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Rivers and WatershedsSelected Results through ConsensusThe actions of multiple public agencies, private developers, and individual property owners both affect and are affected by river and watershed management decisions – and collaborative efforts can make a difference for all involved. See below for ways agencies and stakeholders are making headway with stormwater management and other river and watershed challenges.
Neighborhoods Collaborate to Address Flooding ProblemsWhen residents of the Fairfax County community of Falls Hills called for a solution to neighborhood flooding problems, the obvious answer from an engineering standpoint appeared to be constructing a stormwater retention pond. Unfortunately, the “obvious” place to put the pond happened to be a wooded area of the Poplar Heights Recreation Association’s community pool property. What happens when one neighborhood’s solution becomes another neighborhood’s problem?
Smyth and Board of Supervisors Chair Gerry Connolly worked with the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services to bring together a group of stakeholders including leaders from both communities, government officials, environmental advocates, and technical experts. Charged with researching the problem, identifying possible solutions, and coming up with recommendations for managing stormwater, the Falls Hills-Poplar Heights Stormwater Action Committee (SAC) began meeting in September 2005. This spring, the SAC reached consensus on a recommendation to implement a plan designed to address house, road, and yard flooding as well as erosion and water quality issues in the two communities. In delivering its recommendations, the Falls Hills-Poplar Heights Stormwater Steering Committee urged the Fairfax Department of Public Works and Environmental Services to continue to work with the SAC as projects are implemented, saying, “if [we] can continue to work together and implement the plan successfully, not only will we have improved stormwater management in our own neighborhoods, but... we will have pioneered a path for solving stormwater problems that others can follow.” Supervisor Smyth agrees. “What we’ve done here is not just set up a process, but come up with recommendations that can be used in other places. It’s very difficult and expensive to retrofit all these older neighborhoods. So now we have a menu, and if we can set up a demonstration project, then we will know where we can get the biggest bang for the buck.” Story Posted: June 2007 Focusing on the Nexus Between Land Use Decisions and Water QualityWhat do land use and development review decisions have to do with stormwater and water resource management? Plenty, according to community groups in Montgomery County, MD. Stormwater Partners Coalition (SPC), an organization of over 20 regional and local environmental and community groups, asked Montgomery County’s public agencies to incorporate greater emphasis on low-impact development and environmental site design practices to help maintain more natural hydrology during and after development. “Different agencies have different functional goals,” says Meo Curtis, Senior Planning Specialist for the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). County (and bi-county) agencies responsible for development planning and for water/wastewater planning historically have focused separately on achieving environmental compliance.
“We agreed early on that we needed an objective third party to facilitate discussions,” says Curtis. “Having RESOLVE facilitate allowed us to have very frank meetings – including county agency representatives and non-agency stakeholders – about obstacles and opportunities, and to stay focused on our common goal.” This spring, CWTF reached consensus on four recommendations to improve stormwater management and protect water resources in the County’s local streams and watersheds. One of the first recommendations is the creation of an overarching Water Resources Policy Committee, in which all agencies would be represented by high-level officials with the authority to make decisions – including funding decisions – for their respective agencies. A related but longer-term recommendation is a comprehensive assessment of the development review process. The CWTF also recommended that funding be allocated to assess the County’s water resources legislation, regulations, policies, and codes, to evaluate effectiveness and costs of conventional and innovative stormwater best management practices, and to generate a comprehensive watershed hydrology model. Image courtesy of Maryland Department of Environmental
Protection Putting a “LID” on Stormwater Management – “Yes, in My Back Yard!”
On March 10, 2007, the DEP hosted and RESOLVE facilitated a workshop to get input from the public on innovative approaches to promoting such practices on private residential property. “We wanted to get a representative cross-section of environmental, watershed, and homeowners’ groups, as well as landscape contractors and others from the private sector,” says DEP’s Meo Curtis. “Our purpose was to find out what incentives would convince people to do things differently in their backyards.” On the basis of workshop participants’ discussion and feedback on LID program elements and options, DEP will roll out a program likely to include more than one type of incentive (training, rebate, direct payment) for promoting the use of LID in targeted areas of the county where stormwater run-off has impaired water resources. Story Posted: June 2007 DC Stormwater Management StudyThe District of Columbia’s Department of the Environment (DDOE) has given RESOLVE a grant to help DDOE’s newly created stormwater management administration identify progressive and innovative strategies that could be implemented in the District, and to provide recommendations regarding stakeholder involvement in the District’s stormwater management activities. RESOLVE will partner with management consulting firm SEJ Consulting and technical consultant Michael Baker Jr., Inc. in implementing this project. Story Posted: June 2007 Refocusing Attention on the Gulf Coast
The catastrophic impacts of the storms generated strong interest in a 2006 symposium sponsored by the oil company BP America and organized jointly by RESOLVE and America’s WETLAND. Envisioning the Future of the Gulf Coast provided a tremendous opportunity for nearly 300 scientists, environmentalists, business representatives and federal, state, and local officials to seek common ground, first in recognizing the enormous importance of the fragile and threatened Gulf Coast to the nation as a whole, and second in articulating the need for remedial, preventative and restorative action on a scale commensurate with the problem. Scientists who convened at the conference produced a robust consensus report, which helped inform Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast, released in draft form by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana (CPRA) in February 2007. Further progress has been made in the form of passage of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Revenue Sharing Bill, signed by President Bush in December 2006. Promising Gulf States a share of offshore oil and gas royalties, this legislation will provide a long-term revenue stream that will help finance the implementation of the CPRA plan, as well as the coastal protection and restoration plans of Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama, in coming years. Contact:
Gail Bingham Anacostia River ConveningThe Anacostia River flows through Maryland (which contains 80% of the river’s watershed) and on through the District of Columbia, where it joins the Potomac River before emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, the Anacostia is one of the nation’s most polluted rivers, with some sections containing toxic bottom contaminants as deep as 20 feet. In an average year, there are over 80 occasions when rainstorms result in sewage flowing directly into the river due to aging sewer infrastructure. Combine these problems with regular urban and suburban run-off, and the river is in serious trouble. In recent years, a number of groups and individuals have committed themselves to turning this situation around. However, in the absence of a single entity with the clear authority, resources, and credibility to bring true leadership to this massive challenge, well-intentioned efforts were proliferating without achieving the synergy needed to get results. To leverage these good efforts, EPA asked RESOLVE (and our partner Justice & Sustainability Associates) to undertake a “convening” process in late 2004 to recommend how all interested stakeholders could: 1) be “at the table,” 2) have meaningful ways to contribute, and 3) collaborate more effectively toward a cleaner Anacostia. The RESOLVE / JSA team interviewed 20-25 stakeholders and drafted process recommendations addressing:
The recommendations were revised based on feedback from a preliminary meeting of key players in the clean-up effort, and the revised draft recommendations were presented to a large and inclusive stakeholder meeting in late June 2005. The recommendations were very well received, and a small transition team stepped forward to shepherd implementation of the final recommendations. In August 2006, the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership was officially launched, based in part on these recommendations. Story Posted: September 2006 Stakeholders Reach Collaborative Settlement Agreement on Clackamas River Hydro Relicensing
A complex hydroelectric system including eight dams, seven reservoirs, four power houses, and miles of pipelines, canals, tunnels and fish ladders, the Clackamas system is located within the ranges of several species of fish that have been listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Protection of these species under the ESA requires coordination between PGE and regulatory agencies for current operations and future Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relicensing. Getting the science right – togetherThis was PGE’s first use of FERC’s alternative licensing process (ALP), but not the utility’s first experience with collaborative relicensing negotiations. The ALP process began seven years ago, with the utility reaching out to a wide array of stakeholders. Once FERC approved PGE’s use of the ALP, PGE established committees to identify information needs, and to design and conduct the studies necessary to assess potential impacts and develop mitigation measures. PGE provided funding to NGOs and tribal organizations so that they could hire technical advisors to participate in these committees. “Funding that kind of participation allows all the parties to have more confidence in the underlying science,” explains PGE Hydro Licensing Director Julie Keil. “It enables us to have a more policy-focused conversation.” Keil notes that “when you’re dealing with interests as strong as people have around river basins, those interests are not going to just ‘go away.’ From our perspective, it is better if people feel that you respected their interests enough to enable them to be a full participant.” A focus on interests, not positions
Once the negotiations got underway, “RESOLVE played a critical role by keeping people focused on interests rather than on positions,” says Brett Swift. With regard to some of the tougher issues, RESOLVE got stakeholders “to step back from their positions… to not just say ‘that’s unacceptable,’ but to come back with a proposal. That was invaluable. It forces people to be much more thoughtful about what their needs are and how they can meet their own as well as others’ interests.” “RESOLVE was able to remind people where we were in the process, says Niki Iverson, who represented five local water districts located on the lower Clackamas. They were able to keep the communication going among the parties, to help us get beyond the roadblocks.” Many parties, many benefitsThe settlement agreement provides many beneficial measures for fish passage and habitat throughout the project, including a new downstream fish bypass at North Fork and River Mill dams, a new adult fish trap and sort facility at North Fork, gravel placements in two river sections, and improved river flows. Parties agreed to enhanced side channels in the Oak Grove Fork, creating a refuge for a variety of fish species. PGE will also provide expanded recreational facilities, cultural and educational resources and improvements to wetland and wildlife habitat. Swift says the settlement will result in “significantly improved conditions for the Clackamas and its resources, including a number of really important measures that will improve conditions for anadromous and resident fish.” Swift underscores the importance of the settlement to ensuring that “these improvements will be implemented in a timely and cooperative manner.” “This settlement is a good example of the balance we work very hard to strike on behalf of our customers,” says Julie Keil. “The agreement allows us to continue to have economic and flexible access to this resource so that we can ‘keep the lights on’ at a reasonable cost, and at the same time minimize our footprint on the landscape.” Contact: Paul De
Morgan Delaware Watershed Plan to Be Implemented
The allocation and quality of water is one of the most urgent natural resource issues in the United States. Management of the Delaware is complicated by the fact that it runs through multiple jurisdictions, making coordinated planning critical. The Delaware River runs through numerous vibrant urban centers and industrial areas, small hamlets and towns, and bucolic rural areas in the four states. “This plan offers an opportunity to improve coordination” among a multitude of government agencies, said Jessica Rittler Sanchez, the River Basin Planner for the Delaware River Basin Commission. “It sets a unified policy vision and policy direction for the next 30 years.” Guided by consensus principles, the Water Resources Plan contains five key result areas supported by a set of goals. The goals recognize the need for sustainable use and supply, waterway corridor management, linking land and water resource management, institutional coordination and cooperation, and education and involvement. While the publication of the plan is a significant accomplishment, Sanchez acknowledges that the hard work of implementation lies ahead. The plan specifies coordination among overlapping jurisdictions and sets up an implementation team representing the involved organizations to achieve the vision and goals. The parties to the agreement are optimistic that, with the plan in place, the Delaware River will continue to meet human and wild resource needs for generations to come. Story Posted: September 2004 |
Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth saw a need for the
County to “take a step back” and explore the full menu of
options for dealing with a widespread problem: retrofitting
older neighborhoods ill-equipped to handle stormwater. In some
communities, solutions are obvious and citizens agree with the
options. However, in Falls Hills-Poplar Heights the solution was
controversial and citizens hadn’t had a chance to learn about
the problem or explore any alternatives. County staff proposed a
collaborative process. “What we needed,” says Smyth, “and what
RESOLVE was able to provide, was a structure – citizen-oriented
as opposed to government-oriented – in which fair, civil, and
informed discussions could take place.”
Recognizing the need for a collaborative approach to enhance
stormwater management and water resources protection, in May
2006 the Montgomery County Executive and County Council jointly
initiated the formation of the Clean Water Task Force (CWTF).
CWTF members represented the County Executive and Council,
Management and Budget, Environmental Protection, Permitting
Services, Public Schools, and bi-county agencies responsible for
parks and planning, and water and wastewater. RESOLVE helped the
CWTF design a collaborative process which included opportunities
for input and comment by non-agency stakeholders – including the
SPC. Representatives of the business community also
participated.
Stormwater management depends not just on the success of
public works projects but on myriad smaller projects undertaken
by private property owners in their own back yards and
businesses. Last year, the Montgomery County, MD Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) asked RESOLVE to research public
incentive programs for supporting the use of “low-impact
development” (LID) stormwater management practices. LID
techniques include bioretention filters (shallow depressions in
the landscape to collect, filter, and absorb excess water and
pollutants); rain gardens, which soak up rainwater runoff from
roofs, driveways, sidewalks and roads using native plants or
other vegetation; rain barrels that capture runoff for reuse on
lawns and gardens; and green roofs, which can be anything from a
simple container garden to a rooftop meadow.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita focused America’s attention on
the vulnerability of the Gulf Coast as well as its importance to
the nation as a whole. Coastal Louisiana continues to lose land
at the rate of 15,300 acres per year – a loss which threatens
key national assets such as pipelines, navigation channels, and
fisheries, as well as whole communities and ecosystems.
Thirty-three parties – including Portland General Electric
Company (PGE), federal and state agencies, environmental
organizations, Native American tribes, local governments, water
districts and recreational businesses – met in Portland, Oregon
on March 2 to sign a collaboratively negotiated settlement
agreement focused on mitigation measures to address the impacts
of PGE’s Clackamas River hydroelectric project. Developed within
a complex legal and policy framework, plans for mitigation
measures were tailored to specific resources including: fish and
aquatics, project operations, water rights, terrestrial,
recreation, wetlands, vegetation, cultural and historic
resources.
Keil and other stakeholders agree that complex, multi-party
collaborative negotiations such as this one require a neutral
facilitator. Brett Swift, Deputy Director of American Rivers’
Northwest Regional Office, who has participated in four
relicensing negotiations with PGE – three of them facilitated by RESOLVE’s Portland Office – says that “what RESOLVE does
extremely well is to establish a process that allows all the
parties to focus on substance.”
Federal, state, and local government agencies operating in
the Delaware River basin have a new document to help guide their
land and water use decisions: a Water Resources Plan developed
by a 62-person Watershed Advisory Council and released in June.
The governors of the four affected states through which the
river runs (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware)
will sign the plan at an “urban summit” on September 13. RESOLVE
mediators facilitated the discussions that led to the
development of the Plan.
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