News and Events (Announcements)

Announcements for August 25, 2009:

1. River and Beach Clean Up Events -- September 1 - October 31, 2009
2. 2009 SESWA Annual Conference --  September 30 - October 2, 2009
3. 2009 Chesapeake Watershed Forum --October 9 - 11, 2009
4. Virginia Water Research Conference -- October 15-16, 2009
5. 2010 AWRA Spring Specialty Conference: GIS & Water Resources VI -- March 29-31, 2010
6. National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI)
7. USGS Study Results Released on Mercury Contamination
8. Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)
9. Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Website
10. Website -- GoodGuide
    
    Please feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the Virginia Water Monitoring Council. Special thank you to Ashley Allison, VWMC intern, for her help in pulling together these announcements.
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1. River and Beach Clean Up Events

September 1 - October 31, 2009 Clean Virginia Waterways is signing up Site Captains to lead river, stream, and beach clean ups, all across Virginia as part of the Annual Virginia Waterways Clean Up. For more information, visit http://www.longwood.edu/cleanva/iccva.htm. This statewide event involves thousands of volunteers, and is part of a worldwide effort to clean our oceans – the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. This annual statewide volunteer event is planned by Clean Virginia Waterways, a program affiliated with Longwood University. For more information, visit the CVW web site: www.longwood.edu/cleanva or contact CVW at 434-395-2602 or cleanva@longwood.edu
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2. 2009 SESWA Annual Conference

September 30 - October 2, 2009 -- Augusta Marriot Hotel and Suites, Augusta, GA -- The 2009 Southeast Stormwater Association's Annual Conference & Exhibits will be entitles Coping with Change, Balancing Environmental Needs with Economic Realities. Focuses on ways to help jurisdictions comply with the Clean Water Act and improve water quality during times of fiscal constraints. Registration includes training materials, continuing education units, most meals and opportunities to network. For more information, visit SESWA’s website at: http://www.seswa.org/
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3. 2009 Chesapeake Watershed Forum

October 9 - 11, 2009 -- National Conservation Training Center, Shepherdstown, WV -- An annual conference for watershed organizations and local government officials from around the multi-state Chesapeake Bay region that provides an opportunity to learn the latest scientific techniques in Bay restoration and protection, address specific organizational capacity building needs, focus on regional and watershed-wide needs, network with other watershed organizations, and enjoy the beauty of the watershed. Also offering two pre-forum workshops -- Workshop 1: Climate Change; Workshop 2: Biological Monitoring. Registration.

Registration is now open. Registration fee for the conference is $175.00 (prior to September 8, 2009). Registration closes on September 18, 2009 unless the conference sells out prior to that date. Workshop fee alone is $85.00 for each. Any additional costs will be noted on the registration form. Please look over the forum agenda and read the privacy policy posted on this website before registering. Forum registration link - Chesapeake Watershed Forum 2009. For more information contact: Lou Etgen letgen@acb-online.org -- (410) 377-6270.
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4. Virginia Water Research Conference

October 15-16, 2009 -- Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va -- Conference Theme: Water Resources in Changing Climates -- Join Preston Bryant, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources; Virginia Burkett, Chief Scientist for Global Change Research at the USGS, and others in exploring the issues associated with climate change and likely impacts on Virginia's water resources. Oral and poster presentations will include science, policy, and socio-economic issues associated with understanding and managing water resources: stormwater management, nutrients and other water quality topics; water supply, planning and conservation; monitoring and modeling. Registration is now open. See http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/2009conference.html for more information and to register for this conference. Contact Jane Walker at janewalk@vt.edu or 540-231-4159 for more information.
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5. 2010 AWRA Spring Specialty Conference: GIS & Water Resources VI

March 29-31, 2010 -- Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel, Orlando, FL -- The organizing Committee invites you to share your experiences and knowledge with an oral presentation or a poster at the conference and in a virtual gallery in the conference proceedings. If you are interested in putting together a special session or panel for the conference, please first contact Francisco "Paco" Olivera at folivera@civil.tamu.edu, the Conference Technical Program Chair, to discuss the idea prior to submitting your abstract(s). Abstract Submittal Deadline is October 9, 2009. For more information, see http://www.awra.org/meetings/Florida2010/index.html
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6. National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI)

NEMI is a clearinghouse of environmental monitoring methods. The NEMI database contains method summaries of lab and field protocols for regulatory and non-regulatory water quality analyses. It is searchable over the World Wide Web, providing up-to-date methods and information through the Internet. NEMI is a project of the National Methods and Data Comparability Board, a partnership of water-quality experts from Federal agencies, States, Tribes, municipalities, industry, and private organizations. The Board, and its parent organization the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (NWQMC) are committees under the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI).
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7. USGS Study Results Released on Mercury Contamination

The report, along with a press release, podcast, and summary of major findings can be accessed at http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/mercury. The study looked at mercury contamination in fish, bed sediment, and water from 291 streams across the nation, sampled from 1998 to 2005. Scientists detected mercury contamination in every fish sampled in every stream. About a quarter of these fish were found to contain mercury at levels exceeding the criterion for the protection of people who consume average amounts of fish, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). More than two-thirds of the fish exceeded the EPA level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

Atmospheric mercury is the main source to most of these streams — coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury emissions in the United States — but 59 of the streams also were potentially affected by gold and mercury mining. Since USGS studies targeted specific sites and fish species, the findings may not be representative of mercury levels in all types of freshwater environments across the United States. For more information, contact Barbara Scudder, bscudder@usgs.gov, (608) 821-3832 or Mark Brigham, mbrigham@usgs.gov , (763) 783-3274.
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8. Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS)

http://www.cocorahs.org/ -- This non-profit, community-based network of volunteers measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). The network originated with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University in 1998 and has expanded to over 12,000+ observers in thirty-nine states. The Virginia page is at http://www.cocorahs.org/State.aspx?state=VA . People interested in signing up as monitors can do so at the national home page or by contacting regional coordinators, which are listed on the website.
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9. Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Website

This website will serve as the clearinghouse for all Executive Order information, including news, documents and events from the various federal agencies working on new approaches to cleaning up the nation’s largest estuary. The public can also provide feedback on the website and use online tools to track Executive Order activities. The website address is http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net. The public is also encouraged to track Executive Order developments by utilizing the RSS feed, Twitter updates and Facebook page. Video and photos will be available on the YouTube and Flickr channels. Access to these tools can be found under the Stay Connected section at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net

EXECUTIVE ORDER BACKGROUND -- On May 12, 2009, President Obama signed an Executive Order that recognizes the Chesapeake Bay as a national treasure and calls on the federal government to lead a renewed effort to restore and protect the nation’s largest estuary and its watershed.

By November 9, 2009 the Federal Leadership Committee will develop a draft strategy for restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay. This draft strategy will be available for public comment and a final strategy will be completed by May 12, 2010. Beginning in 2010, the Federal Leadership Committee will publish an annual Chesapeake Bay Action Plan that describes how federal funding will be put toward Bay restoration in the upcoming year. It will be accompanied by an Annual Progress Report that reviews current environmental conditions and assesses implementation of the strategy. An independent evaluator will also periodically report on progress toward meeting the goals of the Executive Order. For more information, contact Travis Loop, Director of Communications, Chesapeake Bay Program, 410 Severn Avenue Suite 100, Annapolis, Maryland 21403, phone: 410.267.5758, www.chesapeakebay.net
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10. Website -- GoodGuide

www.goodguide.com -- Provides information on the health, environmental, and social impacts of the products in your home. Environmental performance data are aggregated on the life-cycle impacts of products, including manufacturing, transportation, use, and final disposal. Environmental impact categories address emission impacts on air, water, land, and climate; natural resource impacts; environmental management programs; and proactive environmental initiatives. GoodGuide uses these categories to generate overall environmental performance ratings for companies. Users of the site can: (1) Find food, toys, personal care, & household products; (2) Learn about these products; (3) Learn the impacts of what you buy; (4) Make purchasing decisions based on what’s important to you; and (5) Create a personalized favorites list.
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Information provided to the members of the Virginia Water Monitoring Council

To learn more about the Council, please browse the rest of our website or contact Jane Walker at the address below. If you have any water-monitoring related news of regional or statewide interest, send it to Jane Walker and ask that it be distributed to VWMC membership. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the VWMC to support these information updates and other VWMC activities. Make checks payable to: “The Virginia Tech Foundation” and on the memo portion of the check include “Fund #872802.” Mail contributions to Jane Walker, VWMC administrator, at the address below.

Jane Walker
Research Associate
Virginia Water Resources Research Center
210 Cheatham Hall (0444)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA 24061

Phone: 540-231-4159
Fax: 540-231-6673
Email: janewalk@vt.edu
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