Biodiversity wanes in New York

Throttling invasive species by TJ Sinnott

Bulwark for the Great Lakes and Hudson River by P Gerrity

Stopping ballast water "stowaways" by D Pughiuc

Biological pollutants in the Great Lakes by EL Mills, KT Holeck

Water quality signatures and the zebra mussel invasion by DA Matthews, SW Effler

Zebra mussel population dynamics: Implications for water quality modeling by CL Lange, DR Opdyke, JC Powers

Bad seeds: an introduction to invasive plants by AD Halpern, CA Boesse, AE Altor

You can help stop the plant invasion

President's message by D Ellis

Executive director's message by P Cerro-Reehil

People and places

NYWEA calendar

Sponsors at 73d Annual Meeting

Spring 2001 — Vol. 31, No. 1

Executive director's message

 
As we come to the end of the winter season and look forward to the spring, there are many exciting things to report to the membership of NYWEA.

Several actions took place at the Board meeting during the 73rd Annual Meeting in New York City that strengthen the position of this organization:

• The Board approved a joint specialty conference
with the New England Water Environment Association on CSO/SSOs. This theme is particularly timely in view of the introduction to the CMOM regulations. The meeting is scheduled for September 24-25, 2001 at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, NY.
• A second important action during the Board
Meeting was the approval of an advertising policy for CLEARWATERS magazine which will enable us to link companies providing services to this industry to their own web site from ours.

WEATeach

In my 14-year career with the NYWEA my enthusiasm grows. The WEATeach (pronounced "We Teach") program that attracted middle school teachers to the Annual Meeting on Tuesday was a tremendous success. NYWEA provided each teacher with WEF's Water Source Book which includes seventy-eight hands-on activities teachers can use in their classrooms.

Also provided to teachers was a copy of the new “AquaVenturer” CD. This interactive game allows students to travel through time and around the globe to discover what effect our regard for and treatment of water has on the world. This is an important step in helping this organization fulfill its public educational mission.

Recruits

Student participation in NYWEA is growing and several young people that were in attendance at the Annual Meeting are interested in serving on committees. It is participation from these young energized members where much of the future of this organization rests. Students representing RPI, Clarkson, Manhattan College, City College, and SUNY-ESF were in attendance at the meeting.

To help that cause along, there has recently been a flurry of contributions to the scholarship account that brings the total pledges to $175,000. We are now over half way to the $300,000 goal. See the detailed listing of contributors . Follow the link at the bottom of this page.

Partnering

Other events during the NYWEA Annual Meeting included the kick-off meeting with leaders from the New York Section American Water Works Association (NYSAWWA). The purpose of the meeting was to review areas where NYWEA and NYSAWWA can collaborate to better meet the needs of their constituents and to undertake joint projects that benefit both parties. Another meeting is scheduled during the NYSAWWA spring meeting on April 25th to continue important discussions on areas of collaboration.

Relative to partnering, representatives from the National Audubon Society, National Resource Defense Council, and Environmental Defense addressed NYWEA on their organizations' perspectives on the future of environmental protection, at our recently concluded 73rd Annual Meeting. A common theme in each speech was infrastructure funding. Interaction with advocacy groups becomes another way for NYWEA to partner and get our message out.

Relative to getting our message out, I would also ask you to review the Annual Report that was mailed with the Winter issue of CLEARWATERS. This report will help you understand the financial and programmatic activities of their organization.

Mark your calendar for the Spring Technical Conference & Exhibition on June 4-6 in Kerhonkson, NY .