Local News
Common Waters Forum to Bring Communities Together for the Health of The Delaware River
By
Oct 22, 2009, 11:13 PST

MILFORD, PA,– The Pinchot Institute for Conservation and multiple partners within the Upper Delaware River watershed have come together as the Common Waters Partnership to host a Community Land Use and Conservation Forum on October 29, 2009 at the Riverview Inn in Matamoras, PA. The goal of the Forum is to promote strong relationships to initiate a cross-boundary dialogue between all interested stakeholders.

This all-day event will include prominent speakers addressing the issues of the region, such as Carol Collier of the Delaware River Basin Commission, Jay Laubengeyer of the Nature Conservancy, and Carl Wilgus from the Pocono Mountain Visitor’s Bureau. The keynote luncheon speaker will be Commissioner Suzanne Malec-McKenna, City of Chicago, who will share her experiences in building cross-boundary partnerships in the
Chicagoland region through a highly successful effort called Chicago Wilderness.

The Upper Delaware River Basin contains the longest stretch of designated “special protection” waters in the nation and provides clean drinking water for more than 20 million people. With such a high level of environmental quality, the river is a significant economic and natural asset to local communities. One of the main goals of the Forum is to increase overall public awareness about the important resource values of the region and the need for cooperative actions to achieve positive future benefits.

“This type of collaboration and public awareness is needed for the Delaware River to stay healthy and survive for future generations,” stated Sally Corrigan, Pike County Planning Director “The Common Waters Forum is an
important step in building relationships for collaboration between governments, NGOs, and citizens throughout the basin.”

This Forum is a part of the continuing efforts of the Common Waters Partnership to recognize anticipated threats to the river, provide good scientific information at a regional level, and establish a communications network between municipal, county, and state governments. The results of the Forum will be released in November and future events will be announced to the public as they are scheduled.

The Forum is from 9am to 9pm and includes a interactive community dialogue from 9am to 5pm and an evening program including dinner beginning at 5pm. For more information or to register, contact Aaron Lien at aaron.lien@pinchot.org or visit www.commonwaterspartnership.org.

The mission of Common Waters is to conserve clean water, natural places, and working lands through cooperation, scientific research, education, and technical assistance by and for the stakeholders of the region. The mission of the Pinchot Institute for Conservation is to advance conservation and sustainable natural resource management by developing innovative, practical, and broadly-supported solutions to conservation challenges and
opportunities. More information can be found at www.pinchot.org.