The DEP Watershed Academy, in cooperation with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, will hold a free workshop on the new Watershed Stewardship Guide on June 1 in Mercer.

This training is intended for watershed managers, watershed specialists, municipal officials, planners, and watershed organizations.

The Watershed Stewardship Guide focuses on six components, all of which will be discussed at the workshop:

· Watershed Organization Development and Sustainability - How to identify key players in your community and forge a cooperative and collaborative relationship to work toward common goals that ultimately benefit your watershed; also addresses the bottom line on how to maintain your organization;

· Securing Financial and Human Resources - How to identify and locate financial and human resources (private and government) to develop and implement your watershed management plan;

· Watershed Assessments - Getting acquainted with and discovering what is going on in your watershed in terms of water quality and water quantity and the environment within its boundaries;

· Developing the Watershed Management Plan - How to develop a detailed vision and strategy that identifies specific actions to restore, maintain, enhance, and protect your watershed;

· Implementation - How to systematically carry out prioritized projects using financial and human resources efficiently; and

· Monitoring for Success - How to measure your success against established goals to evaluate and quantify progress at regular intervals in the continuing implementation of your watershed management plan.

The workshop will be held from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office.

To register, please contact Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Lindsay Baxter at 724-459-0953 ext. 110, or by sending email to: lbaxter@paconserve.org .

4/21/2006