grants

Mar 22, 2016

Leadville, Colorado: Some great environmental happenings

Colorado, compostting, emissions, Fishing, grants, Leadville, mines, sustainability 2 Comments

by Wendy Dew

I’ve spent a lot of time in Leadville, Colorado. Also known as the Two-Mile-High City, Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States. In the late 19th century, Leadville was the second most populous city in Colorado, after Denver.

But what I know most about Leadville is EPA’s work on cleaning up the California Gulch Superfund site and a local conservation group’s efforts to educate citizens on energy and environmental issues.

The California Gulch site covers 18 square miles in Lake County, including Leadville and a section of the Arkansas River. Former mining operations contributed to metals contamination in surface water, groundwater, soil and sediment. Over the years, EPA has worked with the state, the local community and the site’s potentially responsible parties to clean up the site, coordinate ecological restoration work and redevelop specific portions of the site.

While there are still portions of the site that are being cleaned up, 11 miles of the Upper Arkansas River have been restored and the area was added to the Gold Medal Trout Waters in Colorado. These fishing areas are noted by Colorado Wildlife Commission as places where trout are plentiful and larger. The designation has been 20 years in the making, and although anglers have enjoyed the improved conditions for years, it is an official acknowledgement of the myriad efforts by state and federal agencies, local governments and stakeholders to turn an impaired river into one of the most popular fishing destinations in Colorado.

Gold medal waters are not the only great environmental happenings in Leadville. The Cloud City Conservation Center (C4) was awarded two EPA grants for environmental justice work and environmental education work. I got the chance to visit C4 and see firsthand how they are making a difference in the community.

The environmental justice project focused on helping low-income and minority residents in Lake County reduce energy use and address under-insulated and leaky housing. It focused specifically on residents who have limited access to information due to language barriers, immigration status and other hurdles facing this EJ population. C4 conducted workshops using EPA grant funds to educate the community about conservation and efficiency measures they could implement in their homes to save energy and money. Thirty home energy audits and follow up support services provided participants the opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of their homes while becoming more knowledgeable about energy conservation.

Vent that is corroding due to corrosive combustion gases coming from the boiler

As a result of this initiative, the community enjoys lower greenhouse gas emissions and more comfortable homes. Additionally, the impact of global climate change is addressed through local solutions, thereby empowering the community to make a difference on the sustainability of our environment.

The environmental education project, awarded in 2015, seeks to make Lake County youth the environmental leaders of the community, ultimately expanding Lake County’s capacity for environmental stewardship. Approximately 1,100 Lake County K-12 students will increase their environmental understanding through daily composting and hands on education.

This will increase capacity in each Lake County School to reduce waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create a valuable environmental product, establishing a model program for the community as a whole. The compost will be used in a future greenhouse project for the local schools. The kids who are involved in managing the compost bins are incredible proud of the positive local environmental impact they are having at their school.

The transformation from mines to parks, gold medal trout waters, environmental justice initiatives and future environmental leaders is impressive. Visiting grantees is one of my favorite things to do in my job. It gives me a chance to see for myself all the great work EPA grant funds make possible. Talking to kids who are excited about the environmental changes they are making is amazing. It motivates me and makes me feel like I am part of a very large movement to restore, protect and improve our environment. C4 is continuing to work with the Leadville community to address environmental and public health issues.

About the author:

Wendy Dew is the Outreach and Education Coordinator for EPA Region 8.

Editor's Note: The opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone. EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog, nor does EPA endorse the opinions or positions expressed. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content. If you do make changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.

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Oct 21, 2015

EPA’s Grant Program – A Key Contributor for Environmental Results

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, Brownfields, grants, Human Health 7 Comments

By Karl Brooks

Here at EPA, we partner with other governments – state, tribal, and local – to share responsibility for protecting human health and our nation’s natural environment. In order to do so, our Office of Grants and Debarment annually transfers grants worth more than $4 billion to other governments, educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

We are proud of our role supporting the efforts taken in 2009 to deal with an unprecedented national economic crisis. When Congress enacted the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) in 2009, they more than doubled our annual grant award budget to $9.8 billion. Our ARRA grants helped communities throughout America direct billions of dollars into shovel-ready projects for environmental infrastructure and cleanup — efforts that enhanced the quality of life in communities and better protected public health.

We met this historic responsibility by obligating 50% more funds than had been usual — $6.5 billion in grants – in barely two-thirds of a normal cycle. To meet Congress’ stewardship expectations and to prevent waste, fraud and abuse, we also instituted a monitoring program that far exceeded our standard process for non-ARRA awards.

After several years of managing ARRA funds, we faced other federal budget constraints triggering sequestration and furloughs in 2011-13. But now that our economy and grant program have entered a period of more normal operations, we are moving forward with a number of initiatives to further enhance our grants management system. In February 2015, we moved to Grants.gov for the submission of initial grant applications and deployed the first phase of our Next Generation Grants System, saving taxpayers $27 million by leveraging existing systems instead of developing new ones.

Working effectively in partnership with states, tribes, and other grantees, we have distributed, overseen, and accounted for more than $36 billion that went to governmental partners, educational institutions and non-profit organizations between fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2014.

In administering this funding, we manage, on an annual basis, over 6,000 active grants involving more than 2,300 separate grantees and approximately 100 different programs. These programs sustain our environmental protection enterprise at all governmental levels, encourage vital scientific research and help communities shape environmental policy. We work with Congress, GAO, and our Office of Inspector General to ensure funds are properly managed. We welcome their scrutiny and continue to work diligently to make our grant program efficient and responsive to the American public.

To learn more about how our grant making is making a difference visit:

A Decade of Tribal Environmental Health Research; http://www.epa.gov/ncer/tribalresearch/news/results-impacts.pdf
NEIHS/EPA Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers: Protecting Children’s Health for a Lifetime; http://epa.gov/ncer/childrenscenters/publications/cehc-brochure-2014.pdf
EPA Extramural Research:
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/
Brownfields Program Success Stories: http://www2.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-state-tribal-program-updates
Performance Partnership Grants: Chapter 2 of Blended and Braided Funding: A Guide for Policy Makers and Practitioners https://www.agacgfm.org/AGA/ResearchPublications/documents/Blended-and-Braided-Funding_final.pdf
State Revolving Fund Programs ARRA Accomplishments: http://water.epa.gov/aboutow/eparecovery/upload/epa-WEB-ar-arra-May2011.pdf
Clean Water State Revolving Fund Results:
http://www2.epa.gov/cwsrf/clean-water-state-revolving-fund-cwsrf-results

Editor's Note: The views expressed here are intended to explain EPA policy. They do not change anyone's rights or obligations. You may share this post. However, please do not change the title or the content, or remove EPA’s identity as the author. If you do make substantive changes, please do not attribute the edited title or content to EPA or the author.

EPA's official web site is www.epa.gov. Some links on this page may redirect users from the EPA website to specific content on a non-EPA, third-party site. In doing so, EPA is directing you only to the specific content referenced at the time of publication, not to any other content that may appear on the same webpage or elsewhere on the third-party site, or be added at a later date.

EPA is providing this link for informational purposes only. EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of non-EPA information provided by any third-party sites or any other linked site. EPA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, internet applications or any policies or information expressed therein.

Oct 8, 2015

Giving Grants to Make a Difference

climate change, Environmental Justice, grants, Local Community 3 Comments

By Sheila Lewis

About the Author: Sheila Lewis has dedicated more than 30 years to federal service and has worked to support community-based efforts since 1999. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.

I am ecstatic that EPA today announced our latest round of Environmental Justice Small Grant projects. Take a moment to look at the project summaries that we have selected because they are a true reflection of what is happening in the environmental justice arena around the country.

One thing you’ll notice is how communities throughout the country are finding innovative ways to adapt to climate change and build resilience in their neighborhoods. From Northern New Mexico to Chicago and Newport News, Virginia to Chickaloon, Alaska, community leaders have recognized both the challenges of preparing their communities for the impacts of climate change, while seizing the opportunity to bring the benefits of renewable energy and efficiency to the places that need it most.

Something that you might notice is the number of gardening projects in both urban and rural settings, which will be used to teach people about resiliency, soil contamination, environmental stewardship, public health, entrepreneurship, and water conservation. These projects are environmental justice through and through — aimed at improving the local environment by engaging, educating, organizing, empowering in efforts driven BY the community FOR the community.

A focus on youth inclusion and project leadership also stands out among this year’s projects. We’re excited to support so many projects that will bring local youth into environmental decision-making, helping to better position them to work toward improving their communities. It goes along with what we’ve heard as a priority from our stakeholders around the country and is reflected in the Agency’s commitment to focus on youth engagement on climate change through our National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

It’s great that we can support so many projects and partners from across the entire country, support that is bolstered this year through funding of additional projects in the Gulf Coast area, thanks to our colleagues in the EPA Gulf of Mexico Program.

But what’s even more exciting than what these discreet projects can achieve over the next year, is how they can build on this funding to leverage work that can be accomplished towards bigger solutions and real change in their communities.

At EPA, we recognize that making such change happen takes community leadership, long-term commitment, and a collaborative effort much bigger than just EPA and its grants to a specific organization. In the more than 20 years since the inception of this grant program, we have been learning how to better work with communities and other partners to improve our ability to support such growth and change, most recently through Administrator McCarthy’s “Making a Visible Difference in Communities” initiative. We also will soon announce a call for proposals for our Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving cooperative agreements, which support community driven efforts at growing effective collaborations to identify and address larger issues in the community.

Evidence of the power of starting with a little support and growing partnerships towards larger solutions is evidenced in communities throughout the country. Whether in the port areas of San Diego or an industrial neighborhood in northern New York, communities with a little bit of support can make a lot happen.

Congratulations to those organizations selected to receive such support. We look forward to continuing to work with you on your path towards making change happen in your communities.

Jun 1, 2015

How An EPA Grant Transformed Our Lives and Environment

birds, grants, Job Training, Jobs, water 0 Comments

Many employers in Wisconsin can’t find applicants with the right skills and credentials to fill job openings. We refer to this as a skills mismatch – there are jobs available but those who are unemployed don’t have the industry certifications, licenses and credentials to qualify. We’ve engineered the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps (Great Lakes CCC) using the EPA’s Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training grant program to position our training participants for career and college readiness. We believe individuals from under-represented populations can work in sectors related to environmental remediation while simultaneously ascending to positions of leadership where post-secondary education will be a prerequisite. .

In our Great Lakes CCC program, we start with public-private partnerships that give participants high-level science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experiences which translate into bona fide occupational credentials. We emphasize disaster planning and preparedness inherent in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration hazardous waste courses and co-enroll our trainees into the AmeriCorps national service program where they also earn college scholarships. Individuals who previously thought post-secondary education was unattainable suddenly find themselves with scholarships they can use for tuition over the next several years.

For example, we put together a cross-sector partnership that utilizes bird species to detect contaminated sediments that impair the water quality of Lake Michigan estuaries. Under the leadership of the U.S. Geological Service, our training participants are in the process of monitoring tree swallow populations for the presence of contaminants that may be bio-accumulating in the species. When contaminants are identified, our training participants transition from the lab to the field to learn alongside remediation contractors who are responsible for the dredging and restoration operations.

Our training participants are individuals who face barriers to employment, and many of them have struggled to get an education or to find work. We’ve found that high-demand, portable, national credentials – the premise of EPA’s environmental job training grant program – are the solution to long-term employment for our trainees. The combination of multiple industry certifications creates new career opportunities. For instance, a commercial driver’s license overlaid with hazardous waste training positions them for occupations in great demand by trucking companies located between Milwaukee and Chicago. We believe everyone is employable – our multi-faceted credentialing approach has resulted in an average 80 percent placement rate and we anticipate sector partnerships and placement outcomes will climb further as we continue to fine tune our training.

About the author: Chris Litzau serves as the President of the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps (Great Lakes CCC), a regional job training and education program for disadvantaged individuals in southeastern Wisconsin. He is a tireless advocate for preparing young adults from under-resourced communities with national, portable credentials and skills necessary to achieve careers in emerging technologies. He has a strong interest in transitioning job training participants into the water sector. As the former Executive Director for 12 years at the Milwaukee Community Service Corps–an urban youth corps program that engages young adults aged 18 to 23 in community service and public infrastructure development projects—he assembled a team that included the U.S. EPA, Wisconsin DNR and CH2M HILL to pioneer the “Milwaukee Model” as an initiative to place brownfield job training participants in marine environments to assist in the clean-up of contaminated sediments from the Great Lakes and its tributaries.

Oct 15, 2014

EPA Grant Makes Great Strides in Education and Health

air quality, asthma, children's health, grants 0 Comments

One of the many things we do in the EPA Denver office is work on education and children’s health. We wanted to share some work that Denver based National Jewish Health completed as part of an environmental education grant. This grant allowed National Jewish Health to work with regional projects that focused on environmental education and health. One of the objectives is to work with research organizations to bring the best science to address children’s health.

National Jewish Health is a Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center (Children’s Centers). Jointly funded by EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Children’s Centers conduct research to understand the complex interactions between the environment, genetics, and other factors, and how those interactions may affect children’s health.

Air quality and health was a program that allowed a network within EPA Region 8 to increase skills related to air quality and human health, and provide environmental education to schools, higher education institutions, and not for profit organizations to help tailor implementation and stewardship activities to meet the needs of their community.

image of two girls standing in front of lockers at a display table

East Middle School in Aurora, Colorado during a back to school night discussing asthma and environmental impacts on lung health.

In total, there were 19 projects reaching over 25,000 youth in EPA Region 8. More than 15 lesson plans/resources were developed and nine public schools, three higher education institutions, and seven community organizations were funded to conduct a variety of activities in diverse settings. Here are some of the projects:

The Clean Air Engines Off! program is an anti-idling education program offered through the American Lung Association to local schools.
At the Conservation Center in Paonia, Colorado, students conducted investigations on topics including airplane emissions, indoor air quality, effects of train traffic and the creation of carbon dioxide during physical exertion. Students presented their findings to the public through a community meeting organized by The Conservation Center.
At the Denver Green School students’ projects included connecting basic circuits to a microcontroller and programming it both to control the circuit and to interface with a user. The students worked with environmental sensors to measure temperature, humidity, and air quality.
At the John McConnell Math and Science Center in Grand Junction, Colorado an interactive, computer‐based program and kiosk was developed to teach students about:
1. Formation and sources of ground-based ozone
2. Differences between “good” and “bad” ozone
3. Effects of ozone on lung health and the environment, and
4. Exploration of what individuals can do to reduce the creation of ozone.
The Utah Society for Environmental Education provided skills in linking air quality and health and offered three workshops reaching teachers from along the Wasatch Front.

It’s very rewarding to see the successful outcomes of our grant programs. These grants allow environmental programs to reach a greater audience than EPA could reach alone.

For more information about protecting children’s health, visit www2.epa.gov/children.

About the authors: Wendy Dew is the Outreach and Education Coordinator for EPA Region 8. Kim Bartels is the Children’s Environmental Health Coordinator for EPA Region 8. The authors are sharing these stories to celebrate Children’s Health Month.

Jul 25, 2014

Science for Sustainable and Healthy Tribes

Administrator, Air, American Indian, climate change, grants, indoor air pollution, tribes 0 Comments

Yesterday I signed the Policy on Environmental Justice for Working with Federally Recognized Tribes and Indigenous Peoples, which clarifies how EPA works with federally and state recognized tribes, indigenous community-based grassroots organizations, and other indigenous peoples to address their environmental and public health concerns.

American Indian communities have been inextricably tied to the natural environment for generations. From cultural identify to sustenance, many of those unique traditions endure. That’s why I’m so excited about the six tribal environmental health research grants to tribal communities and universities that we recently announced.

Jul 25, 2014

Science for Sustainable and Healthy Tribes

Alaska, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, grants, indoor air pollution, Little Big Horn College, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Tribal, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, University of Tulsa, Yurok Tribe 1 Comment

Crossposted from EPA’s Leadership blog.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

By EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

EPA is proud to have a long and rich history of supporting environmental and public health protection for all communities. These EPA supported grants will increase our knowledge of the threats posed by climate change and indoor air pollution, while incorporating traditional ecological knowledge to reach culturally appropriate and acceptable adaptation strategies to address these threats.

There is a unique need for tribal-focused research to identify those climate-related impacts and to reduce associated health and ecological risks. EPA has been actively engaged in supporting such research, and I’m thrilled EPA is providing grants to further that work. The grants will support the study of the impacts of climate change and indoor air pollution on tribal health and way of life. Grantees include:

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium located in Anchorage, Alaska will be looking at ways to assess, monitor, and adapt to the threats of a changing climate to the sustainability of food and water in remote Alaska native villages.
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in La Conner, Washington will be examining coastal climate impacts to traditional foods, cultural sites, and tribal community health and well-being.
Yurok Tribe in Klamath, California will be identifying, assessing, and adapting to climate change impacts to Yurok water and aquatic resources, food security and tribal health.
Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, Montana will research climate change adaptation and waterborne disease prevention on the Crow Reservation.
The University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will examine ways to improve indoor air quality and reduce environmental asthma triggers in tribal homes and schools.
The University of Massachusetts-Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts will measure indoor air quality in tents as related to wood smoke exposures and identify potential health risks in remote subsistence hunting communities in North America.

The health of our communities depends upon the health of our environment. These grants will help build prosperous and resilient tribal communities both now and for future generations. Like the enduring memories of my tour of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and tribal environmental program in North Dakota, they will have an impact long after my service as EPA Administrator.

Jul 14, 2014

Building Partnerships to Invest in Communities and Redevelopment

ARC Grant, Brownfields, brownfields assessment, environmental information, grants 0 Comments

We recently announced our continued commitment to invest in communities to jump-start local economic redevelopment through the award of the brownfields assessment, revolving loan fund and cleanup (ARC) grants. Since the first pilot grants were issued in the 1990s, communities across the country have successfully utilized these EPA grant funds to address the reuse and redevelopment of idle, contaminated properties. These grant awards represent a new start, a chance to empower communities to return once blighted neighborhoods into opportunities to generate jobs and spur economic growth. Many projects, past and present, which received ARC grants promote a clean environment and redevelopment.

Partnerships between neighborhoods, local developers, and governments are essential for surrounding communities to acquire the resources needed to meet revitalization goals. EPA’s Brownfields Program strives to expand the ability of all communities to recycle vacant and abandoned properties for new, productive reuses. By leveraging private resources, and the resources of other federal and state programs, communities can support site cleanup as part of the redevelopment process. EPA cannot meet every community site reuse need without the support of strong partnerships leveraging a range of resources. We want every community to have access to the resources they need to address brownfields and use them as catalysts to stimulate new economic activity and jobs, and serve as the foundation for an improved community quality of life.

Other projects these grants have affected include:

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe located in South Dakota plans to clean-up the Old Swiftbird Day School and reuse the site as an eagle sanctuary. The tribe leveraged funding to oversee the project completion and leveraged $1.3 million from the Tribal Equitable Compensation Act;
Indianapolis’ first permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans opened on the site of a former iron foundry brownfield remediated by the City; and
The City of Waterloo, Iowa began a renewal initiative on many abandoned commercial and industrial properties with perceived contamination.
The crime-prone Greg Grant Park in Trenton, NJ was removed and replaced with award-winning housing for low income residents.
The investigation of the Sugar Hill site in Harlem, NY led to a remediation project that was completed in November 2012, creating a Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling that will open later this year.
Read all our brownfields success stories.

These are just some of many ARC grant success stories and I’m proud of the visible impacts these grants have had in communities across the country. Since the beginning of the EPA’s Brownfields program in 1995, cumulative brownfield program investments across the country have leveraged more than $21 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 93,000 jobs nationwide. To date, the brownfields program has assessed over 20,600 sites, and made over 30,000 acres ready for reuse.

I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments:

What additional actions do you think EPA could take to further encourage the leveraging of private resources for brownfields redevelopment?
What steps can EPA take to build more partnerships and align resources in order to advance brownfields projects?
What other community uses or needs should EPA consider in project implementation?

Jan 23, 2014

Braving the Weather to Promote Green Infrastructure in Philadelphia

climate change, grants, Green Infrastructure, Green Solutions, Local Community, Partnership, Philadelphia, Research, Resilience, Winter 1 Comment

By Bob Perciasepe

Crossposted from EPA Connect

CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley and EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe in snow storm in Philadelphia following STAR grant announcement

Yesterday, I was up in Philadelphia joined by CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley and Mayor Nutter to announce nearly $5 million in EPA grants made possible through the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program. These investments are going to five universities, and aim to fill gaps in research evaluating the costs and benefits of certain green infrastructure practices.

The projects to be invested in, led by Temple University, Villanova University, Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania and University of New Hampshire, will explore the financial and social costs and benefits associated with green infrastructure as a stormwater and wet weather pollution management tool.

From rain gardens and permeable pavement to using absorbent landscape materials to soak up rainwater and more, the knowledge we gain will pay dividends not just for Philadelphia, but for cities all across the country. Green infrastructure can save money, promote safe drinking water, and build more resilient water systems—especially in the face of climate change.

(from left) Howard Neukrug, Commissioner of Philadelphia Water Department, Samuel Mukasa, Dean of UNH College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Ramona Trovato, EPA Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of Research and Development, Dan Garofalo, UPenn Sustainability Director, Nancy Sutley, CEQ Chair, Stephen Nappi, Associate Vice Provost for Technology and Commercialization at Temple University, Bob Perciasepe, EPA Deputy Administrator, Reverend Peter Donahue, President of Villanova University, Maurice Eldridge, VP of College and Community Relations at Swarthmore College, Shawn Garvin, EPA Region 3 Administrator, and Jim Johnson, EPA Director of NCER

Results from these university research teams will supplement a growing body of knowledge that EPA’s own researchers are uncovering. From monitoring and performance evaluation to creating models and a toolbox of green infrastructure resources for decision-makers, this research will be valuable to the city of Philadelphia and beyond.

We’re especially proud of the great work going on through Philly’s Green City, Clean Waters program. Our ongoing partnership between our researchers, EPA regional staff, academia, and the City of Philadelphia under Mayor Michael Nutter is a model for others to follow. We’re helping make real progress at the community level. Community progress isn’t just what guides our actions—it’s a measure of our success in fulfilling EPA’s mission of protecting public health and the environment.

And we’ll continue to rely on that kind of collaboration—especially when it comes to climate change. Luckily, Philadelphia has made major progress, thanks to Mayor Nutter’s efforts in cutting carbon pollution and preparing the city for climate impacts. As a member of President Obama’s State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, Mayor Nutter’s advice will be critical to make sure our climate preparedness and resilience policies respond to the needs of communities. The advice we get from the Task Force is an important component to our national Climate Action Plan to combat climate change broadly.

We have come a long way in the 40 years since the Clean Water Act. But with new challenges like climate change—we need push forward with community-focused, innovative solutions. That’s why locally focused partnerships like Green City, Clean Water, and ground level solutions like green infrastructure, are paving a pathway for progress.

I’m confident that through our STAR program, investments in these projects will go a long way to developing innovation solutions to stormwater management, wet weather pollution, and building more resilient, safer water systems for all.

Bob Perciasepe is the EPA’s Deputy Administrator.

Dec 12, 2013

The Potomac Watershed – From All Sides

Drinking Water Use, Emerging Contaminants, grants, Green Solutions, In Your Backyard, Land, Partnership, Potomac River, restoration, Source Water, water quality, Watersheds 0 Comments

By Ellen Schmitt and Susan Spielberger

More often than not, watersheds cross political boundaries. Take the Potomac River for example. It drains an area of 14,670 square miles in four states: Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. As part of the larger Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the Potomac River delivers a significant amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment to the Chesapeake Bay.

Morning fog over the Potomac River. Photo courtesy of Flickr photographer jm6553 from EPA’s State of the Environment Photo Project

Besides its contribution to downstream nutrient pollution, the Potomac basin itself faces a number of threats to its source water quality. One of these threats is a rapid growth in urban population which accounts for 81% of the basin’s 6.11 million residents, and is expected to grow by more than 1 million people over the next 20 years.

The environmental challenges presented by the Potomac River, as well as other mid-Atlantic waters often require the attention of different EPA programs. Here’s what two of us do to protect “the Nation’s River” here in EPA, Region 3.

Ellen:

I work in the Drinking Water Branch and we’re working with the Potomac River Basin Drinking Water Source Protection Partnership to protect the river and its tributaries as sources of drinking water. Protecting the source water in the first place is the best preventative step to providing safe drinking water. Hand and glove with this are the other usual steps including treatment at water plants, a safe drinking water distribution system, and increasing the awareness of consumers of protecting drinking water sources. This approach makes sense because some substances can’t be removed at water treatment facilities and it’s often much less expensive to treat the water if contaminants are kept out in the first place. Examples of source water protection activities are: keeping manure from farms out of streams to reduce the potential for pathogens entering the water; having a response plan in the event of a spill of hazardous materials; and working with transportation agencies to reduce the amount of salt spread on the region’s roads during the winter.

The Potomac Partnership is a unique collaboration, comprised of nearly 20 drinking water utilities and government agencies from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and DC focusing on source water protection activities addressing agriculture, urban run-off and emerging contaminants.

Susan:

I work in the Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division. In 2010, Congress provided EPA with two million dollars in funding to restore and protect the Potomac Highlands (a part of Appalachia), and EPA selected American Rivers to administer this grant program. My role in this program is serve as the technical contact for the projects that have been funded – eight of them – ranging from $150,000 to $300,000, that focus on improving natural resources and socio-economic conditions.

Projects include stream bank restoration in Staunton and Waynesboro, Virginia; land conservation projects in West Virginia and Pennsylvania where parcels with high ecological value are being protected through conservation easements; reclaiming mine land in the Monongahela National Forest by planting native spruce trees; and constructing a green house/ shade house project in Frostburg, Maryland, on reclaimed mine land.

In selecting projects that will protect and restore the Potomac (as well as other mid-Atlantic waters), we emphasize a strategic approach to conservation – also known as the Green Infrastructure approach. We emphasize the connectivity of forest “hubs” of high ecological value and their ability to either expand those hubs or connect the hubs together. This is a more effective way to protect and restore natural systems because it strives to keep important areas intact and to restore ones that are degraded.

For more information about the Potomac watershed, check out this State of the Nation’s River Report from the Potomac Conservancy (PDF). What kinds of activities are happening in the watershed where you live? How else could it be approached, from all sides?

About the Authors: Susan Spielberger and Ellen Schmitt both work out of EPA’s Mid-Atlantic office in Philadelphia, PA. Susan works in the Environment and Innovation Division in the Office of Environmental Information and Assessment, and Ellen works in the Water Protection Division’s Drinking Water Branch.

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