Over 4,000 people attended the "Stormwater Management from a Watershed Perspective" satellite conference at 180+ facilitated sites in October 2005. In addition, several hundred more people attended the broadcast on their personal computers using the video stream feed. This was the fourth in a series of annual watershed management-themed broadcasts developed by the Pacific Northwest Water Quality Regional Team. This broadcast, which highlighted stormwater management, was produced by the Information Department at Washington State University (WSU). Specially-produced video segments highlighted innovative stormwater management strategies in North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon. The annual satellite conference from the Pacific Northwest Water Quality Program is a stakeholder driven program. Each year, participants are asked to fill out evaluation forms rating the quality of information presented and suggesting topics for future broadcasts. The 2004 broadcast on improving community involvement in watershed issues audience overwhelmingly suggested that stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) should be the next topic as it is an increasingly important topic for towns and cities facing more stringent regulations on non-point source pollution. Consequently, the stormwater issue became the topic of the 2005 broadcast. Parking lot oil entering storm drain. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers stormwater runoff the most significant threat to good surface water quality across the USA. Stormwater starts as clean rainwater; however, as the water moves across fields, paved surfaces, and urban lots it picks up significant amounts of sediments and pollutants which eventually degrade surface water quality. A good stormwater program reduces the impacts of both sediments and pollutants in both urban and developing areas. The WSU production crew took their cameras to three unique watersheds where innovative stormwater management strategies are at work improving surface water quality. The satellite program attendees saw how restored wetlands and streams both filter and contain stormwater runoff in western North Carolina. The second video segment highlighted how innovative zoning codes can improve stormwater concerns despite unregulated growth in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. The third video segment highlighted innovative stormwater management in Portland, Oregon. Broadcast attendees were also introduced to eco-roofs. These structures retain and slow the flow of stormwater to the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Several of the Portland on-site infrastructure installations appear as public art rather than as traditionally engineered management structures.

Pacific Northwest Regional Water Quality Coordination Project Partners Land Grant Universities Alaska Cooperative Extension Service Contact Fred Sorensen: 907-786-6311 http://www.uaf.edu/ces/water/ University Publications: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/ces/publications/ Idaho University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System Contact Bob Mahler: 208-885-7025 http://www.uidaho.edu/wq/wqhome.html University Publications: http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Catalog/catalog.html Oregon Oregon State University Extension Service Contact Mike Gamroth: 541-737-3316 http://extension.oregonstate.edu/ University Publications: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ Washington Washington State University WSU Extension Contact Bob Simmons: 360-427-9670 ext. 690 http://wawater.wsu.edu/ University Publications: http://pubs.wsu.edu/ Northwest Indian College Contact Charlotte Clausing: 360-392-4319 cclausing@nwic.edu or http://www.nwic.edu/ Water Resource Research Institutes Water and Environmental Research Center (Alaska) http://www.uaf.edu/water/ Idaho Water Resources Research Institute http://www.boise.uidaho.edu/ Institute for Water and Watersheds (Oregon) http://water.oregonstate.edu/ State of Washington Water Research Center http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/ Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Region 10 The Pacific Northwest http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/ Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Laboratory http://www.epa.gov/wed/ For more information contact Jan Seago at 206-553-0038 or seago.jan@epa.gov
	The results of evaluations filled out by conference attendees are not yet completely tallied; however, the following observations can be made: The majority of respondents rated the quality of the broadcast as very good or excellent. The vast majority of attendees found the three case studies informative and interesting. Most people liked the broadcast format especailly the case studies and the live panel of experts. People enjoyed learning about examples of innovative stormwater management techniques. Most people indicated that an additional satellite broadcast of stormwater management was needed. Success of the broadcast can also be measured by the post-broadcast popularity of the program. By 7:00 pm on broadcast day, 137 e-mailed responsed to the program asked that DVD or VCR copies of the program be made available for local decision makers. During the week following the broadcast, labels and covers for DVDs and VCRs were designed so the program could be quickly available through the Bulletins department in WSU's College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. The program may be viewed by archived video stream at http://eces.wsu.edu/video/StormwaterMgmt.html. The program is available for purchase in either DVD or VCR format at bulletin@wsu.edu.
	National Water Quality Program Areas The four land grant universities in the Pacific Northwest have aligned our water resource extension and research efforts with eight themes of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Animal Waste Management Drinking Water and Human Health Environmental Restoration Nutrient and Pesticide Management Pollution Assessment and Prevention Watershed Management Water Conservation and Agricultural Water Management Water Policy and Economics
	This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No 2008-51130-4734.

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HOME | About | Calendar | Contacts | Links | PNW Water Updates | Sitemap NIFA National Water Quality Program This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2008-51130-04734. all external sites will open in a new browser window page last modified on August 27, 2006