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<br />0011357
<br />Watershed
<br />Protection Training
<br />(continued)
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<br />planning and engineering firms around the state. The participants' positive comments typified
<br />,those of other workshop attendees nationwide. One participant commented, "It really opened my
<br />eyes to some of the new techniques out there."
<br />
<br />The first day of the Center's interactive workshop is geared toward practical and quick strategies
<br />for preparing local watershed plans to protect urban water resources. Special focus is given to the
<br />value of using the amount of impervious cover in a watershed as an indicator of water quality and
<br />as a watershed management tool. A range of common watershed management issues are addressed
<br />in depth, including specific techniques for protecting urban streams, lakes, estuaries, and aquifers.
<br />During the rapid watershed planning session of one workshop, a government official commented,
<br />"This is a very good program. We need to get the word out to the municipal governments to learn
<br />the condition of our watersheds, as many (including myself) are not informed enough."
<br />
<br />The workshop's second day emphasizes innovative site planning techniques designed to strike a
<br />balance between a community's need for growth and watershed protection issues by helping
<br />planners and developers find ways to reduce impervious cover, better manage storm water runoff,
<br />and conserve a site's natural areas.
<br />
<br />Both days of the Center's workshop include hands-on exercises that allow participants to
<br />immediately apply workshop strategies and techniques to real-world watershed and site
<br />development plans.
<br />
<br />Often, participants say that they can't wait to get back to work to share what they've learned.
<br />Stressed one workshop attendee, it's "very good information that needs to be presented to
<br />developers, regulators, environmentalists, and others."
<br />
<br />And certainly these types of workshops are essential in fostering a better understanding of the
<br />importance of watershed protection and jump-starting a move toward smarter, better, more
<br />ecologically sound development. Because the Center is able to conduct only a limited number of
<br />workshops each year, it has begun developing resources designed to provide planners, developers,
<br />and watershed managers nationwide with the tools to craft their own better site design and
<br />watershed planning workshops. A critical part of this effort includes a new "Train the Trainers"
<br />workshop. Scheduled to take place in the spring and summer of 2000 in the Chesapeake Bay
<br />, watershed in Maryland, this new workshop will provide stakeholders with the skills, information,
<br />and resources they need to begin educating others about the specifics of watershed protection and
<br />to start the process of changing their own local development rules.
<br />
<br />The Center's web site (www.cwp.org), also plays an essential role in helping others disseminate the
<br />watershed protection message by providing a wide array of tools - from technical articles to hand-
<br />books to sample model ordinances - at little or no cost. Articles from past issues of the Center's
<br />journal, Watershed Protection Techniques, are available for downloading, as are more than 30 model
<br />ordinances from around the country designed to help local planners employ the most effective
<br />language possible in their own ordinances. The site also lists the Center's full catalog of available
<br />technical publications, including the Rapid Watershed Planning Handbook and Better Site Design.
<br />
<br />In addition, the Center has packaged its workshop presentations into a Watershed Leadership Kit,
<br />available on CD-ROM. The Watershed Leadership Kit consists of three animated training
<br />presentations that provide an excellent introduction to Impacts of Urbanization, Eight Tools of
<br />Watershed Protection, and Better Site Design. Each CD can be used as a complete stand-alone
<br />presentation for planners, engineers, activists, or community leaders interested in crafting watershed
<br />protection seminars, or users can use the kit as a resource for facts, photos, illustrations, charts, and
<br />diagrams to support their own presentations (each CD is $25, or the set can be purchased for $60).
<br />Even if the Center staff were able to conduct workshops each day of the year, they would still not
<br />reach every critical or threatened watershed in the country. Therefore, these types of resources are
<br />essential to ensure that others can continue to carry the torch of watershed protection.
<br />[For more information on the dates and locations of Center workshops or on its training resources, contact
<br />the Center for Watershed Protection, 8391 Main Street, Ellicott City, MD 21043. Phone: (410) 461-8323;
<br />fax: (410) 461-8324; web site: www.cwp.org.]
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<br />MARCH 2000, ISSUE #60
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<br />NONPOINT SOURCE NEWS-NOTES
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