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Announcements for October 3, 2009:
- Woltz Symposium 2009: Adaptive Infrastructure
- Drinking Water Perchlorate: EPA’s Supplemental Request for Comments -- open until October 8, 2009
- Water Quality Management Planning (9 VAC 25-720) -- Public comment period ends October 9, 2009
- Green Living Conference and Workshops for Homeowners, HOAs, Property Managers and Concerned Citizens -- October 13, 2009
- Free Webinar: Engineered Rainwater Collection and Case Studies for Sustainable Water Management -- October 27, 2009
- Low Impact Development (LID) Design Competition -- Registration closes October 31, 2009. Entries due: December 14, 2009
- James River Association (JRA): Annual Meeting -- November 8, 2009
- Kathryn Fuller Science for Nature Symposium -- November 3-4, 2009
- EPA Releases Draft WaterSense Specification for Showerheads -- Comments due November 9, 2009
- Federal Agencies Release Draft Reports Required by Chesapeake Bay Executive Order
Please feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the Virginia Water Monitoring Council. Welcome and special thanks to Thanh Luu, VWMC Intern, for her assistance in pulling together these announcements..
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1. Woltz Symposium 2009: Adaptive Infrastructure
October 8-10, 2009 -- Campbell Hall, UVA -- Charlottesville, VA – NO FEE for attendance, no registration required. Event will be focusing on infrastructure issues—on coastal cities primarily—but also for cities on rivers or cities with groundwater resource problems. Issues like climate change, in terms of coastal flooding caused by sea level rise, and rain-driven flooding will also be addressed. The speakers will describe cases from cities where steps are being taken to adapt infrastructure to new performance goals related to climate change - London, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Beijing, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Organized by University of Virginia School of Architecture -- Logistical questions may be directed to Carolyn Esau, staff, at cre8s@virginia.edu.
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2. Perchlorate Drinking Water: EPA Supplemental Request for Comments
Open until October 8, 2009 -- In an August 19, 2009 Federal Register notice, EPA announced that it was seeking comments on additional approaches to analyzing data related to the Agency's preliminary regulatory determination for perchlorate. The additional comments are sought in an effort to ensure consideration of all the potential options for evaluating whether there is a meaningful opportunity for human health risk reduction of perchlorate through a national primary drinking water rule. In response to requests from several stakeholders, EPA reopened the public comment period for an additional 15 days. EPA must receive the comments on or before October 8, 2009. More informationhere.
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3. Water Quality Management Planning (9 VAC 25-720)
Public comment period ends October 9, 2009 -- A Notice of Intended Regulatory Action on this regulation was published in the 8/31/09 Virginia Register. According to the Regulatory Town Hall notice (more): “The intent and subject of this rulemaking is to include the concept of regulating flow or other qualities of a point source that cause or contribute to pollutants or pollution downstream of point sources. The DEQ proposes to initiate a limited regulatory action to amend existing definitions or adding new definitions to clearly state the State Water Control Board (SWCB) purpose to correct or reduce the alteration of the physical, chemical, or biological properties of any state waters due to flow caused by excessive stormwater runoff. The Board is using a panel to develop a proposal. The primary function of a panel is to develop recommended regulation amendments for DEQ consideration through the collaborative approach of regulatory negotiation and consensus. Persons interested in assisting in the development of a proposal should notify the department contact person by the end of the comment period and provide their name, address, phone number, email address, and their organization (if any). Multi-applications from a single company, organization, group, or other entity count as one for purposes of making the decision specified in the preceding sentence.” Contact person: Arthur Butt at arthur.butt@deq.virginia.gov.
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4. Green Living Conference and Workshops for Homeowners, HOAs, Property Managers and Concerned Citizens
October 13, 2009 (9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.) -- Fairfax County Government Center, Fairfax, VA, a conference to highlight methods of sustainable property care that protect our local streams, rivers and watersheds. Topics covered will include environmental landscaping, low impact stormwater management and the benefits of reforestation and native plants. The keynote speaker will be Susan Piedmont-Palladino, curator of the National Building Museum. Hosted by The Fairfax County Restoration Project—a public private partnership between county government, environmental non-profits, and private business. To register, please visit www.fcrpp3.org.
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5. Webinar: Engineered Rainwater Collection and Case Studies for Sustainable Water Management
October 27, 2009 (noon – 1:30 p.m.) (Arrive by 11:40 a.m.) -- Albemarle County Office Building (Lane Auditorium) – 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville VA -- This webinar will examine case studies to illustrate system components, design, analysis, and operation. Case studies include residential, commercial, and park/public systems. Participants receive insight into designing rainwater collection systems for commercial, residential, and public lands/parks projects. This seminar focuses on practical applications of rainwater harvesting and case studies of systems that are "on the ground". Site layout, selection, and system sizing is also covered and recommendations for maximizing long-term system effectiveness are included.
Seminar Instructor: Jennifer J. Walker, P.E., D.WRE, CFM, is one of the first 500 engineers to receive the Diplomate, Water Resources Engineer certification (D.WRE) from the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. She is Founder and President of Watearth, Inc. Webinar conducted by the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE); co-sponsored by the Rivanna River Basin Commission, Thomas Jefferson SWCD, and Albemarle County. It's FREE, but PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Earn 1.5 Professional Development Hours (1.5 PDHs). Please email Alyson Sappington at Alyson.Sappington@vaswcd.org and provide: your name, affiliation, return email address, phone number, if you require PDHs. A confirmation email will be sent to you. Please arrive by 11:40 a.m. to register and to ensure everyone is seated before the start of the live webinar.
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6. Low Impact Development (LID) Design Competition
Registration closes October 31, 2009. Entries must be submitted by December 14, 2009 Competition separated into three categories (each with a $15,000 prize for the winner):
A) Suburban Residential: based on a master planned community property.
B) Urban Redevelopment: a six block long urban promenade centerpiece for a City of Houston project.
C) Green Roadway: a stretch of Harris County, Texas roadway that it’s hoped will represent a new ‘green’ roadway section standard for roads being expanded from two lanes with roadside ditches, to four lanes and a median, in the County.
Organized by Houston Land/Water Sustainability Forum, competition cumulates in a Final Event on January 27, 1010. Teams from all over the country are welcome; $250 registration fee/team; go to www.houstonlwsforum.org to register and learn more about competition.
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7. James River Association (JRA): Annual Meeting
November 8, 2009 -- Willow Oaks Country Club, Richmond, Virginia. The finalist for the school age and professional “James and Me” Video Contest will be debuted at this year's event. Invitations will be mailed soon. If you have any questions or would like ticket information please contact Sherrie Tribble at stribble@jrava.org or (804)788-8811 ext 202.
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8. 2009 Kathryn Fuller Science for Nature Symposium: Securing Water for Nature and People in a Changing Climate
November 3-4, 2009 -- What are the impacts of climate change on freshwater systems? What are the challenges to freshwater ecosystem conservation and water management in a changing climate? What is the role of climate adaptation in addressing these challenges, and what are limitations to adaptations? These are the key questions that will be addressed at the 2009 Symposium, which will take place at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Admission to the Symposium is FREE, so do not miss out on this opportunity to learn more about state-of-the-science review of climate impacts on freshwater systems, challenges to freshwater ecosystem conservation, the role of adaptation in water management, and a platform for the development of an adaptation based “conservation agenda”. For registration details and more information, please visit http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/fellowships/fuller/fuller-symposium-2009.html
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9. EPA Releases Draft WaterSense Specification for Showerheads
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a draft WaterSense specification for showerheads for public comment. Comments due: November 9, 2009. The WaterSense draft specification for showerheads sets the maximum flow rate at 2.0 gallons per minute (gpm) at a flowing pressure of 80 pounds per square inch (psi). On October 21, 2009 (1 -4 p.m. Eastern time), EPA will host a teleconference and Webinar with stakeholders to discuss the draft Specification for Showerheads. Send comments or suggestions to watersense-products@erg.com. All comments become a part of the public record. For more information, see: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/specs/showerhead_spec.htm
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10. Federal Agencies Release Draft Reports Required by Chesapeake Bay Executive Order
On September 10, Federal agencies released seven draft reports required by President Obama's executive order on the Chesapeake Bay, which contain a range of proposed strategies for accelerating cleanup of the nation's largest estuary and its watershed. The draft reports collectively call for increased accountability and performance from pollution control, habitat protection and land conservation programs at all levels of government, including an expanded use of regulatory authorities to address pollution control and additional voluntary and market-based solutions. The draft reports are available at http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net
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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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© 2009 Virginia Water Resources Research Center 