Post on 17-Jan-2018
description
How the Shenandoah Valley Science Consortium HappenedFrom the Perspective of
Richard Wertz, Executive Director of the Foundation for Earth Science
October 23, 2007
ME
America RiversMost Endangered River Sections
2006
• Pajaro River • Upper Yellowstone River• Willamette River• Salmon Trout River• Shenandoah River
WertzCounty
SupervisorStaelin
What Are You Doing About My River?
Shenandoah River Water Resources Problems
Water Availability• Average Annual Rainfall Equal to San Antonio, Texas• Drought Prone Area• Rapid Population Growth in Northern Valley
Water Quality• Fish Kills• High Mercury Content from WWII-Vintage Waste Sites• Agricultural Waste Run Off
Complicating Factors• Karst Geographic Features• River Is the Reservoir/Storage Facility• Impact of Air Pollution from Ohio River Coal Burning Electricity
Generating Plants• Multi-County, Interstate
Regional Resources Policy Committee
Elected Officials from 9 Virginia & West Virginia
Counties and Cities Represented
Created a Strategic Plan for Regional Policy to Provide Long-Term Protection of the and Plan for Using Ground and Surface Water
STRATEGIC PLAN
Strategy #1 – Meet Virginia requirements for water supply planning.Strategy #2 – Establish a regional drought awareness and response
system Strategy #3 – Cooperatively build local government tools to address mutual water issues.
Strategy #5 – Establish partnerships among localities and stakeholders.Strategy #6 – Make existing laws more effective through thru coordinated
enforcement.Strategy #7 – Develop a better picture of short and long-term water quality
trends.Strategy #8 – Develop an education and outreach plan.Strategy #9 – Engage more local and regional elected officials and
decision-makers in the process.Strategy #10 – Further develop “greenways/green space” as a regional
water quality tool.Strategy #11 – Develop a marketing strategy that creates economic
incentives for agriculture, rural businesses, industry, and local communities to practice water stewardship.
Bedrock of the Strategic Plan
Strategy #4 – Develop a “Shenandoah Valley Water Resources Science Plan” to provide decision-makers with the ability to better see how policy actions affect future watershed conditions.
Science Resources Available
REGIONAL SCIENCE
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
GREATVALLEY WATERSCIENCE FORUM
SHENAIR LOCALGOVERNMENT
COMMITTEE
REGIONALWATER RESOURCES
POLICYCOMMITTEE
SCIENCE QUESTIONS POSED TO USGS
• 1. What is the inter-relationship of flow between groundwater and stream flow in the Shenandoah Valley?
• 2. What are the current levels of groundwater pollution in the Valley (How much of the problem is caused by natural causes, septic failures, farming, urban runoff, etc. and how can these be remediated and prevented?)
• 3. Can groundwater budgets be defined by local area? • 4. If #3 is not possible, can underground “watersheds” be defined for
karst areas?• 5. What is the potential for deepwater reservoirs as either a source
of water or as a storage AREA?• 6. What is the interrelationship between air quality and water
quality? (The NOAA funded, ShenAir project should provide useful data but the data will need to be studied and interpreted.)
• 7. What is the interrelationship between soil quality and water retention and water quality?
What Can the Foundation Do About Our River?
Wertz Staelin
So, Who’s On the Hook?
FOUNDATIONFOR EARTH
SCIENCE
UNITED STATESGEOLOGICAL
SURVEY
Foundation for Earth Science
Operations Arm of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation)• http://www.esipfed.org
ESIP Federation Includes More than 100 Partner Organizations• NASA, NOAA and USGS Data Centers• Government Research Labs• Universities• Technology Developers• Education, Nonprofit and Commercial Resource Providers
NASA, NOAA and EPA Are Strategic Partners More Than 400 Individuals Involved
ESIP Federation Contributions to the Shenandoah River Science Consortium
Satellite and In Situ Data (including models, visualizations and decision support tools)
Data Fusion Technology Technical Assistance for Using and Interpreting
Data
**ESIP Contributions are supplemental and complementary to USGS Field Science Work.
So, How to Proceed?
Regional Water Resources Policy Committee, USGS and Others Formed Shenandoah River Science Consortium.
Consortium Planned Shenandoah River Natural Systems Symposium• “Taking Care of the Water”• October 15-16, 2007 in Winchester.
Symposium Objective: Aggregate Science Input and Resource to Develop A Water Resrouces Science Plan.
Building the Consortium
US Geological Survey Involve USGS Science Centers Involve USGS Regions Involve USGS Headquarters Provide Symposium Funding
Water Policy Committee Involve VA and WV State Agencies Involve Local Elected and Appointed
Officials Involved Local Citizen Action
Committees
Foundation for Earth Science Involve NASA, EPA and NOAA Involve ESIP Water Management
Cluster Members Involved Area Universities Involve Private Sector
ShenAIR Committee Involve Air Quality Interests Involve More Universities Involve More State and Local Officials Fund Science Writer
Expected Results From Symposium
• Broad-Based Water Resource Community of Practice Formed.
• Inter-Disciplinary Science Plan Will Be Developed.
• USGS Will Fund Additional Research.
• Other Federal Agencies Will Use the Valley as a Testbed.
• ESIP Federation Demonstrated the Value of Inter-Disciplinary/Inter-Agency Collaboration.
Collaboration Tools
Brand Niemann Created Wiki for Symposium:• http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?ShenandoahValleyScience
Conference Calls and Wiki Enabled Symposium Planning. Wiki Produced Almost Instant Record that was Used in Breakouts.
Webcasting Allowed Remote Participation; Video-Casting almost Allowed Governor to Participate.
Wiki will be used for Follow-Up Science Inventory and to Draft Science Plan.
FINAL THOUGHTS
• As Tammany Hall Boss George Washington Plunkett, Perhaps the Greatest Collaborationist of any Generation Once Said,
“I SEEN MY OPPORTUNITIES AND I TOOK ‘EM”.
• The Shenandoah Valley Science Collaborative Resulted when the Unexpected Alignment of Need, Common Interest and Mutual Benefit Created an Opportunity.
• We need to be Positioned to Recognize Opportunities like this, Take Advantage of Them and have the Communications Tools Required In Place to Support Creative Collaborative Initiatives.
Questions
Richard WertzFoundation for Earth Science540-837-9613dick.wertz@earthsciencefoundation.org