Announcements 2025.5.31

[Walker, Jane]

1.) Information Briefing and Public Hearing: Draft Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit to Allow the Release of Industrial Stormwater in Fairfax County– June 2, 2025; Public Comment Period Ends: June 18, 2025
2.) Fulbright U.S. Student Program – Webinar: June 4, 2025; Application Deadline: October 7, 2025
3.) Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) News – Various Dates, Starting: June 4, 2025
4.) Public Participation Opportunities: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Cleanup Studies and Implementation Plans – Various Dates
5.) Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI) -- Applications Due: June 6, 2025; Sessions Start: September 24, 2025
6.) Volunteer Opportunities: Elizabeth River Project – Various Dates, Starting: June 7, 2025
7.) Webinar: Microplastics Impact on Marine Species and Habitats – June 9, 2025
8.) Living Shoreline Collaborative Spring General Meeting -- June 11, 2025
9.) Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) Training Webinars – Various Dates, Starting: June 17, 2025
10.) Request for Proposals (RFP): Design/Build Services for Nontidal Wetland and Stream Mitigation Project Sites -- Submissions Due: July 31, 2025
11.) DEQ News – Vol 4, Issue 5 – https://www.deq.virginia.gov/get-involved/newsroom
12.) Participation Sought: Mid-Atlantic Climate Adaptation Partnership (MARISA) Survey -- https://answer.rand.org/MARISAToolSurvey
13.) Water Center Jobs Board – 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. 
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1.) Information Briefing and Public Hearing: Draft Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) Permit to Allow the Release of Industrial Stormwater in Fairfax County – Informational Briefing (6pm) and Hearing (6:30pm): June 2, 2025; Public Comment Period Ends: June 18, 2025 – Alexandria, VA – The draft VPDES permit would allow the release of industrial stormwater from U.S. Army Garrison Fort Belvoir into waterbodies within Fairfax County. Learn more at https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41701. Organized by the Virginia DEQ.
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2.) Fulbright U.S. Student Program – Application Deadline: October 7, 2025 (5pm) – Learn more at https://us.fulbrightonline.org/applicants/application-components and register for information webinars at https://us.fulbrightonline.org/applicants/information-sessions?view=events (next webinar: June 4, 2025). Contact fbst...@iie.org or 1-800-272-6994 with questions. See other contacts at https://us.fulbrightonline.org/contact-us.
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3.) Virginia Native Plant Society (VNPS) News
   ++ VNPS State and Chapter Events – Various Dates, Starting: June 4, 2025 -- https://vnps.org/events/
   ++ Regional Virginia Native Plant Guides -- https://vnps.org/virginia-native-plant-guides/ (download or order)
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4.) Public Participation Opportunities: Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Cleanup Studies and Implementation Plans – Learn more about TMDL studies under development across Virginia at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/water-quality/tmdl-development/tmdls-under-development. Learn more about Virginia’s cleanup implementation plans under development at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/our-programs/water/water-quality/implementation/implementation-plans-under-development/.
   ++ Cleanup Plan: North Fork Rivanna River Watershed (Albemarle and Greene County) – Comment Period Ends: June 4, 2025 -- https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41601
   ++ Cleanup Study: Deep Run, Dover Creek, Upham Brook Watersheds (Henrico County, Goochland County, City of Richmond) – Comment Period Ends: June 9, 2025 -- https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41600
   ++ Watershed Cleanup Study for Wolf Creek (Washington County) – Meeting: June 25, 2025 (3pm) – Abingdon, VA -- https://townhall.virginia.gov/l/ViewMeeting.cfm?MeetingID=41746
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5.) Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI) Applications Due: June 6, 2025; Sessions Start: September 24, 2025 -- VNRLI is a professional development program for Virginia’s natural resource leaders who seek to expand their skills in conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving. Learn more and apply at https://vnrli.ien.virginia.edu/.
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6.) Volunteer Opportunities: Elizabeth River Project – Learn more about these and other opportunities at https://elizabethriver.org/volunteer/. Interested individuals may also sign up to be an Outreach Volunteer. Organized by the Elizabeth River Project.
   ++ Litter Clean-Ups – June 7, 2025 -- Norfolk, VA
   ++ Paradise Creek Nature Park – June 7 &14, 2025 (9-11am) -- Portsmouth, VA
   ++ Landscape Maintenance at Ryan Resilience Lab -- June 12 & 26, 2025; and July 10, 2025 (10am-Noon) – Norfolk, VA
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7.) Webinar: Microplastics Impact on Marine Species and Habitats – June 9, 2025 (2pm) – This free webinar will focus on research priorities, standardization of methods, and the vulnerability of habitats to microplastic-related threats. Presenters will share research on impacts to plankton, fish species, and seagrass beds. A facilitated discussion and audience Q&A will follow. Learn more and register at https://www.midatlanticocean.org/. Organized by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO).
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8.) Living Shoreline Collaborative Spring General Meeting -- June 11, 2025 – Hampton, VA – The Mosaic Approach to living shoreline implementation and other topics will be discussed.  The meeting will be followed by a volunteering event with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation or a boat ride on the James River Association's deadrise, the Longview. Learn more at https://www.jamesrivershorelines.org/lsc.html.
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9.) Water and Wastewater Training Webinars – Learn more about these webinars and others and register at https://www.rcap.org/training-events/. Offered by the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) and Great Lakes Community Action Partnership. 
   ++ Income Surveys: A Tool for Improving Drinking Water Funding in Small Communities – June 17, 2025 (1-2pm)
   ++ The Decentralized Wastewater Landscape in Ohio – June 26, 2025 (1-2pm)
   ++ Lead and Copper Compliance - Part 1 – July 9, 2025 (9:30-11am)
   ++ Lead and Copper Compliance - Part 2 – July 23, 2025 (9:30-11am)
   ++ Recruiting Retiring Military Personnel into the Wastewater Sector – August 14, 2025 (1pm)
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10.) Request for Proposals (RFP): Design/Build Services for Nontidal Wetland and Stream mitigation project sites -- Submissions Due: July 31, 2025 – Site locations: Chowan River, Roanoke River, Shenandoah River, and Lower James River. The purpose of the projects is to provide mitigation to offset unavoidable impacts for which the Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund (VARTF) was utilized as compensatory mitigation. For more details, see: https://tnc.app.box.com/s/wqiha067t77khpwlyojz5zothzqi2lv8.  Offered by The Nature Conservancy (TNC).
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11.) DEQ News – Vol 4, Issue 5 – The current issue and previous issues of DEQ’s official newsletter are available at https://www.deq.virginia.gov/get-involved/newsroom. You can subscribe to the newsletter (see the link in the "Stay Informed" section at the bottom of webpage). Published by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
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12.) Participation Sought: Mid-Atlantic Climate Adaptation Partnership (MARISA) Survey -- MARISA’s mission is to collaborate with Mid-Atlantic communities to enhance their resilience to a changing climate through improved data, place-based decision support, and public engagement. MARISA has built several regional-scale climate data tools:  Intensity-Duration Frequency (IDF) Curve Tool; The Climate and Hazard Mitigation Planning Tool (CHaMP); Seasonal Climate Summaries; Community Climate Outlooks; and Model Inventory and Selection Tool (MIST).  The goals of this survey are to get a better understanding of if/how MARISA climate data tools are being used in the Mid-Atlantic region and whether there are steps to better enable their use. Learn more and access the survey at https://answer.rand.org/MARISAToolSurvey. The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.
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13.) Water Center Jobs Board – View a listing of current job opportunities and employment resources on the Jobs Board at https://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/jobs/.  Developed by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center (Water Center).
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The VWMC announcements are provided with support from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center. Thank you to our sponsor!

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.