| | The Intake Your Source for Collaborative News May 2021 |
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| | Grants awarded (and submitted) to sustain the partnership! Sustaining the partnership is a critical component for how we move forward as a Collaborative. So important that the Steering Committee has defined a specific Role regarding sustainability in our nearly-completed strategic plan to "develop long-term objectives and short-term strategies to sustain the Collaborative". A major component of sustainability is funding. Well, we have some exciting news on that front... |
|  | $30,000 awarded to West Virginia Rivers Coalition The Land & Water Initiative is a funding program of the Land Trust Alliance and Chesapeake Bay Funders Network. 2021 is their fifth, and final, year of providing these grants, which WV Rivers has received consecutively since 2017 to build the partnership. Our 2021 grant will be used to sustain our host partner role, and in particular the coordinator's position (Tanner) at 30% full-time equivalent capacity to coordinate the partnership. Key goals for this grant are complete the strategic planning process; begin coordinating the implementation of the strategic plan; and develop a plan for transitioning the host partner role to another organization for long-term sustainability of the partnership. We invite you to read the proposal narrative, budget, and workplan. Additionally, Potomac Conservancy received an LWI grant for $20,000 to help "expand the roots" of the Collaborative. Specifically, their grant will support management of the $358K NFWF grant submitted on the Collaborative’s behalf, identification of a funding stream for a full-time Collaborative Coordinator, securing a long-term "home" organization for the Coordinator position, and continued direct land conservation work within Collaborative priority areas. |
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 | $358,000 submitted by Potomac Conservancy Collaborative partners developed our Buffers, Buffer, Buffers proposal, which was submitted by Potomac Conservancy to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation's Small Watershed Implementation Grants program. Explore the grant metrics and budget pie chart. A very big THANK YOU to all of the partners that provided letters of support for the proposal: Angie Rosser, Dustin Wichterman, Frank Rodgers, Mark Schiavone, Liz Wheeler, Grant Smith, Daryl Hennessy, David Lillard, Jeff Pippel, and John Bresland! We also wish to thank our tremendous partners with Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle for their dedication to supporting this proposal - Bonnie Stubblefield, Georgia Jeppesen, and Susan Whalton. They championed this process and were deeply involved in all aspects of developing the grant. Lastly, this proposal would not have been submitted without the leadership of Emily Warner, and Potomac Conservancy stepping up as the lead applicant. We should hear from NFWF in the fall if our proposal was awarded - keep your fingers crossed! |
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| | Local water utilities receive funding for source water protection The recipients of the Safe Water Protection Program grant, funded by the WV Department of Health and Human Services, were announced this month. |
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| The grant will help each selected water utility to advance various projects that will aid them in protecting our community's drinking water supplies through the use of early warning monitoring systems. Several of the Collaborative's partnering water utilities received funding, including: - Charles Town Utility Board, who received $47,000 to install an HACH source water monitoring panel (example) that can sample for multiple water quality parameters such as conductivity, temperature, pH, turbidity, suspended solids, nitrate, and others.
- Corporation of Shepherdstown, who will invest their $47,000 in funding on an early warning monitoring system similar to CTUB's that will be installed at their raw water intake.
- Corporation of Harpers Ferry, who received $25,650 to add a sensor to their existing early warning monitoring system that will detect the presence of refined fuel and crude oil in their drinking water, thus providing a critical protection from the freight railroads and roadways that intersect their watershed's Zone of Critical Concern.
These water utilities join others in the panhandle that are using early warning monitoring systems to identify contaminants and track water quality changes, including: City of Berkeley Springs, City of Martinsburg, Paw Paw Water Works, and Town of Romney. Questions about DHHR's Source Water Protection Grant Program can be sent to Monica Whyte. |
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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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| The Morgantown Utility Board Watershed Protection Program is an innovative new program created to preserve Monongalia County’s water quality through the protection of land surrounding the Monongahela River and Cobun Creek, MUB’s sources of drinking water. The program was designed in partnership with Downstream Strategies and the West Virginia Land Trust with funding from EPA's Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant Program to allow interested landowners the opportunity to establish voluntary protections on their property, such as deed restrictions and conservation easements. The program is funded by voluntary donations made by customers, who can choose to round up their monthly water bills or make an additional contribution. MUB will also donate 10 percent from its service line protection program to the effort. Learn more from our contact with WV Land Trust - Adam Webster, who supports the Collaborative's Conservation Workgroup. |
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| Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle has added the Safe Water Conservation Collaborative as a partner on their website. The update was a team effort by multiple LTEP board members, including Susan Whalton, David Plummer, Georgia Jeppesen, and Bonnie Stubblefield. We strongly encourage you to explore how they spoke about their partnership within the context of their own mission, and then post similar information on your organization's website. Need assistance? Susan Whalton with LTEP is available to help you craft that language. |
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| **JOB POSTING** West Virginia Rivers Coalition is hiring a Program Director. This is a full-time, senior-level position to provide overall leadership in the areas of program development and implementation, fundraising, and administration. Read the full job description that includes instructions on how to apply. We encourage you to share with your networks! Angie Rosser is the Executive Director at WV Rivers Coalition. |
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| | What's Happening A recap of recent & upcoming meetings, webinars, and more. - April 29 - Full-partnership gathering, facilitated by Cadmus Group, to review survey results regarding the Steering Committee Roles & Responsibilities and Workgroup Objectives & Strategies (final drafts). Partners participated in breakout rooms to discuss "Educating Decision Makers", "Sustaining the Partnership", or "Cross-Workgroup Collaboration". The Steering Committee will vote to approve the final versions by mid-May. Meeting notes here.
- May 2-8 - Drinking Water Week. Explore WV Rivers' social media toolkit, and please feel free to share (even though the week has ended). For example, Harpers Ferry has made their celebration of drinking water the entire month of May.
- May 14 - Steering Committee approved Strategies
- Workgroup meetings to start determining costs & next steps for implementing strategic plan, along with what support is needed from Tanner as the partnership coordinator knowing his position only has 30% full-time equivalent capacity:
- May 17 - Conservation Workgroup
- May 27 - Education & Outreach Workgroup
- June 15 - Stewardship Workgroup
- June TBD - review final draft of strategic plan & full-partnership gathering in late June.
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| | Partner Spotlight needs your help! Take a moment to provide your feedback on ways we can create more engaging partner spotlights. |
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|  | Jennifer Brockman is the County Planner for the Office of Planning and Zoning within the Jefferson County Department of Engineering, Planning and Zoning and is a general supporter of the Collaborative. As an Office of Jefferson County Government, the mission of the Office of Planning and Zoning is to provide a stable and strong environment for the communities of Jefferson County that balances the natural resources of the land with sustainable growth and development. The Planning and Zoning office maintains a welcoming staff that encourages community involvement in reaching its vision. Jennie grew up in Ohio and worked for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources before obtaining an Masters of Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati. She lives with her husband and 5 of her 6 children outside of Shepherdstown. She currently serves as the President of the West Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association. |
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 | Jared Tomlin is the Stormwater Coordinator for the City of Martinsburg Stormwater Department and is a general supporter of the Collaborative. As a Phase II MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Water System) community, the City of Martinsburg utilizes a Storm Water Management Plan that details the city’s program to protect water quality and reduce water pollutants. The Storm Water Management Program focuses on six minimum control measures, including public outreach and education, public participation and involvement, and illicit discharge detection and elimination. As Stormwater Coordinator, Jared’s primary responsibility is developing and implementing surface water quality programs around the City's MS4 Permit. Jared is in the final steps of completing his masters in Environmental Biology and earned a graduate certificate in GIS from Hood College in Frederick, MD. |
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 | Tanner Haid is the Eastern Panhandle Field Coordinator for West Virginia Rivers Coalition and is the coordinator of the Collaborative. WV Rivers' mission is to conserve and restore West Virginia's exceptional rivers and streams, which is accomplished by advocating for safe water for all West Virginians and working in communities to empower people to protect their rivers and defend their public lands. In addition to coordinating the Collaborative 30% of his time, Tanner also serves as the state lead in West Virginia for the Choose Clean Water Coalition and leads partners in implementing conservation projects in the Elks Run Watershed of Jefferson County through WV Rivers' Safe Water program. He lives in Charles Town with his wife, two daughters, rescue dog, and litter-trained house bunny. |
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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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