question 1: what do you see as the biggest challenges
TRANSCRIPT
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
Question 1: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the Schuylkill Watershed in
the next 5 years?
Partnerships
o Finding new partners and stakeholders
o Phase out of a lot of institutional knowledge
o Loss of agency support
o Increasing diversity and inclusion
o Maintaining partnerships despite changes in leadership
Communication/Messaging
o Complicated, mixed messaging
o Reaching diverse groups
o How does SAN connect to climate change?
o Finding a hot topic to reengage people, especially youth
o Making sure messaging is consistent with science
o Improving public safety communication
o Effective outreach and community engagement
o Highlighting local issues
Education and Outreach
o Connecting low-income, urban communities to waterways
o Public awareness of environmental issues
o Linking what’s happening on land to what’s happening in water, especially as the climate changes
o Changing the historical perception of the watershed
o Engaging youth with waterways
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
o Improving nature ethics
o Reversing public apathy and lack of awareness; improving awareness and enthusiasm
o Incorporating freshwater conservation into school curricula
o Changing the public perception on public/tap water
o Emerging contaminants: what they are, how to treat them
o Outreach at local level
Funding
o Lack of funding for:
Project implementation
Stewardship
Outreach
Environment, as compared to other sectors
Collaboration & staffing
o Finding funding beyond William Penn Foundation
o Competition for funding
Projects
o Removal of coal silt from headwaters is costly and not economically attractive
o Projects built to old design standards
o Improving infrastructure so that it is appropriate and resilient for the “new normal”
o Stormwater management
o MS4 implementation
Environmental problems
o Pollution
Legacy of acid mine drainage
Plastic
Nutrients
Sediment
o Emerging contaminants
Pharmaceuticals
Pipeline contamination
PFAS
Chlorides and road salt
o Land use
Urbanization and increased development
Loss of farmers and land managers
o Invasive flora and fauna
o Nutrient mismanagement and Harmful Algal Blooms
o Freshwater salinization
o Climate change
Increased extreme weather events
Exacerbated flooding, runoff, and erosion
Outdated infrastructure
Leadership
o Engaging youth
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
o Developing new leadership
o Issues with knowledge transfer
Politics
o Rollbacks in environmental regulation
o Political subdivisions fragmented decision-making
o Achieving best results under new regime
o Political will
o Public distrust of government
o Lack of political education
o Making sure policy is consistent with science
o Bureaucracy, complacency
Recreation
o The cultural shift of people spending less time outdoors
o Lack of access to waterways/resources, especially for underserved groups
Other
o Emergence of more factory farming
o Lack of concrete success stories
o Insufficient incremental activity and reporting
o Capacity of small watershed groups
o Connecting to underserved groups
Question 2: What are some emerging opportunities you see coming in the next 5 years?
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
Partnerships
o Private industry engagement and support e.g. private recreational industry, private outfitters, for-
profit local businesses
o Maintaining partnerships despite changes in leadership
o Local universities
o Youth leadership programs
o Education centers
o Water utilities
o Soil health movement lead by farmers
o More participation in the National Estuary Program
o Promote SAN successes to existing partners AND new partners
o Bucks County collaborative
o Top Water Trips: Kayaking & fishing, education & training
o New businesses along SRT
o Municipalities and their residents
Improved Communication
o Tying everything to source water, not just MS4
o Reinforce the “headwaters to estuary” idea
o More cross-coordination among SAN workgroups
o Regional coordination of municipalities to implement storm water projects as part of MS4
o Continue to promote SAN successes
o Promote local stewardship initiatives
New/Expanded Funding
o PENNVEST: Integrating dollars across storm water and source water
o Hazard Mitigation Plan Funding
o Buffer funding
o Funding for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI)
o NFWF’s Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund
o PA Farm Bill
o Leverage the Farm Bill dollars for ag and forestry to the headwaters
o Brownfields Program grants for cleanup and assessment
New Projects
o Camping sites and put-ins along the river
o Complete the SRT
o Riparian restoration throughout the watershed
o Dam removals in Reading
o Ecological restorations post dam removal
o Mussel projects and outreach e.g. mussel restoration in Angelica Creek Watershed
o Support PDE/Bartram’s Hatchery
o Climate resiliency
o More land conservation
o Urban Ag Development Plan (Philly)
Science Monitoring/Research
o Study metal extraction from AMD sludge
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
o Study the effectiveness of AMD treatment systems over time
o Create long-term spatial monitoring and data sharing
o Work with universities to conduct and energize local watershed research
o Opportunities will arise as technology continues to improve
o More citizen science opportunities
Leadership
o Engaging the next generation of watershed leaders
o To identify and develop new potential leaders
o Share the SAN model with forming collaboratives to grow/expand the network
Advocacy
o Restore PA: Advocate for our priorities
o Advocate for stormwater fees, especially in MS4 areas
o AMD Pilot Program funding needs SAN support
o Climate resiliency
o More state support from PA energy sector
Education
o More relationships with education centers and youth
o Continue to change public perception
o Utilizing the AWE to expand environmental education throughout the watershed
o More sustainable education models
o “Leave no trace” program
o “Source to tap”
o Bivalves
o Climate change
Recreation
o Rebirth of recreation in river
o Establish more access points
o More opportunity and development for the recreation workgroup
o Train more people to be recreational leaders on the river
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
Question 3: What have been SAN’s biggest successes in the past 5 years?
Partnerships/Networking
o Building a network and engaging new members
o Connecting diverse partners, members, and stakeholders, watershed-wide
o Growing partnerships
o SAN helps partners work together; creating a spirit of collaboration instead of competition
o Allows us to make unique connections
o A great platform for networking
o An extensive network allows all partners to leverage more knowledge and funding
o A large breadth of stakeholders
Communication
o Workgroups: consistent meetings and communication helps us get things done
o SAN increases communication among disparate groups
o SAN helps promote partner events throughout the watershed
o Strong social media presence, specifically Instagram because of storytelling through photos
o SAN has helped connect people to the river
Funding
o SRRF, NWQI, RCPP etc.
o Leveraging millions of dollars of funding, especially for ag and AMD BMPs
o Spreading the word about grant opportunities
Many successful projects of all scales that lead to improved education and water quality
o Ag conservation and preservation
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
o On-the-ground ag BMP projects
o Maiden Creek NWQI
o Restoration projects e.g. tree plantings
o Developing the SRT
o Buck Hollow Tract
o Stormwater BMPs
o New AMD and Ag monitoring
Environmental improvements
o Sediment and coal removal
o Improved agricultural land management
o The Schuylkill headwaters have improved to the point that it is a fishery
o Improved water quality
Leadership/commitment
o PDE and PWD, planning committee
o A role model for collaboration
o Agency participation and commitment
o Continuing our efforts despite challenges and change
o Consistency
o Longevity
o Succession and progression
SAN Events
o Annual meeting
o Bus tours
o Cleanups (Schuylkill Scrub)
o Programming for communities in both urban and rural settings
Education
o Storm drain markers
o Increased awareness of trails and green space along the river
o Improved public perception of stormwater and water quality
o Engaging schools
Recreation
o Extensive trails, green space, and outdoor recreational programming bring in more constituents
o Schuylkill Sojourn
o SRT
o The Schuylkill is now mostly associated with recreation instead of pollution!
Other successes
o Open-mindedness
o Keeping up with change
o Engaging volunteers
o Facilitation in a collaborative manner
o Capturing and consolidating the data for success throughout the entire watershed
o Connecting “people interests” like art and recreation to drinking water issues
o The formation of the recreation workgroup
o Interconnectivity between organizations and projects
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
o Branding conservation efforts throughout the Schuylkill
o Articulating the case for source water protection
o Sharing lessons learned among partners, leading to increased organizational knowledge and capacity
o Holistic approach
Question 4: What makes the Schuylkill Watershed special to you?
o Partnerships/Network
o Diverse and passionate people and partners
o Diverse constituents along river
o Large number of people in SAN
o A consistent story of work and still more to do
o The river ties us all together
o Large partner buy-in (academia, utilities, non profits, government, foundations)
o Collaboration
o Projects
o GSI projects
o Demonstrated successes
o Natural Environment/Landscape
o Ecosystem services help drinking water
o Unique mussel habitats
o Wildlife
o A tidal urban river
SAN Annual Meeting Strategic Planning Session, December 10, 2019
o Natural beauty, scenic views
o Diverse mosaic of landscapes, ecosystems, and settings: springs, mountains, forests, rural, city,
farms, industry, coal, green space, etc.
o Many forested headwaters and high value highlands
o The change of the river as it flows downstream
o Takes place in only one state!
o Nice river towns
o Cultural beauty and artistic tradition
o Dedicated funding and the diversity of funders
o Education/Outreach
o The amount of opportunities to connect to water and future action
o Connecting people to nature
o Volunteer opportunities
o Recreation/Accessibility
o Partner events help promote the river
o Trails on Tap and other pop-up beer gardens
o Schuylkill Sojourn and other kayaking/paddling/boating opportunities help people see diversity
along the river
o Extensive trail network and green space throughout watershed
Schuylkill River Trail
Promote hiking and health
An equitable social asset and social corridor for those in the city
Helps boost local economy
o Other (SAN, culture, etc.)
o SAN is a model for action
o Source of drinking water
o Urban areas have capitalized on the river
o Getting people in the city out to the upper watershed
o Culturally and socioeconomically diverse communities both historically and currently (farming,
coal, industry, Native Americans, early American history)
o History and Progress
How far we’ve come since Industrial Revolution
Rich and compelling story of impairment to recovery
Helped build the country
Economic dynamics
Transition of river from an industrial resource to a natural asset
History of innovation and conservation
o Sense of place
o Transportation (highways, canals, river passage)
o Drinking water source
o Fun name