For Immediate Release
Contact: Kristen Peterson, The Hatcher Group, 410-990-0284
Center for Watershed Protection Names National Leaders in Clean Water Solutions
Award winners span private, nonprofit and government organizations
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (April 24, 2017) -The Center for Watershed Protection recognized eight of its partner organizations as recipients of its 2017 Innovation and Leadership in Watershed Protection and Restoration awards for developing and deploying best practices to enhance water quality.
Recipients were named at the Center’s annual conference which took place this month, marking the organization’s 25th year of being a national leader in stormwater management and watershed planning.
“The Center for Watershed Protection wants every community in our country to have clean water and healthy natural resources,” said Hye Yeong Kwon, executive director of the Center for Watershed Protection. “In order to achieve that vision, nonprofit, private and government organizations must work together and demonstrate innovation, initiative and excellence. This award recognizes emerging leaders and visionaries from across the country who have used innovative practices to improve our water.”
Four award categories included private corporations, nonprofit organizations, state agencies and local governments.
In the private corporations category, Ecotone (team member Scott McGill); Environmental Quality Resources, LLC (team member Liam O’Meara and Rick Scaffidi); and Stormwater Maintenance and Consulting, LLC (team members Jennifer Rauhofer, P.E. and Theodore Scott, P.E.) received awards. These firms partnered with designers, researchers and local governments to advance science-based approaches to stormwater and watershed management projects. These projects, such as Environmental Quality Resources’ installation of an innovative permeable berm rain garden, enhanced local water quality.
Civic Works (team member Eli Allen) won in the nonprofits category for the organization’s innovative approach to providing training opportunities for under- and unemployed Baltimore residents to secure jobs and careers in the green industry.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (team members Gabe Cohee, Matt Fleming, Catherine Shanks and Kevin Smith) won the state agency award for supporting strategies that are simultaneously cost-effective and innovative, yet realistic, to reduce polluted runoff in Maryland through the Department’s Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund grant program.
Three local government agencies from Carroll County and Talbot County, Maryland, and York County, Pennsylvania also received awards.
Carroll County, Department of Land and Resource Management-Bureau of Resource Management won for dedicating significant county resources to clean up local waters and the Chesapeake Bay and conducting research to help direct those funds to the most cost-effective practices.
Talbot County (team member Bill Wolinski) won for their leadership in testing new technologies to reduce stormwater pollution at a lower cost on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
York County Planning Commission (team members Pam Shellenberger and Felicia Dell) won for leading and collaborating with 45 municipalities to develop Pennsylvania’s first regional pollution reduction plan.
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The Center for Watershed Protection, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fostering responsible land and water management through applied research, direct assistance to communities, award-winning training, and access to a network of experienced professionals. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Ellicott City, Maryland, the Center is the source for best practices in stormwater and watershed management.
