The Region
is characterized by vast diversities in climate, geography,
population and land use. It includes the Mid-Atlantic States
of New York and New Jersey, and the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico and the Territory of the US Virgin Islands in the Caribbean
Sea. These varied conditions define the wide array of water
resources and the associated environmental impacts that
illustrate the challenge of effective water quality management.
Mission
- Advance the use of resources available at the Land Grant
Universities to address key regional water quality issues.
Objectives
- Facilitate communication
between the universities, US EPA and other federal, state
and local agencies and nongovernmental organizations; coordinate
research, education, and extension efforts among the universities;
and foster collaboration
in targeted water quality issue areas where multi-organizational
efforts can yield effective and efficient water quality
outcomes. This partnership-building effort includes coordination
of the water quality research, education and extension resources
of the four Land Grant Universities with initiatives of
US EPA Region 2 to build on a strong ongoing working relationship
with US EPA Region 2.
Approach
- The Regional Water Quality Coordination Program focuses
on key issues
common to the
entire region. Many of these issues, such as animal waste
and onsite wastewater treatment system management, are national
water quality issues that manifest differently across the
nation as well as within the various areas of our diverse
region. By facilitating information sharing and coordination
of local and state capabilities and resources on a regional
scale, the regional program is fostering complementary working
relationships that enhance our ability to tackle these challenging
issues.
We are working to
optimize the Land Grant University science-based learning
model as applied to water quality
by creating opportunities to integrate research, education
and extension by engaging researchers, academic faculty
and extension educators from the four participating land
grant institutions and other land grants in neighboring
regions and across the nation.
To facilitate the partnership
with US EPA Region 2, Jeffrey Potent, the regional water
program coordinator, also serves as the US EPA Region 2
/ Cooperative Extension Liaison. Mr. Potent is stationed
at the US EPA offices in New York City where he works closely
with US EPA staff and participates in numerous initiatives.
He provides an information conduit to the Land Grant Universities
and to the USDA CSREES national water quality program on
US EPA priorities and programs, and provides information
to EPA on university and CSREES water quality program capabilities
and resources.
For example, partnership opportunities are emerging out
of EPA Region 2's active involvement in estuary and watershed-based
environmental protection initiatives. In these programs,
voluntary and incentive-based mechanisms will play an important
role in restoring and maintaining environmental quality.
The Land Grant Universities bring substantial knowledge
and practical experience in utilizing these approaches,
as well as broad geographic coverage and stakeholder group
engagement. Our capabilities can be applied to test innovative
management approaches and engage and educate a broad range
of involved organizations and individuals whose actions
can have a direct impact on the success of these environmental
initiatives.
Partnerships with other federal and state agencies and nongovernmental
organizations are also being cultivated. Our close relationship
with EPA Region 2 is helping to advance working relationships
with several other key program partners.
This material is based upon work supported in part by
the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension
Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement
No. 2003-51130-11380. Any opinions, findings, conclusions,
or recommendations expressed in this publication are those
of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
