Feature of the Week
For the Week of September 15, 2002

WPC Co-hosts the 2002 Pennsylvania Watersheds Conference

The third annual Pennsylvania Watersheds Conference is coming to the Ohio River watershed this year and Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is proud to co-host the state's largest conference dedicated solely to watershed issues. The 2002 conference will be held September 20-21 at the Sheraton Four Points in Greensburg, Pa. The event kicks off the evening of September 19 with a riverboat tour of the Ohio River on the Gateway Party Liner. Members of the Army Corps of Engineers will offer insight on the river's new lock system and historians will walk through the audience providing nuggets of fascinating information along the journey.

This year's theme is, A Winning Combination: Success, Stewardship & Sustainability.

Success breakout sessions include:
· Media and Web design
· Initiatives, such as Natural Heritage Inventory and PA Cleanways
· Working with and building partners, working with industry, diversity
· Water collection and how to sample, as well as sharing data
· Subcontracting for erosion control and acquiring permits for streams and dams

Stewardship sessions offer:
· Agriculture issues such as streambank fencing and rotational grazing
· Wetlands and its financial value and value to watersheds
· Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) resource recovery and flushing systems
· The new storm water policy and new technology
· Invasive plant control and invasive species in lakes

Sustainability sessions examine:
· Youth involvement, Outreach programs and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Watershed Education Program
· New Groups: Legal issues, setting up an organization and creating motivation for new projects
· Existing Groups: Urban Sprawl, Leadership and Fiscal Accountability
· Land Use Issues: sustainable development, emergency management and easements
· Clean Water issues: Combined sewage overflows, source water protectors and groundwater quality vs. quantity

Other key partners in planning the conference include the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation and the Westmoreland County Conservation District.

If you would like more information on the conference please contact Candy Gordon at the WPC Watershed Assistance Center at 724-329-0531 or e-mail Candy at cgordon@paconserve.org.

Archive:

Feature of the Week 8-26-02: WPC President Larry J. Schweiger Addresses The Ecology of the West Nile Virus