| | The Intake Your Source for Collaborative News July 2020 |
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| Safe Water Conservation Collaborative partners, we've heard from many of you that you'd like to receive more frequent updates on what's happening each month to achieve our mission of "Protecting Drinking Water through Land Conservation". We're proud to bring you "The Intake" - a monthly round-up of everything happening in the world of the Collaborative. From source water protection and land conservation to stewardship and outreach, from summaries of recent meetings to upcoming webinars, and all things in between, this will be your source for everything Collaborative. Like everything we do, "The Intake" depends on you to succeed. Here's what you can do to help: - When you have exciting news, please send it to us so we can share in next month's newsletter.
- There's a few tasks that will go into making this newsletter each month. Please email me if you'd like to volunteer to be a part of "The Intake" team - we need you!
With that, let's get to it. Take it all in, and enjoy!  Tanner Haid
Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator |
| | "Landowner Legacy" videos |
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|  | We asked three local landowners to share their stories of why they chose to conserve their land and water with a conservation easement. All three landowners shared the significance of protecting their land to conserve the streams and rivers that serve as our drinking water supplies, and they encourage fellow landowners to consider conserving their farms, fields, and forests. To watch the videos and learn more, visit our website. |
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| Around the Collaborative If you have exciting news, please let us know and we'll share with our partners in next month's edition. |
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| Mark Schiavone with Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board has closed on 7 conservation easements since the beginning of the pandemic for a total of 518 acres of newly protected lands, three of which were co-funded using Clean Water Act funds from WV-DEP. One of these properties was a targeted parcel from the Collaborative's prioritization model within the Rocky Glen Manufactured Housing Community's wellhead protection area near Martinsburg. Berkeley County FPB now manages 61 easements totaling 5,777 acres. |
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| Liz Wheeler with Jefferson County Farmland Protection Board has added 3 conservation easements, for a sum of 748 acres, to their farmland protection program. More than 90% of the newly-protected lands include prime and statewide important agricultural soils. One of these properties was a targeted parcel from the Collaborative's prioritization model within Harpers Ferry's zone of critical concern outside of Shepherdstown. Jefferson County FPB now manages 48 easements totaling 5,455 acres. |
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| Harpers Ferry Water Commission sent a water bill insert to ~800 customers regarding all of their recent source water protection successes, including their active role in the Collaborative. Barbara Humes is the Collaborative's water utility liaison, and also serves on the board of the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle. |
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| | What's Happening A recap of recent & upcoming meetings, webinars, and more. - June 11th - the Education & Outreach Workgroup met to discuss our process for developing a Collaborative logo and our outreach to the 37 top-tier landowners from our prioritization model.
- June 22nd - the ad-hoc logo development subcommittee met to begin the process of developing a Collaborative logo.
- June 23rd - Mark Schiavone with Berkeley County Farmland Protection Board and Co-Chair of the Collaborative's Conservation Workgroup gave a presentation to the Rappahannock-Rapidan Conservation Partnership regarding our prioritization model.
- June 25th - We hosted a "Planning for Success" Webinar regarding strategic planning processes.
- June 29th - the ad-hoc logo development subcommittee finalized the "logo questionnaire" and will soon move to drafting the logo.
- July 2nd - the Education & Outreach Workgroup met to discuss assistance needed for our monthly newsletter "The Intake" and next steps for prioritized landowner outreach.
- July 8th - the Stewardship Workgroup met to finalize the BMP Toolkit. We will get final approval via a digital survey with this workgroup's members and begin planning a training for August.
- August 12th - the Conservation Workgroup's next meeting at 10am via Zoom.
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| | Partner Spotlight Take a moment to learn about all the great people & organizations that are a part of our work. |
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|  | Bonnie Stubblefield is the Vice President of Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle and serves on the Conservation Workgroup. LTEP was formed in 1994 to preserve open space, farmland, and rural landscapes in the three-county region. Their vision is a future for the Eastern Panhandle that includes abundant farmland, greenways, open space, safe drinking water, and the integrity of natural and cultural heritage. They are a private, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization governed by a volunteer board of local residents from Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties. |
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 | Bill Howard is the Executive Director at The Downstream Project and a member of our Education & Outreach Workgroup. The Downstream Project's vision is a Chesapeake Bay community of passionate people connected to their local watersheds. Their mission is Protecting watersheds by promoting awareness, alliance, and action
through creative technology and communication. They are a nonprofit team of professional graphic artists, web developers, video producers, copy writers, and database experts. |
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 | John Bresland is a member of the Shepherdstown Water and Sanitary Board and serves on our Steering Committee. The Board oversees the Shepherdstown Water Department, a public water utility that serves approximately 1,600 customers in the Corporation of Shepherdstown and surrounding areas of Jefferson County, West Virginia. Their primary source of water is the Potomac River, with a backup on Town Run. Water and Sanitary Board meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month at 1:00 PM at Shepherdstown Town Hall. |
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| Quick Fact "For every 10 percent increase in forest cover in the source area, treatment and chemical costs decrease approximately 20 percent" -Conserving Forests to Protect Water, Caryn Ernst (2004) |
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| | West Virginia Rivers Coalition
3501 MacCorkle Ave SE #129 | Charleston, West Virginia 25304
304-637-7201 | wvrivers@wvrivers.org |
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