TEMPLE - Registration packets are now available for download for the National Watershed Coalition's14thNational Watershed Conference and National Watershed Program Partner Summit, which will be held at the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas on May 17-20, 2015.
The event is being presented in partnership with the Texas Association of Watershed Sponsors, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, the Association of Texas Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the Tarrant Regional Water District, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. The conference will address both current and future water resource issues related to conservation, management, water quality, and flood protection on a watershed scale.
The 2015 program will highlight opportunities for combining resources from the portfolio of complimentary programs such as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Chesapeake Bay Initiative, Mississippi River Basin Initiative, or Regional Conservation Partnership Program; or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act §319(h) nonpoint source grant efforts to meet watershed management goals. The goal of the conference program committee is to provide a blend of presentations that address efforts to create safe, productive, as well as healthy watersheds using a wide variety of resources.
The National Watershed Coalition’s program committee is currently soliciting for abstracts of presentations that address USDA Watershed Program specific concerns. The committee will give special consideration to abstracts that address several emphasis areas:
- Expanding Watershed Services and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program
- Achieving water quality and quantity management strategies for the future through expanded partnerships
- Utilizing Watershed Program benefits to mitigate the impacts of changing climate
- Taking program opportunity and operation and maintenance (O&M) performance to the next level
- Design and finance alternatives for aging USDA Watershed Program infrastructure
All accepted papers will be eligible for publication in the conference proceedings. Abstracts should be a 400-word or less description of the presentation. Electronic copies must be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Include presenter's name, complete mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address with the abstract and e-mail to: Dan A. Sebert, Ph.D. at nwchdqtrs [at] sbcglobal [dot] net. Abstract deadline is January 16, 2015.
Abstracts will not be returned. Notification of accepted abstracts will start in February 2015. If an abstract is accepted, the full paper is due April 13, 2015. Maximum length of the final manuscripts is 6,000 words, about 9 pages. Questions concerning presentation categories and potential topics of interest may be directed to nwchdqtrs [at] sbcglobal [dot] net. Presenters are responsible for providing their own conference travel, registration, and other related expenses.
Additional abstract, sponsorship, exhibitor, and registration information is available at the following links: