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Potomac Monitoring Forum 2008
Better Monitoring for Better Water Resources Management

March 10 & 11, 2008

Program

On Monday, March 10th, we will kick off the Forum with these informative and timely presentations:

Keynote Address:

Current Issues in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac Watersheds-Dr. Donald F. Boesch, President, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Don Boesch is a Professor of Marine Science and President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). Dr. Boesch is a biological oceanographer who has conducted research in coastal and continental shelf environments along the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, eastern Australia and the East China Sea. He has published two books and more than 85 papers on marine benthos, estuaries, wetlands, continental shelves, oil pollution, nutrient over-enrichment, environmental assessment and monitoring and science policy. Presently his research focuses on the use of science in ecosystem management.

Plenary Sessions:

Agenda Do you know someone who might be interested in this Forum? Please click on the forum announcement link below to open a PDF version. Forum Announcement

Headwaters and the Upper Potomac- Dr. Robert H. Gardner, Director, UMCES Appalachian Laboratory

Agricultural and Non point Sources Issues- Dr. Tom Simpson, Regional Coordinator, Mid-Atlantic Regional Water Program

Monitoring and Management Actions in the Potomac River Estuary-Dr. Walter R. Boynton, UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory

The core of the Potomac Monitoring Forum 2008 will be four focus groups that will convene in the following breakout sessions on March 10th.

Breakout sessions

• Headwaters – the Upper Potomac;

• Agricultural and Rural – the Middle Potomac;

• Urban and Suburban Corridor; and

• Estuary and Tidal – the Lower Potomac.

Each session will have relevant presentations and a facilitated discussion to assess progress, identify concerns, and develop recommendations for current and future goals and actions. In addition, volunteers will be recruited to fulfill or follow-up on the recommendations of the 2008 Forum.

 

On Tuesday, March 11th, we will kick off the day with a presentation-- Chesapeake Bay Program Efforts to Identify Priority Areas and Enhance Monitoring in the Bay Watershed by Scott Phillips, USGS Chesapeake Bay Coordinator-- about the need for enhanced monitoring and assessment to determine if management actions are having the desired result.

The second day will be an opportunity to switch to a different track, hear the key issues and findings presented the day before, and to ask questions/share your insights on these topics. The Forum will conclude by combining the four tracks back into a joint session. This is where we need your background knowledge and insights to find unifying themes between the tracks (e.g., identify monitoring gaps, funding requirements, and BMPs) and to help chart the future direction of Potomac River monitoring.

All participants will receive an electronic copy of the Forum Proceedings, which will include the recommendations from the Potomac Monitoring Forum 2008. It is our goal to share this document with key local, state, and federal decision makers, including legislators in the Potomac Basin.