and federal administration is very important to daily work of these organizations
FUTURE WATER QUALITY ISSUES
ROLE OF WATERSHED GROUPS IN
FUTURE ISSUES
Education
Science
Policy
WHAT DO GROUPS NEED TO BE
SUCCESSFUL?
WRAP UP
• How do these initial findings relate to your experiences?
Stay tuned for the final report!
QUESTIONS?
Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM)
[email protected]
www.dickinson.edu/allarm
http://allarmwater.org/