The American Water Resources Association’s mission is to foster communication across all disciplines involved in the water resources community thereby creating lasting connections which will help forge solutions to our nation’s ever increasing water resources challenges. AWRA along with the support of CDM of Jacksonville, Florida will set aside a space – “Conversation Corner” – to engage your colleagues in meaningful dialogues. Internet connections will also be available to check email.

All jobs listed on the AWRA website Career Page will be printed and displayed for your perusal. If you have an opening at your place of employment, you are encouraged to put an announcement on the Board. If you are currently seeking a position, you are encouraged to put a copy of your resume on the Board and to have some for distribution. Forms will be available at the conference for recent position openings. This service will be available free of charge to everyone.

If the above sounds like something that describes you, then we have something for you! And to top it off, it’s free and there are great prizes.  All you need to do is participate in our first ever AWRA Annual Conference Scavenger Hunt and let the fun begin.  See how much you can learn about everything the Conference has to offer.  Did you know we are having a photo contest? What does ice hockey have to do with water resources?  Scavenger hunt forms can be picked up when you register.  Good luck!

Rules:

• This is an individual event.  It is open to all Conference Attendees, not involved in organizing the scavenger hunt.
• Winners must be present to receive their prize.  Prizes will be awarded at the Conference.
• No cash substitutions of prizes are allowed
• All questions have been verified and are achievable.  Any discrepancies are handled by the organizing committee.  Their decision is final.
• The Grand prizes are awarded to those that finish first and have the correct answers.  Speed and accuracy both count. 

At every conference, there are topics that we often want to discuss in greater detail than is feasible during the concurrent sessions.  Roundtable discussions enable small groups to have extended discussion on a specific topic.  They are a forum for giving and receiving targeted feedback, engaging in in-depth discussions and meeting colleagues with similar interests in a small group setting. 

The 2010 Roundtables will be held Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during the lunch break.  Bring your boxed lunch with you to the roundtable.  Each roundtable will have a facilitator, who will give a brief overview of the topic and present a few initial questions for discussion.  These are interactive sessions, so please come prepared to participate.  Each roundtable will last approximately 1 hour.

Signup: 
Pre-conference:  Send an email to  khale@raritanbasin.org.
At the conference: Sign-up on the posters near registration, space permitting. 

The roundtables that are currently planned and their scheduled date are listed below. Room assignments will be posted near registration.

Stormwater Utilities – What Works, What Doesn’t and How to Get Public Buy-In?
Facilitator:  John Miller, Princeton Hydro, LLC
There are 1,100 stormwater utilities nationwide but few in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) and none in New Jersey.  What is the obstacle in these two states?  Is it the perception that the utility is a tax rather than a user fee?  Is home rule a factor?  Is having a sensitive species a factor: lobster or salmon?  How can we build support to have dedicated funding to stormwater and flood management?

Water Resources Education Strategies at the University-new directions and new problems?
Facilitator:  Earl Spangenberg
Education techniques are changing with technology and the demands in the "market."  What  techniques are working for the educator today?  What are the most successful strategies?  What role is the internet playing?  How are we going to get them "out in the field" - do we need to?  Where are our students going?  What role should the University be playing in helping design/teach/develop materials at the Technical College?

Public-Private Partnerships for Land Preservation and Restoration
Facilitator:  Michael Catania, Conservation Resources, Inc.
Increasingly, land acquisition and restoration projects require funding from a variety of sources, as well as a range of expertise that makes public-private partnerships an essential element of a successful project. This roundtable discussion will focus on when and how to establish these partnerships, the reasons why some partnerships succeed while others do not, as well as present a number of case studies of recent partnerships which achieved things that none of the participating organizations could have accomplished alone.   

Who's Carrying the Load in Water Resources Education?
Facilitator:  Earl Spangenberg
Where is water in the K-12 curriculum?  How successful are elementary/high school program - how are they working?  What kind of extension/outreach programs are out there?  What works best - what might need to be changed?  How?

 How Much Impervious Surface Really is OK?    
Facilitator:  Dan Van Abs, NJ Highlands Council
A recent USGS study may change our way of thinking about impervious surface.  (See: Kahuba, et al., “Multilevel Hierarchical Modeling of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Responses to Urbanization in Nine Metropolitan Regions across the Conterminous United States” at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2009/5243/)  Previous technical consensus indicated that impacts on aquatic invertebrates were not significant until a watershed reached approximately 10% impervious surface.  The new USGS study indicates that stream health starts degrading almost immediately after watershed urbanization begins.  How can watershed, regional and municipal planning and land use regulatory programs respond to this new information?

Challenges of Promoting Water Conservation
Facilitator:  Michele Bakacs, Rutgers Cooperative Extension

The need for water conservation is well known in the southern and western regions of the United States where rainfall is limited. In the northeast, increasing population growth and urbanization strains the drinking water supply. The public continues to perceive water as an unlimited resource because of frequent rain events and flooding in many areas. What programs can be developed to change the public’s behavior towards water use in high rainfall areas? What practices should we be promoting indoors and outdoors- low maintenance gardening, low-flow features, rainwater harvesting? Do we need stronger educational efforts, more incentives, higher water rates? Are there other areas of the country dealing with this problem?