Water Table

The Water Table effort is funded by the William Penn Foundation (WPF), with the goal to bring nonprofit conservation organizations, the water-user community, and local governments together within the Greater Philadelphia region, to build relationships and collaborative initiatives for better alignment of efforts, new projects, and possibly new/sustainable sources of funding. The current project convener is the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, in close partnership with The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin, and the Philadelphia Water Department.

This initiative formed in response to the realization that while the WPF Watershed Protection Program for the Delaware River Basin has engaged numerous conservation nonprofits, and more recently local governments, many professionals in the water user community (water utilities, industrial water users, the port community, and consultants that serve them) are not part of the conversation, although many share the mission to promote conservation and wise use of the Delaware River Basin’s water resources.

Knowing that more resources and collaboration are needed to best address the myriad water resource challenges facing the Basin, this project is exploring how to engage the water user community to build an even more diverse, resourceful and impactful group of partners that can work together to improve water quality in sustained, long-term relationships.

Water Table Steering Committee members:

• Kelly Anderson, Philadelphia Water Department
• Marc Cammarata, Philadelphia Water Department
• Matthew Csik, American Water
• Marc Gold, Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox
• Patty Elkis, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
• Skelly Holmbeck, Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin
• Kiasha Huling, Clean Air Council
• Kate Hutelmyer, Chester County Water Resources Authority
• Kathy Klein, Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
• Kelly Knutson, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed
• Ellen Kohler, Water Center at Penn
• Kim Long, Exelon 
• Susan Myerov, Pennsylvania Environmental Council
• Joe Myers, Coopers Ferry Partnership
• Martha Narvaez, University of Delaware
• Dana Russikoff, Rodan LLC
• Diane Schrauth, New Jersey Future
• Scott Schreiber, Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
• Drew Shaw, Montgomery County Planning Commission
• Steve Tambini, DRBC Delaware River Basin Commission

Phase 1

The first phase of this initiative was led by DVRPC.

Process

In-depth interviews were conducted with over 50 organizations to gain a better understanding of various sectors’ knowledge and perceptions of each other. A summary of interview findings can be viewed in this presentation.

Maps showing service areas for land trusts, watershed associations and municipalities with an EC/EAC were created to show geographic overlap to facilitate expanded collaboration.

Phase 2

To kick off the second phase of this initiative, the Water Table Steering Committee revisited the top 4 priorities of the 10 shared priority areas that were identified in the Water Table Summary and Next Steps Report. The same 4 top actionable priorities were identified: 

• Coordinating existing and/or new sources of funding to increase impact on water quality, such as a regional CIP for water infrastructure, new funding mechanisms like a trading market, and/or a circuit rider who improves access to funding 
• Designing a shared regional identity/story around the Delaware Watershed and unifying our messaging for bigger impact
• Mitigating impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, flooding, drought, extreme heat, and encroaching saltline
• Supporting workforce development for the next generation of water professionals from diverse backgrounds, for example, by training and employing the underemployed through a Civilian Climate Corp

We invited a broad range of stakeholders to participate in the second phase of the Water Table Project via four subcommittees focused on each of these top priorities. The goal of these subcommittees is identifying and developing project ideas to help move the needle in each of these areas, and working to identify and leverage funding to move forward the implementation of identified projects. 

For more information, or to get involved, contact: Kathy Klein at kklein@delawareestuary.org