CDRW Updates 7.27.16

Coalition Updates

4th Annual Delaware River Watershed Forum – Registration is now open!
We hope all our members will join us in Blue Bell, PA on September 19-20th for our this year’s Forum. This year's event will include several site visits hosted by local Coalition members like Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association, Valley Creek Restoration Partnership, and Valley Forge Chapter of Trout Unlimited! This is a great way to not only learn about efforts throughout the watershed and plan for future successes, but also to meet other members of the Coalition. Also, back by popular demand are free 1-on-1 organizational counseling sessions with CDRW member River Network. Register today - early bird rates available through August 19th!

Delaware River Basin Conservation Act - With approval from the Senate Environment and Public Works committee earlier this summer, we are closer than ever to seeing a dedicated federal program to support planning and conservation projects in the Delaware River Watershed! Help us raise awareness by writing a letter to the editor to your local newspaper. If you’re interested, please contact madeline.emde@njaudubon.org.

Clean Water Thank Yous - Earlier this month, we asked Coalition members to reach out to Congress to stop harmful policy riders being added to in the Interior Appropriations bill, including one to block the Clean Water Rule. While the bill did pass, there were several clean water champions who voted to remove these destructive policy riders and notable votes that who we wanted to highlight. Watershed members to thank for voting to protect the Clean Water Rule are: Representatives Boyle, Brady, Carney, Cartwright, Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, Maloney, Norcross, Smith, and Watson Coleman. Also a BIG thank you to Reps. Fitzpatrick, LoBiondo, and Smith for voting against party lines on this and to Rep. Cartwright for cosponsoring an the amendment to help defend the Clean Water Act. Share our tweets help say thanks!

CDRW Updates 6.24.16

CDRW UPDATES

WRDA Support Letter  – Earlier this month, the Coalition submitted a letter of support for the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which would authorize $10 billion in water infrastructure projects, including environmental restoration, dams, flood control projects, and more. Our letter also calls for the consideration of a project in the Delaware River Watershed which was only included in the House version of the bill. Read our letter here.

What's Up in DC  – Check out our latest blog post summing up news from our nation's capitol that could impact our Watershed. This week's post covers an update on the Water Resources Development Act and the Pipeline Saftey Act, as well as avictory for the clean water rule and a setback for fracking regulation on federal lands.

 

CDRW Updates 5.26.2016

We're excited to share the save the date for the 4th Annual Delaware River Watershed Forum! Read on for important updates on our efforts as a Coalition, including the latest on the DRBCA, and other announcements and happenings from around the Watershed.

CDRW Updates

Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (DRBCA) Advances in DC  –  
As you may have heard, the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act was approved by the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works last week. This is a major step towards passage and we were incredibly excited to see the positive movement! In terms of next steps, we’re working closely with Senator Tom Carper's (DE) office to see how we can be helpful and will let everyone know as soon as we have more information. Thank you to everyone who signed onto our letter requesting consideration in committee (41 organizations!) and for sharing information on the DRBCA and the committee’s approval on social media!

4th Annual Delaware River Watershed Forum – Mark your calendars! We'll be hosting this year's event at Normandy Farm in Blue Bell, PA on September 19-20 and look forward to seeing everyone! If you're interested in helping with the planning process, please contact Maddy Urbish atmadeline.urbish@njaudubon.org.

CDRW Updates 4.22.2016

Happy Earth Day! In a truly awesome way to celebrate the environmental movement – we had several big wins for clean water and conservation, first the passing of permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in the Senate and the defeat of an amendment that would have blocked the Clean Water Rule. Thank you to all our conservation champions who have supported these important issues! Please read on for additional updates, including an important sign-on opportunity for the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act, more information on these conservation victories, and happenings from around the watershed

CDRW Updates: 3.23.2016

CDRW Updates

Delaware River Watershed Hill Day - In early March, CDRW members and partners traveled to Washington D.C. to educate members of Congress on important issues for the Delaware River Watershed. Over 2 days, our group (19 individuals, representing 12 organizations) met with 28 offices from throughout the Watershed to build support for the DRBCA, LWCF, DRBC funding, as well as specific CDRW member's projects and concerns.

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) - Thank you to everyone who responded to our call to action on LWCF funding - we had a great response from our Watershed's delegation! In total we had 18 of 23 signed on to the House letter and 7 of 8 on the Senate letter in support of robust funding for LWCF. Those who did not sign on are Representatives Garrett (NJ), Frelinghuysen (NJ), Dent (PA), Barletta (PA), Pitts (PA) and Senator Toomey (PA). This was also one of the asks we made on our Hill 

CDRW Updates 2.22.2016

We are hosting our annual Delaware River Watershed Hill Day on March 3rd to educate members of Congress on the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act and other important issues facing our Watershed. We hope you can join us for a day in Washington DC to help raise awareness of this vital resource for our region. This is a very powerful and visible way for the Delaware River Watershed to get noticed on Capitol Hill and to tell your members in Congress how the DRBCA would help the work you’re doing! CDRW is coordinating meetings with Congressional offices throughout the watershed and will provide all attendees with materials and talking points. If you are interested in attending or have further questions, please contact Maddy Urbish at madeline.urbish@njaudubon.org. See attached flyer for more information.

Please see additional updates and news below.

CDRW Updates 2.12.2016

Good morning CDRW members,

Thank you everyone who made it out to our meeting on Wednesday, especially given changing weather predictions and snow. We had a great group of about 30 individuals, representing 20 CDRW member organizations, and a very engaging dialog about future directions for the Coalition. I also wanted to say a special thanks to Mark Zakutansky of Appalachian Mountain Club and Kristin Zilcosky of Conservation Voters of PA/NJ League of Conservation voters who lead an awesome presentation and discussion on the Value of Advocacy for River and Watershed Organizations & Advocacy Strategies! 

We would like to highlight a few things that we covered at the meeting; for additional information we've also posted the powerpoint presentation on our new website. Also, please see the attached word cloud representing the Delaware River Watershed (each attendee was asked to describe the Watershed in one word). 

CDRW Launched a New Website! – Please take a moment to check out our new website at http://www.delriverwatershed.org/ This is a great new tool for members to keep up with the work we do and easily access information like members lists, contact information, news and more! We've also set up a members portal for members to access additional information like our email updates, a calendar of events, and resources like presentations (including our Annual Meeting Presentation from yesterday). The member page can be accessed using the password: CDRWmember1

New 2016 Priorities – The Coalition has officially adopted three new priorities for 2016! The priorities were identified through an open nomination process in which any Coalition member could participate. The top three priorities identified by the Steering Committee were then approved and adopted by the Coalition at Wednesday’s meeting.  Read more about our new priorities including full descriptions on our blog post.

Member Survey – We want to hear from you on how we are doing and any suggestions you have for us! Please take a few minutes to fill out our member survey.

State Outreach Leads – Our new State Outreach Leads we're officially introduced! Please keep an eye out for upcoming communication from your lead (contact info below). State outreach leads will help to represent the Coalition, periodically convene members to provide updates on Coalition initiatives, identify state specific opportunities to advance our mission, learn about member priorities and achievements, and help mobilize grassroots efforts around Coalition priorities.

New York - Friends of the Upper Delaware River

Jeff Skelding, skelding@fudr.org

Pennsylvania - Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture)

Kate Gibbons, gibbons@pennfuture.org

New Jersey - New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund

Ed Potosnak, ed.potosnak@njlcv.org

Delaware - Delaware Nature Society 

Ginger North, ginger@delawarenaturesociety.org


Steering Committee Co-Chairs & New Representative – We’d like to welcome our first ever Steering Committee Co-Chairs, Kelly Mooij (VP of Government Relations, New Jersey Audubon) and Dennis Miranda (Executive Director, Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association). As co-chairs they will provide leadership for our Steering Committee, as well as serve as another face for the Coalition and a resource for members. We also would like to welcome Ed Potosnak (Executive Director, New Jersey League of Conservation Voters) to the Steering Committee.

A Year in Review  –Here are just a few things we accomplished in 2015! 

  • $13 million in new funds – CDRW helped coordinate an effort that secured the 4th largest Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) award in the country
  • The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (DRBCA) was reintroduced and the $5 million authorization was reinstated in the House version
  • First ever hearing for the DRBCA in the House Nature Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans with a strong testimony in support of the bill from USFWS
  • CRDW advocated on many other issues affecting the watershed (i.e. Clean Water Rule, Farm Bill funding, DRBC funding, and more) 
  • Our largest Delaware River Watershed Forum yet, with almost 300 attendees 
  • A growing voice – CDRW is now 85 members strong and continues to grow in membership and recognition
  • Looking forward to another great year in 2016!

If you have any questions, please let me know. Also, a quick thank you to those who’ve recently share announcements with us, these will be sent out in our next regular update.

 

All the best,

Madeline & Maddy

--

Madeline Emde
Assistant Coordinator
Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed
204 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08608
C: 609-558-3152

CDRW Updates: 1.22.2016

CDRW Updates

Annual Meeting – Registration for our Annual Member Meeting is open! This is an opportunity to learn more about Coalition efforts, vote on our 2016 policy priorities, discuss future directions, and network with other Coalition members. Lunch will be provided. Please plan to join us after the meeting for an informal reception with Kim Beidler to thank her for all of her great work at Rho Waterfront restaurant (50 Riverview Plaza, Trenton, NJ 08611). For more information and to register, click here! Thanks to everyone who has registered so far!

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