WEDNESDAY, June 22th
SESSION 1, 12:00pm – 2:00pm
WATER QUALITY FOR LATIN AMERICAN WATERKEEPERS
Panelists: Diana Muller, Andrew Muller
Room: G03
An out‐door, hands‐on session for Latin American Waterkeepers
WEDNESDAY, June 22th
SESSION 2, 2:00pm – 5:00pm
DEALING WITH BURNOUT
Panelists: Mark Alston, Julie Barrett O’Neil
Room: G36
Meet with fellow Waterkeepers to discuss issues surrounding burnout.
Friday, June 24th
SESSION 1, 9:00am – 10:30am
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Panelists: Bob Kallen, Jay Longo, Herb Luster, Ronald E. Meissen Ph.D
Room: G43
Representatives from companies in different sectors will discuss what they are doing through
their business practices to achieve environmental improvements.
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND CSO ABATEMENT PART I
Panelists: Bob Newport, Fredric P. Andes, Marlene Sundheimer
Room: G36
Clean Water Act CSO Enforcement and how green infrastructure is being incorporated in a
detailed way into consent decree negotiations between the EPA, states and local municipalities
‐ including the specifics of what is being required in these agreements and trends in
negotiations.
MAJOR DONORS PROGRAMS
Panelists: Theresa Duncan, Tore Steen, Diane Morgan, Carla Zilka, Wendy Abrams
Room: G27
WKA trustees will share expertise and why they support WKA and other organizations Building
a program and how to cultivate and communicate with them, best practices and strategies.
MEDIA MESSAGING
Panelists: John Bianchi
Room: G42
Hone your message for maximum power! Learn how to maximize your communications
potential by developing resonant messages, handling tough interviews with confidence, and
creating initiatives that will attract the media's attention.
MINERAL RESOURCE EXTRACTION IN THE GREAT LAKES BASIN
Panelists: Chauncey Moran, Michelle Halley
Room: G05
As the importance of the Great Lakes becomes more apparent to the nation, a focus on one of
the most potentially threatening industries should be presented. Numerous projects
throughout the basin pose serious ill effects.
NUTRIENT TRADING: FRIEND OR FOE?
Panelists: Drew Koslow, Rick Eichstadt, Michael Helfrich, Larry Baldwin
Room: 165
EPA and many states have embraced nutrient trading as an approach to improving water
quality. This panel will discuss the challenges associated with this market‐based approach, and
whether nutrient trading has proven effective on the ground for cleaning up our waterways.
SAVE THE BEACH: A SELF‐SUSTAINING MODEL
Panelists: Margarita Diaz Lopez, Laurie Silvan
Room: 166
Share with other Waterkeepers a self‐sustaining model and self‐managing movement from a
watershed level, which binds and mobilizes thousands of people twice a year to clean and
celebrate the collective spirit of commitment towards protecting our water resources against
the threat of solid waste. This model has succeeded in creating an expansive coalition which
has successfully led 21 campaigns involving more than 25,000 volunteers, removing 180 metric
tons of trash from the Tijuana Watershed. From a group of 20 volunteers cleaning the beach
ten years ago, today it has grown to more than 4,000 volunteers per campaign cleaning several
beaches, the river and other areas inland, expanding from one beach in Tijuana to the whole
watershed which embraces 4 municipalities.
WATER QUALITY 101
Panelists: Diana Muller, Andrew Muller
Room: G03
Learn the 5 W’s of water quality monitoring: who, what, where, why and when of water quality
monitoring in both riverine and estuarine systems. Get help setting up your own water quality
monitoring projects with practical examples, bring maps of your watershed and we can help
you develop a plan based on what it is you want to monitor.
FRIDAY, June 24th
SESSION 2, 10:45am – 12:15pm
BATTLING ENCROACHING INVASIVE SPECIES
Panelists: Theaux LeGardeur
Room: G05
An information session on the identification and mitigation of encroaching invasive species in
your watershed.
BUILDING & MAINTAINING FOUNDATION RELATIONSHIPS
Panelists: Terry O’Day, Molly Flanagan, Grey Hecht
Room: G27
Terry will moderate a discussion about how to initiate communication, approaches with various
types of foundations, and best practices for grantwriting, reporting, and foundation
stewardship. Terry will also touch on how the economy has affected foundation giving overall
recently, and what to expect in next few years. This is intended as a beginner‐moderate level
panel forWaterkeepers who may have no or limited experience in this aspect of fundraising for
their organization
CAFO STRATEGY SESSION
Panelists: Kathy Phillips, Rae Schnapp , Larry Baldwin
Room: 165
The longest, currently active Waterkeeper campaign is built around the issue Concentrated
Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs) and their devastating impacts on waterways. With the recent
5th Circuit ruling shrinking the universe of permitted CAFO’s, citizen enforcement of the CWA
against these facilities has become even more crucial. This session will explore the current
regulatory landscape and discuss the most effective approach to tackling this industry and
forcing changes to the way industrial ag operates in our watersheds.
CLEAN WATER ACT 101
Panelists: Merritt Frey, Karl Coplan
Room: G42
Come to this session to learn the basics of Clean Water Act liability, citizen suits and NPDES
permits. In addition, we will discuss water quality standards and methods for developing an
effective Threatened and Impaired Waters list (303(d) list).
CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER
Panelists: Steve Fleischli, Philip Raphals, Sarah Aminzadeh
Room: G43
This panel will explore the impacts of climate change on water resources and will discuss
potential legal and regulatory mechanisms to prevent or prepare for these impacts.
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND CSO ABATEMENT PART II
Panelists: Suzanne Malec‐McKenna, Nasutsa Mabwa, Khristopher Dodson , Hal Sprague
Room: G36
A look at the local municipal challenges and opportunities for implementing green
infrastructure agreements including financing and outreach. For those with some basic
understanding of green infrastructure concepts, this panel will explore the practical, on the
ground challenges and opportunities for implementing a green approach to sewer overflow
abatement. Topics will include application in northern climates, integrating green infrastructure
into long term CSO control plans and innovative financing options.
HEALTHY BEACHES… WHAT YOU DON’T SEE CAN HURT YOU
Panelists: Sarah U’Ren, Chasidy Fisher Hobbs, Michael Mullen
Room: 166
Protecting the health of people enjoying the water resources each of us Waterkeepers watch
over is of the utmost importance. Some pollutants like sediment, oils and gas, and excessive
algae are readily seen – but what about bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens that you can’t?
This panel will touch on the basics of beach water monitoring and why it’s important for public
health. It will teach you how to conduct surveys of your beaches to gauge the potential for
public health risks, methods to test for bacterial contamination, and offer a case study of a
Healthy Beaches Program in Northern Michigan on the Great Lakes.
WATER QUALITY 201
Panelists: Diana Muller, Andrew Muller
Room: G03
Learn how to perform water quality monitoring in the field using some basic field instruments,
and basic site assessments, sampling for nutrients and bacteria. This is a great hand‐on learning
workshop. You must attend Water Quality Monitoring 101 as a pre‐requisite.
FRIDAY, June 24th
SESSION 3, 2:15pm – 3:45pm
BECOMING A CITIZEN MAPPER
Panelists: Xin Hao, Dr. Cynthia Annett, Bart Mihailovich, Laura Calwell, Ron Hall
Room: 165
Becoming a Citizen Mapper will provide an overview and demonstration of the use of free
internet software for citizen based participation in GIS and public awareness campaigns. In it
we will demonstrate the use of GIS software, Google Earth and Google Maps for GIS functions;
various Google tools for creating a web presence, making content interactive, maintaining it,
and tracking it; and the use of various Google tools and other freeware for networking and
collaboration. The whole process is based on freeware, making it economically viable on limited
budgets, it appeals to younger people and is available worldwide.
THE DIRTY LIE STRATEGY SESSION
Panelists: Janelle Robbins, Scott Edwards, Allie Klein
Room: 166
This is our annual, Dirty Lie strategy session. The purpose of this session is to discuss and design
tangible campaign goals and strategies for the upcoming year.
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS – LESSION LEARNED & ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Panelists: Donna Lisenby, Paul Orr , John Wathen, Bill Schultz
Room: G42
Join us for a roundtable discussion of Waterkeepers with disaster response experience that
range from manure spills to coal ash to oil disasters.
GREAT LAKES ROUND TABLE: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
Panelists: Cheryl Nenn
Room: G05
A networking opportunity and round table discussion on the unique challenges of being a non‐
governmental organization in the Great Lakes and how we can work together to achieve
fishable, swimmable, drinkable waters in the Great Lakes.
HOW TO TAKE ON ENERGY GIANTS: LNG, COAL, AND OUR NEW EXPORT CHALLENGE
Panelists: Lesley Adams, Carla García Zendejas , Brett VandenHeuvel
Room: G43
Liquefied Natural Gas development has a tremendous ecological impact on species, waters,
wildlands and human communities. LNG also has a central seat in the energy debate as new
proposals in the U.S. seek to export LNG, which would dramatically increase gas drilling. The
LNG export boom parallels new proposals to export massive volumes of U.S. coal off the west
coast. Waterkeepers from the U.S. and Mexico will discuss campaigns to project public waters
and challenge LNG and coal proposals through a variety of tactics, including public mobilization,
legal actions, political pressure, and strategic alliances. These strategies can be applied to other
destructive projects.
LEGAL ISSUES IN STORMWATER
Panelists: Daniel Cooper , Liz Crosson, Layne Fredrich
Room: G36
The panel will give an overview of legal issues in stormwater litigation including case workup
and sampling to identify violations; pleading requirements and adequate notice of intent to file
suit letters, and establishing liability for permit violations and/or for unpermitted discharges.
OUTREACH AND MEMBERSHIP ‐ GROWTH STRATEGIES AND CAMPAIGNS
Panelists: Theresa Duncan, Tina Posterli, Captain Bill Sheehan, John Torgan, Sean Larkin, Mark
Rasmussen
Room: G27
Strategies for increasing visibility in your community, increasing membership and successful
campaigns, and how to use online tools and technology for outreach. Theresa Duncan to
moderate.
WATER QUALITY 301
Panelists: Diana Muller, Andrew Muller
Room: G03
This session is covers Quality Assurance Project Plans, report cards, statistics, identifying hot
spots and bacterial monitoring and other advanced water quality monitoring methods. Water
Quality Monitoring 201 is strongly suggested as a pre‐requisite.
SATURDAY, June 25th
SESSION 1, 8:30am – 10:00am
FRACTURED WATERSHEDS: THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF INDUSTRIAL GAS DRILLING
Panelists: Tracy Carluccio, Ned Mulcahy, Krissy Kasserman, Kate Hudson
Room: G03
Across the globe communities are facing severe environmental impacts associated with
industrial gas drilling, including those operations that utilize hydraulic fracturing technology
(fracking).
THE GLOBAL ISSUE OF LARGE HYDRO
Panelists: Philip Raphals, Roberta Frampton Benefiel
Room: G42
Waterkeeper Alliance has recognized large hydro as an international issue by inviting China and
India to make presentations in previous years. Our panel will expand on this and present
statistists on the Canada/US experience. The lack of sustainability of dams as electric providers,
the relation between dams and climate change, the impact on watersheds and the human right
to water. Dams are a false solution in the fight against the climate crisis.
SEWAGE TREATMENT 101
Panelists: Diana Muller, Bruce Bell
Room: G43
Learn the basics of Waste Water Treatment plants‐ from low technology to higher technology
and what questions that a Waterkeeper should ask a Wastewater Engineer/Manager when you
get into a plant; QA/QC, what monitoring does the plant do (if any), what happens when the
pumping stations fail, how is the public informed if a failure occurs. Also , perform the correct
sampling and what to sample for at the "end‐of‐pipe", to monitor if the wastewater treatment
plant is leaking.
STORMWATER: MUDDY WATER WATER/GET THE DIRT OUT
Panelists: Sean Larkin, Tess Sanders, Casi Callaway, Kathy Phillips
Room: G05
Replicating the success of the Waterkeeper organizations in Georgia, a number of
Waterkeepers in North Carolina, Alabama and the Chesapeake have developed campaigns to
train citizens on how to identify and properly document stormwater violations at construction
sites, and to use that data to advocate for stronger construction stormwater regulations and
enforcement. This roundtable discussion will focus on how Waterkeepers in other states and
regions can continue to build on this successful campaign and existing campaign tools.
STORYTELLING
Panelists: Don Francis, John Wathen, John Bianchi
Room: G36
We would like to convene this panel to help our Waterkeepers identify the environmental
stories in their repertoires with broad public appeal and help them figure out how to put those
stories onto paper or on the screen (writing) in engaging ways. Some of the issues we thought
we might discuss include prioritizing the best stories for the greatest impact, writing for a non‐
scientific or non‐legal audience, moving from a raw product to a finished one, and establishing
the value of (or return on) the storytelling investment (i.e., what’s gained by organizations and
individuals who take a little extra time polishing their narratives and telling others about their
work).
TMDLs FROM LISTING TO IMPLEMENTATION PLANS
Panelists: Rick Eichstadt, Juliet Cohen
Room: G27
The panel will discuss steps involved in the Total Maximum Daily Load development process
including how to identify impaired waters, how to list impaired waters on the 303(d) list,
developing a watershed model, developing the TMDL, and implementing the TMDL to attain
water quality standards. Panelists will explain this process by way of two case‐studies: Spokane
Riverkeeper in a river/impounded waterbody dealing with phosphorus and Upper
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in a lake watershed. Some time will be reserved to discuss the
problems surrounding and alternative treatments for nutrient overloading in water bodies
SATURDAY, June 25th
SESSION 2, 10:15am – 11:45am
Assessing and Adapting to Ocean Acidification
Panelists: Paul Williams
Room: G03
The link between fossil fuels, global climate change and ocean acidification are clear: rising
atmospheric CO2 is making our oceans more acidic. The questions remaining are how to assess
the trends, biological effects and cultural impacts, and how coastal communities can adapt. We
will review what is known, what is not known, and we what we don’t need to know about
ocean acidification. The chemistry of ocean acidification and the resulting potential effects on
plant and animal physiology will be discussed. In addition, we will discuss why the lowest pH
levels are found in Washington State and explore the link between low pH and massive oyster
larval mortalities.
BUILDING AN INTERACTIVE ADVOCACY CAMPAGIN
Panelists: Larry Baldwin, Tess Sanders, Hartwell Carson
Room: G43
Using the Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign as an example, Larry Baldwin, Rick Dove, and Tess
Sanders will discuss how to build an interactive and effective advocacy campaign. To achieve
this goal, the panel will discuss not only the pieces that go into an effective advocacy campaign
(such a communications, education, policy and litigation), but they will also discuss navigating
around some of the pitfalls that they have experienced in growing their own individual
campaigns and the joint Pure Farms, Pure Waters Campaign.
DE‐ESCALATION
Panelists: Jim Ace
Room: G36
A hands‐on, participatory training emphasizing nonviolent deescalation tactics designed
specifically for Waterkeeper's who anticipate direct conflict with aggressive and potentially
violent landowners
LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CHANGE
Panelists: Sean Larkin
Room: G27
Social media is all the rage, but how and when is it useful as a grassroots organizing and
fundraising tool? In this session, we will help you develop a reasonable and actionable social
media strategy. We will teach how to tell compelling stories quickly and effectively online using
social media services, such as Facebook Pages, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.
NUTRIENTS & NPDES
Panelists: Ann Alexander, Sandy Bihn
Room: G05
In a two part panel Ann Alexander, Senior Attorney for NRDC will discuss Nutrients & NPDES ‐
The Battle for Meaningful Limits, followed by Sandy Bihn, Lake Erie Waterkeeper presenting
"Nutrients ‐ A Dead Inland Lake Gets the Business Community to Raise $500,000 for match and
help."
PREPARING TO BE A PLAINTIFF OR WITNESS IN A CWA LAWSUIT
Panelists: Jane Barrett, Kathy Phillips
Room: G42
It is important for citizens to do their homework before initiating a Clean Water Act lawsuit.
This panel will present critical information about how to build and participate in a CWA citizen
suit, including how to collect information on a suspected violator, how to protect evidence and
communications from being disclosed to opposing parties, and how to be an effective witness
in a case.
