지난 15일 미국 환경보건국(EPA)가 주·지역 현직자들을 공식적으로 발표된 뉴잉글랜드 최남단 해안 분수령 재건 프로그램에 합류시켰다. 이 프로그램은 뉴잉글랜드 최남단의 해안 분수령을 보호하고 재건하는 목적으로 넓은 의미의 생태계 접근을 촉진하는 골격으로써 적용된다.

정부와 비정부 조직으로 구성된 이 프로그램은 분수령 내의 수질과 서식시 환경을 유지하고 향상시키기 위해 현재 합동적이고 혁신적으로 운영되고 있다.

 

 

 

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) joined state and local dignitaries formally launching the Southeast New England Coastal Watershed Restoration Program, which serves as a framework to promote a broad ecosystem approach to protect and restore the coastal watersheds of Southeast New England (coastal areas from Westerly, R.I., to Chatham, Mass., including all waters of Rhode Island, southern Cape Cod, Narragansett Bay, and Buzzards Bay).

 

The program, consisting of government and non-government organizations, is currently working collaboratively and innovatively to maintain and improve water quality and habitat conditions within these coastal watersheds. In collaboration with a diverse array of stakeholders, the program will focus on developing and promoting innovations in restoration and protection practices, development of new, more efficient technologies, and application of new policies to these new approaches. A critical element of this program will be to prepare for climate change impacts and highlight the need to build resilience into all decision-making.

 

Partners include key federal and state resource agencies, local organizations, and the two local National Estuary Programs in Narragansett Bay, R.I., and Buzzards Bay, Mass. To help commence work to advance protection of these coastal waters, EPA also announced grant funding of $728,559 to Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) (Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program) to fund six sub-awards in the Buzzard's Bay watershed; and $723,869 to the host agency for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program, the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), to fund six sub-awards in the Narragansett Bay watershed.

 

 In addition, EPA has allocated $500,000 in technical assistance funds to develop preliminary stormwater best management practice (BMP) designs in Barnstable and Chatham, Mass. The two Cape Cod communities will help develop and pilot designs including an innovative stormwater BMP that will tie into existing infrastructure and treat stormwater for both pathogens and nitrogen. Based on technical feasibility and total cost, one of these communities will be selected to move forward with construction of the BMP. The goal of this project is to develop a stormwater BMP that can be shared with other New England communities.

 

The program will work with stakeholders to develop an overall planning framework and action agenda that builds on and complements the planning and implementation capacities of the numerous entities engaged in this area. By integrating habitat, water quality and physical processes as parts of a complete whole, the Southeast New England Coastal Watershed Restoration Program will serve as an ecosystem framework for thinking and acting regionally. The goal is to collaborate to share best practices, maximize resources and opportunities, and build local program capacity to sustain this unique approach over the long term.

 

[출처 = Water World / 2014년 10월 16일]