Mid-Atlantic Region Land, Water, and Living Resources

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Mid-Atlantic RegionLand, Water, and Living
Resources
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First State Council
MWMC
Formed in 1995
Modeled after ITFM
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What are we? Who are we?

• Community of environmental
• scientists, resource managers, and
• citizens
• People in government agencies,
• NGOs, and private sector
• People and organizations
• working together
• Forums for communication and
• collaboration

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Goals of MWMC

• Provide forums for communication and
  collaboration
• Promote development of collaborative
  watershed-based monitoring strategies
• Document monitoring activities in Maryland
• Promote use of quality assured procedures for
  sample collection, analysis, assessment, and data
  management

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Selected Monitoring Issues Addressed by MWMC

• Statewide stream gage network
• Reference conditions
• Stream water quality
• Statewide ground-water level network
• Stream restoration
• Monitoring design and methods
• Macroalgae

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Organizational Structure
Board of Directors
Ad Hoc Committees
Standing Committees
General MembersAttendees at Annual Meetings and
Workshops
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MWMC organizational structure
AD HOC COMMITTEES
STANDING COMMITTEES
Annual Conference
Integrated Monitoring
Monitoring Assessment
Data Management
Groundwater Level Monitoring
Program Coordination
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MWMC board membership (monitoring stakeholder
groups)

• State Agencies (4)--at least one each from
  Department of Natural Resources and Maryland
  Department of the Environment
• Local Governments (4)
• Federal Agencies (2)
• Volunteer Groups-Environmental Organizations
  (2)--one of which has statewide affiliation

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MWMC board membership (monitoring stakeholder
groups)

• Academia (2)
• Intergovernmental Organizations (2)
• Consultants and Industry (2)
• At-large Members (2)

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PartnersRegional Agencies

• Chesapeake Bay Program
• Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
• Susquehanna River Basin Commission
• Delaware River Basin Commission
• Anacostia Watershed Toxics Alliance

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Activities of MWMC

• Pastry Networking Clickable map

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Board of Directors Quarterly Meetings
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Standing Committee MeetingsMonitoring and
AssessmentData ManagementProgrammatic
Coordination
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2002 Annual Conference
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2003 Annual Conference
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Ground-Water Network Workshop, June 2002
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Stream Monitoring Roundtable, February 2003
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RegionalForums
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Pulse of the Maryland Water Monitoring Council
...the ebb flow of activities over a year
Annual Conference
Stream Roundtable
Workshops
2003
PCC Online Newsletter
Quarterly full-day Board meetings
1995
Committee meetings throughout the year
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Current recent MWMC activities

• Ninth Annual Conference (November 13, 2003) 
• Planning for Tenth Annual Conference
• Stream Monitoring Roundtables in 2003 and 2004
• Participation on recent Governors Advisory
  Committee on Water Resources

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Current recent MWMC activities

• Ground-Water Network Evaluation developing
  recommendations for a comprehensive ground-water
  monitoring network (2002-04) -- Draft Report
• Integrated Hydrologic Monitoring Workshop forum
  to discuss the monitoring of whole hydrologic
  systems (August 27, 2004)
• Quality Assurance Workshop (Fall 2004)

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Current recent MWMC activities

• Development of a web-based metadata clearinghouse
   
• Strategic planning process
• Newsletter
• Maintenance of the MWMC website  
• Stream restoration tracking  
•  

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How is MWMC supported?

• 319 grant through Maryland DNR has provided
  part-time staff support (Executive
  Secretary)grant ending!
• Time volunteered by Board and committee members
• Time/in-kind resources donated by member
  organizations
• Registration fees for annual meetings and
  workshops

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MWMC Strategic Planning

• Our vision for monitoring in Maryland
• The MWMC envisions a time when monitoring
  methods, programs, projects, and data are the
  product of collaboration and comparability among
  agencies and organizations. The resulting
  information will be accessible for use by all
  stakeholders and will facilitate sound
  decision-making in environmental management and
  protection.

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MWMC strategic planning process

• Vision
• What would water monitoring in Maryland look like
  if there were true collaboration and
  comparability among agencies/organizations?
• Challenges
• What are the challenges we face in working toward
  our vision?
• Assets
• What are the assets members member
  organizations bring to the Council?
• What are the assets the Council brings to members
  their organizations?

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MWMC strategic planning process

• Initial meeting held September 17, 2002. Purpose
  of the initial meeting to create a
  baselinewhere are we now?

Strategic planning is a tool to help us fully
uncover our available options set priorities for
them, and define the methods to achieve them.
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MWMC Strategic Planning--Beginnings of Steps 2
through 4
ELEMENTS (2) ISSUES CHALLENGES (3) ACTIVITIES (4)
Facilitating Collaboration Assure a membership body that represents all water-related disciplines within the State of Maryland Provide a forum of open communication with water monitoring groups and individuals, where issues related to monitoring can be addressed ? Solicit Health Department Board Members ? New Local Governments ? Academic Community Meetings New faculty  ? MWMC newsletter ? Annual meeting ? Monitoring roundtable ? MWMC website ? Topical Workshops ? Program Coordination Committee Support ? Board Meeting Announcements in the Maryland Register
Promoting Comparability Develop an inventory of monitoring program goals and assess the monitoring needs of the community  Support methods that focus on developing coordinated and collaborative approaches that will lead to comparable data collection methods that address local and regional needs  Develop a meta-data, web-based clearinghouse that includes a description of the different programs and contains data sets, study results, and reports and link them to participating organizations ? Recommendations from the GW workshop ? Hydrologic system workshop ? Monitoring roundtable ? Topical Workshops (e.g., QA/QC, sampling design, etc.) ? Watershed Monitoring  ? NWQMC website for methods and comparability, National Methods Board ? Surf Your Watershed w/DNR ? PCC minimum data elements for watershed and stream restoration
Building Capacity Establish a permanent, paid or volunteer staff to oversee various monitoring initiatives ? Annual Meeting ? Explore Nonprofit Status ? Retirees
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MWMC Strategic Planning Steps
ELEMENTS (2) ISSUES CHALLENGES (3) ACTIVITIES (4)
Facilitating Collaboration Assure a membership body that represents all water-related disciplines within the State of Maryland Provide a forum of open communication with water monitoring groups and individuals, where issues related to monitoring can be addressed ? Solicit Health Community ? New Local Governments ? Academic Community Meetings New faculty  ? MWMC newsletter ? Annual meeting ? Monitoring roundtable ? MWMC website ? Topical Workshops ? Program Coordination Committee Support ? Board Meetings in the Maryland Register




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MWMC Strategic Planning Steps
ELEMENTS (2) ISSUES CHALLENGES (3) ACTIVITIES (4)
Promoting Comparability Develop an inventory of monitoring program goals and assess the monitoring needs of the community  Support methods that focus on developing coordinated and collaborative approaches that will lead to comparable data collection methods that address local and regional needs ? Recommendations from the GW workshop ? Hydrologic system workshop ? Monitoring roundtable ? Topical Workshops, (QA/QC sampling design, etc.) ? Watershed Monitoring  


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MWMC Strategic Planning Steps
ELEMENTS (2) ISSUES CHALLENGES (3) ACTIVITIES (4)
Promoting Comparability  Develop a meta-data, web-based clearinghouse that includes a description of the different programs and contains data sets, study results, and reports and link them to participating organizations ? NWQMC website for methods and comparability, National Methods Board ? Surf Your Watershed w/DNR ? PCC minimum data elements for stream and watershed restoration
Building Capacity Establish a permanent, paid or volunteer staff to oversee various monitoring initiatives ? Annual Meeting ? Explore Nonprofit Status ? Retirees



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Lessons Learned

• The continuity of the councils activities
  depends on adequate staff support
• Executive secretary supported by a state agency
• Board and committee members supported by their
  senior managers
• New members must be recruited to spread out the
  effort in time and amongst organizations

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Lessons Learned

• Develop sets of common goals that are above and
  beyond the missions of individual agencies
• Check agency hats at the door
• Strive to understand the jobs and pressures of
  council colleagues from other agencies
• Assess the value of the collective assets in a
  collaborative consortium of agencies and
  organizations

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Lessons Learned

• Pastry networking and Krispy Kreme
  Koordination are important
• Frequent forums for communication
• Council is a both a professional community and a
  social community of people dedicated to serving
  the public and the environment
• Council acquires a culture set by its leaders
• Kinship is important to the members

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MWMC Websitewww.mgs.md.gov/mwmc/
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Potomac Rivernear Harpers Ferry
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Susquehanna River near Port Deposit, Maryland
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Conowingo Dam, Susquehanna River
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Cooperators and PartnersState Agencies

• State Geological Surveys
• State DNRs
• State Environmental Regulation Agencies
• MDE
• DNREC
• State Highway Administrations

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Cooperators and PartnersOther Federal Agencies

• U.S. Army (COE and Bases)
• U.S. Air Force
• U.S. Navy

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Cooperators and PartnersOther Federal Agencies

• EPA (Region III and ORD)
• National Park Service
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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Cooperators and PartnersOther Federal Agencies

• U.S. Forest Service
• National Resource Conservation Service

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Cooperators and PartnersLocal Agencies

• DC Department of Health
• Counties
• Baltimore, Prince Georges, Charles, Harford,
• Calvert, and Cecil, Maryland
• Baltimore City
• Baltimore Ecosystem Study

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Mid-Atlantic RegionLand, Water, and Living
Resources
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Physiographic Regions
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Cooperators and PartnersRegional Agencies

• Chesapeake Bay Program
• Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin
• Susquehanna River Basin Commission
• Delaware River Basin Commission
• Anacostia Watershed Toxics Alliance

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