Announcements 2024.3.25
Walker, Jane
Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC) Conference Survey – Responses Due: April 15, 2024 -- Please provide your thoughts on water-related topics of most interest to you in our survey (If hyperlink does not open the survey, please copy link and paste it in your browser). The results of the survey will be used in planning future VWMC conferences. We are also accepting potential speaker names. If there is someone you want to hear at the conference, please provide their name and contact information. There are only 13 questions so the survey should take just a few minutes to complete. You can skip any question. Thank you for your time and interest in the VWMC conferences.
1.) Request for Applications: Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program – Informational Webinars:
March 28, 2024 & April 9, 2024; Application Deadline: May 10, 2024
2.) Participants Sought: Sustainable Wastewater Management Survey – Responses
Due: March 31, 2024
3.) Informal Public Comment Period: Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resiliency Guidance – Webinar: April 3, 2024; Comment Deadline: May 3, 2024
4.) Webinar: Report on the Environment (ROE) – April 4, 2024
5.) Buffer Establishment and Soil Health Workshop – April 5, 2024
6.) UVA Wise STEM Governor's School – Applications Due: April 8, 2024; Program: July 7-21, 2024
7.) 12th National Capital Region Water Resources Symposium – April 12, 2024
8.) Amplifying Indigenous Women’s Voices for Healthy Soil and Water – April 12-13, 2024
9.) Potomac RiverKeeper Network (PRKN) News
++ Community Science Water Quality Monitoring Training – April 17 & April 24, 2024
++ Earth Day Cleanups – April 2024
10.) Call for Abstracts: AWRA, UCOWR, NIWR 60th Anniversary Joint Water Resources Conference – Submission Deadline: April 29, 2024; Conference: September 30-October 2, 2024
11.) Request for Proposals: Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program (WCAP) Grants – Submission Deadline: May 1, 2024
12.) International Soil Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO) 2024 Conference – September 23-27, 2024
13.) Job Opportunities – https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/jobs/
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See recent announcements and learn more about the Virginia Water Monitoring Council (VWMC) at
www.VirginiaWMC.org. Feel free to forward these announcements. When forwarding, please acknowledge the VWMC. If you have a water-related announcement of regional or statewide interest, send it to
vw...@vt.edu and ask that it be distributed to the VWMC membership. If someone forwarded this message to you, you can join the VWMC for free by sending your name, water-monitoring affiliation (if applicable), and contact information
(email address, mailing address, and phone number) to
vw...@vt.edu. Thank you to the VWMC’s intern, Logan Flanagan, for developing today’s announcements.
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1.) Request for Applications: Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program
– Informational Webinars: March 28, 2024
(1-2:30pm) & April 9, 2024
(2:30-4pm); Application Deadline: May 10, 2024 – Anticipating awarding one agreement for approximately $2.1 million to advance watershed protection activities in healthy freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems. Requires a 40% non-federal cost
share/match. Nonprofit and non-governmental organizations, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia are eligible. Learn more at
https://www.epa.gov/hwp/healthy-watersheds-consortium-grants.
Submit an application at https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/352919.
Offered by the EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds.
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2.) Participants Sought: Sustainable Wastewater Management
Survey
– Responses Due: March 31, 2024
– Survey Link:
https://forms.gle/KfgbZpCxfroCZ6HHA
(copy hyperlink and paste it in your browser if link does not work)
-- This 5-question survey seeks to gauge public interest and knowledge
about sustainable wastewater management. All are encouraged to participate. Responses remain anonymous (no identifying information will be collected). This survey is for a project by Lauren Handley, a student at Virginia Tech who is interning with the Virginia
Water Resources Research Center (Water Center). Responses will support her ‘Did You Know’ article to be posted on the Water Center’s website
(https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/did-you-know/).
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3.) Informal Public Comment Period: Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) Resiliency Guidance
– Webinar: April 3, 2024
(10am); Comment Deadline: May 3, 2024
– DEQ updated the guidance based on comments received during the prior informal comment period in December 2022. Includes a model ordinance, various checklists, resiliency assessment template, and more. Learn more at
https://townhall.virginia.gov//l/ViewNotice.cfm?GNID=2806.
Organized by Virginia DEQ. Webinar co-hosted with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
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4.) Webinar: Report on the Environment (ROE)
– April 4, 2024
(3-4pm) –This webinar will highlight the ROE program history, future vision, and website. Learn more and register at
https://www.epa.gov/research-states/epa-tools-and-resources-training-webinar-series.
Offered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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5.) Buffer Establishment and Soil Health Workshop
– April 5, 2024
(10am-1pm) – Princess Anne, MD – Participants will practice in-field assessments of soil structure, compaction, color, and smell. Buffer
establishment and maintenance, funding opportunities, species selection, and more will be covered. Learn more about this event and others at
https://futureharvest.org/programs/field-school/upcoming-events/.
Offered by Future Harvest.
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6.) UVA Wise STEM Governor's School
– Applications Due: April 8, 2024; Program: July 7-21, 2024
– Wise/St. Paul, VA – This program is for rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors in Southwest Virginia who have demonstrated significant effort and achievement in the sciences. The program is free for selected students. The program will emphasize
hands-on field and laboratory research. Learn more and apply at https://www.uvawise.edu/academics/departments/natural-sciences/governors-school.
Sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education and UVA Wise.
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7.) 12th National Capital Region Water Resources Symposium
– April 12, 2024
(8am-5pm)
– Washington, D.C. – Theme: “Federal Funding Access for Emerging Water Resources and Water Infrastructure Challenges” -- This one-day symposium will discuss challenges and opportunities for sustainable and resilient water management and infrastructure in
the region, as well as nationally and internationally. Learn more at http://awrancrs.org/awra-ncrs-symposium-2024.html.
Organized by the American Water Resources Association (AWRA) and University of the District of Columbia College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Sciences.
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8.) Amplifying Indigenous Women’s Voices for Healthy Soil and Water
– April 12-13, 2024
– Loudon County, VA – Learn about Indigenous land management and foodways that support soil and water health. Educational booths, family
friendly activities and networking will follow a panel discussion. Learn more and register at
https://www.agricair.org/co-creating-2024.
Organized by Agricair and Oatlands in collaboration with Virginia Tech’s Food Systems & Community Transformation.
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9.) Potomac RiverKeeper Network (PRKN) News
– Learn about other events at
https://www.potomacriverkeepernetwork.org/calendar/.
++ Community Science Water Quality Monitoring Training – April 17 & April 24, 2024 – These in-person training sessions help volunteers become a certified Community Science Water Quality Monitor. Participants will learn about field and lab methods
for collecting and reading water quality samples. To learn more and register, contact Morgan Bench at
mor...@prknetwork.org.
++ Earth Day Cleanups – April 2024 -- Shenandoah Valley – Anticipating cleaning up about 60 sites. For details, contact Frank Filipy at
frank....@gmail.com.
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10.) Call for Abstracts: AWRA, UCOWR, NIWR 60th Anniversary Joint Water Resources Conference
– Submission Deadline: April 29, 2024; Conference: September 30-October 2, 2024
– St. Louis, MO – Theme: “Celebrating the Past and Planning for the Future of Water” – Abstracts may cover a wide range of topics and can
be submitted for oral presentation, poster, panel session, lightning talks, or participatory session formats. Learn more, register, and submit an abstract at
https://www.awra.org/Members/Events_and_Education/Events/2024-Joint-Conference/2024_Joint_Conference.aspx.
Organized by the American Water Resources Associations (AWRA), Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR), and the National Institute for Water Resources (NIWR).
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11.) Request for Proposals: Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program (WCAP) Grants
– Submission Deadline: May 1, 2024
(5pm) – For 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations to undertake acid mine drainage remediation projects. Grants are capped at $100,000 per project
and can include passive or active water treatment systems. Learn more at
https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/352732.
Examples of WCAP funded projects can be found at https://www.osmre.gov/programs/watersheds.
Funded by the WCAP Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
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12.) International Soil Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO) 2024 Conference
– September 23-27, 2024
– Virginia Beach, VA – Theme: “Living Roots, Living Soil” – Topics presented at the conference include regenerative agriculture, soil biology
and biochemistry, soil fertility and plant nutrition, soil and water management, environmental quality, and more. Learn more at
https://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/arec/eastern-shore/istro-2024-22nd-conference.html.
Early-bird registration ends April 1, 2024. Organized by the International Soil Tillage Research Organization.
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13.) Job Opportunities
– View a listing of current job opportunities and employment resources on the Job Board at
https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/jobs/. Developed by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center.
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The VWMC announcements are provided with support from a grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Funding is also provided from generous VWMC members. Thank you to our
sponsors!
You too can sponsor the VWMC announcements. Tax-deductible contributions can be made to the VWMC to support information updates and other VWMC activities. Make checks payable to: “The Virginia Tech Foundation” and on the memo portion of the check include
“VWMC Fund #872802.” Mail contributions to the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (0444, Attn: Jane Walker) at 210 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech; 310 West Campus Drive; Blacksburg, VA 24061.