Conowingo WIP Steering Committee
Upcoming Meetings
Conowingo WIP Steering Committee Quarterly Meeting - June 2024
Monday, June 3, 2024 from 1:00pm - 3:00pmScope and Purpose
The Principals' Staff Committee (PSC) created a Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) Steering Committee with the following roles and responsibilities:
- Consists of a representative from each Bay watershed jurisdiction and the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Members may also solicit comments on the Conowingo WIP framework from key stakeholders. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not participate due to its oversight role as part of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) accountability framework;
- Develops the Conowingo WIP with EPA staff and contractor support;
- Guides the development of a financing strategy with contractor support; and,
- Oversees implementation of the Conowingo WIP with contractor support.
Projects and Resources
What's New?
In January 2024, the CWIP Steering Committee submitted their 2023/2024 milestones for CWIP implementation to EPA highlighting 2023 activities (see document below, under the "Tracking CWIP Progress" heading). Our January 2024 Progress Summary highlights progress made towards the Conowingo WIP through financing, pilot project development, fostering innovation, and more.
In addition, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) recently created an interactive story map showing the state of the Octoraro Creek Watershed, a small watershed in both Maryland and Pennsylvania. As established in the CWIP and our Implementation Framework, Octararo Creek is one of the Conowingo’s priority areas for smaller-scale watershed targeting. The story map uses video, images, maps, charts and more to tell the watershed’s tale through water quality monitoring data the Commission has collected over decades. View the story map to learn more about the implementation and monitoring efforts in the Octararo.
On October 23rd, 2023, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) held a webinar on the upcoming RFP for verified nutrient reductions and the pay for success program.
On September 6th, 2023, PA DEP held a webinar focused on the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP). The presentation provided a brief overview of the CWIP, an update on the progress made toward the implementation milestones since the approval of the CWIP by the Principals Staff Committee in September 2021, and an overview of state-wide pay-for-performance financing efforts from MD and PA and other innovative initiatives. The recording and presentation slides are linked below:
- Webinar Wednesday-20230906_100107-Meeting Recording.mp4 (sharepoint.com)
- CWIP Webinar Presentation Slides (09.06.2023)
The PENNVEST Clean Water Procurement Program, funded by the 2022-2023 Clean Streams Fund, is now closed as of September 1, 2023. The program will improve water quality in the Commonwealth through the purchase of verified nutrient (nitrogen/phosphorus) or sediment reduction resulting from the installation of Best Management Practices determined to be effective and practical to manage nutrient and sediment to protect surface water and groundwater.
In 2023, the SRBC Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership, a voluntary affiliation of stakeholders drawn by our interest in freshwater mussels, was created to:
- Advance and promote Conservation & Restoration; and,
- Evaluate Water Quality best management practices (BMPs) to lessen excess nutrients and sediment in tributaries to the Bay.
In December 2022, the Steering Committee issued a Phase 1 Implementation Framework which shows the parties responsible for implementation of both the smaller-scale watershed implementation and the broader-scale state-wide implementation.
For more information about upcoming CWIP implementation funding opportunities, see the following handouts:
- CWIP Funding Handout for Project Implementors (01-2024)
- CWIP Funding Handout for Property Owners, Farmers, Producers (03-31-2023)
NOTE: All previous meeting materials, documents, and historical records can be accessed on the archived projects and resources page and the archived meetings page.
Final Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP)
To listen to the pre-recorded webinar on the final Conowingo WIP and 2022-2023 Milestones, please click here. Associated documents are posted below.
Actions and Decisions Log
See below for a comprehensive list of actions, decisions, and meetings of the Steering Committee.
Tracking CWIP Progress
Financing
See below for the Conowingo WIP Financing Strategy.
Related Links
Members
Matthew Rowe (Chair), Maryland Department of the Environment
1800 Washington Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Email: matthew.rowe@maryland.gov
Phone: (410) 537-3578
Jill Whitcomb (Chair), Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Jackie Pickford (Staffer), Water Quality Goal Implementation Team Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Mark Hoffman, Chesapeake Bay Commission
60 West Street
Suite 406
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: mhoffman@chesbay.us
Phone: (410) 263-3420
John Maleri, District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE)
Marcia Fox, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Dover, Delaware 19904
Email: marcia.fox@state.de.us
Phone: (302) 739-9939
Dave Goshorn, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Avenue
C-4
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: david.goshorn@maryland.gov
Phone: (410) 260-8110
Lauren Townley, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Julia Wakeling, District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE)
Gregory Busch, Maryland Department of the Environment
Jutta Schneider, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Patrick Henry Building 1111 E. Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
Email: jutta.schneider@deq.virginia.gov