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Next S.W.I.M. Coalition
Meeting
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Wednesday,
September 22
10am -12pm
Pratt Manhattan
144 W 14th St
New York, 10011
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Member Spotlight: Riverkeeper Monitors
the Hudson |
This
summer marked Riverkeeper's fifth season of water quality sampling
throughout the Hudson River Estuary. View a summary their program and
the condisitions they have observed this year! |
S.W.I.M. presents MINDS IN THE GUTTER
at URBAN GREEN EXPO |
Come
view Minds in the Gutter, our exhibit of innovative
stormwater management strategies for the pubilic right of way, at
the URBAN GREEN EXPO 2010,
September 29 - 30
Urban Green Expo is an annual two-day conference presented by Urban
Green Council, the New York Chapter of the US Green Building
Council. Urban Green Expo features over 40 educational sessions,
dozens of speakers, and a vibrant trade show. Opening Keynote by
William McDonough! |
Who We Are |
Ashokan
Services Inc
ARUP
Bronx
Council for Environmental Quality Bronx Initiative for Energy and
the Environment
Bronx
River Alliance Coastal Marine Resource Center Cook + Fox
Architects
The
Downtown Boathouse
Eastern
Queens Alliance
Full
Spectrum
Friends of Brook Park Friends of the High Line
The
Gaia Institute
Going
Coastal
Gowanus
Dredgers Gowanus Oyster Garden Stewards Green Apple Corps
Landmark West!
Long
Island City Community Boathouse
Lower
East Side Ecology Center
Manhattan Island Foundation
Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
Mosholu Preservation Corporation
Mothers
On the Move Natural Resources Defense Council
Natural Resources Protective Association Neighborhood Initiatives
Development Corporation
Newtown
Creek Alliance
New
York City Soil and Water Conservation District
New York Harbor School
New
York/New Jersey Baykeeper
New
York Public Interest Research Group
New
York Restoration Project
Newtown
Creek Alliance
North
Brooklyn Compost Project
North Shore Waterfront Conservancy of Staten Island
Nos
Quedamos
The
Point CDC
Pratt
Center for Community Development
The
Redhook Boaters Regional Plan Association
Riverkeeper
Rockaway Waterfront Alliance
Rocking
the Boat
Sebago Canoe Club Solar 1
South
Bronx Economic Development Corporation
Staten
Island Taxpayers' Association
Sustainable South Bronx
The
Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy Transportation
Alternatives
Trees
NY
Urban
Agenda
Water
Resources Group
Youth
Ministries for Peace and Justice
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Greetings from
the S.W.I.M. Coalition!
Welcome to our first ever newsletter, hot
off the virtual press! Here we will do our best to capture what has
been a very busy year for us...full of wonderful wonk work, fun
events and "capacity building".
Thank you for being a part of the S.W.I.M.
Coalition, whether you are a regular attendee of our events and
meetings, an amused reader of our informative emails, or a casual
observer aligned in spirit. We have made great strides since our
founding in 2007 - has it only
been three years? - because of your support and
participation.
In the past
year we have developed a new website, matured our mission and
platform, and updated our terms of membership. When you are done
perusing this fascinating newsletter, why not head over to www.swimmablenyc.info and see what's
good?
Yours
truly,
Kate
Zidar
Coordinator
Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (S.W.I.M.)
Coalition
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S.W.I.M.
Policy Review
TMDLs! Water Rates! Public
Participation!
We have been working hard to make sure water quality standards are
meaningful, new incentives for stormwater management are created,
and that the public is involved in the process of developing a
Green Infrastructure agenda for NYC.
S.W.I.M. joined forces with over 25 organizations on a letter to
EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck, calling on the agency to
ensure that the total maximum daily
load (TMDL)under development for discharges of pathogens to the
harbor protects public health and strives for swimmable/fishable
water quality. A TMDL defines the maximum amount of a pollutant
that can be discharged while achieving compliance with health-based
and ecologically-based water quality standards. Ms. Enck sent a
strong message of support for our position in her reply to the NY
and NJ state environmental commissioners and adopted our call for
the states to abandon the approach of using "seasonal averages" to
measure water quality compliance.
S.W.I.M. delivered testimony
before the NYC Water Board on Department of Environmental
Protection's (DEP) proposed water rates for FY 1010-2011. The
annual rate-setting process followed on the heels of DEP's Water
and Sewer Rate Study, which examined various possible changes to
the water rate structure, including the creation of a separate
stormwater charge. Such a charge could be used to more equitably
allocate the estimated 10% to 20% of DEP's annual expenses that are
attributable to stormwater management (including combined sewer
overflow abatement) and create incentives for the use of
sustainable "green infrastructure" approaches to stormwater
management that, ultimately, will achieve cost-savings for DEP.
Also, DEP is instituting a pilot project to apply a separate
stormwater fee to stand-alone parking lots, with credits for
reducing runoff.
We support the concept of a stormwater charge for New York City
with several caveats - that the fee be paired with an efficient
credit program to offer rate payers relief in exchange for on-site
stormwater management, that the DEP offer clear instruction and
economically feasible ways to obtain the credit, and that the
revenues generated by the stormwater charge support the
implementation of Green infrastructure in New York City.
Most recently, the S.W.I.M. Coalition prepared a letter and set of
recommendations for Commissioner Cas Holloway, regarding public participation
in the planning process for long term CSO control. The
document expressed our interest in seeing the "official" Long Term
Control Plan process resume, and specified how a meaningful public
process can help incorporate a broad Green Infrastructure approach
into the city's LTCP, as well as support the successful
implementation and stewardship of GI throughout New York
City.
All documentation for the above policy actions can be found on our
website HERE.
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Minds
in the Gutter
An exhibit, an event and beyond...
Minds in the Gutter is an ongoing call for designs that
respond to the following question: How can New York City utilize its
existing 6,000 miles of roadway and accompanying 12,000 miles of
sidewalk as an opportunity for stormwater management?
This S.W.I.M.-sponsored project began as a juried design
competition that resulted in an exhibit of 16 boards that represent
bright ideas for the gutter from professional firms, city agencies,
students, community-based organizations and concerned citizens.
Background information on the project was featured on Urban Omnibus.
The exhibit was initially launched with a panel and viewing at the
Museum of the City of New York on Earth Day, April 22, 2010. This
event was attended by over 200 "do-ers and dreamers" in the field
of stormwater management and produced a lively discussion moderated
by Deborah Marton, Executive Director of Design Trust for Public
Space.
Today, Minds in the Gutter continues as an ongoing call for
innovative designs that manage stormwater in the public
right-of-way. You can become involved by submitting your ideas on
the Minds in the Gutter website, viewing the
exhibit as it travels about town, and participating in future
events! Next stop is at URBAN GREEN EXPO...
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New
S.W.I.M. Media
All the kids are doing it.
We have retooled our website to offer readers the latest
stormwater-related info, "member spotlights", coalition updates and
event announcements in a new, easy-on-the-eyes format. You can
even let the website come to you by subscribing to our RSS feed.
You can also become our friend on the Facebook, and contribute
stormwater-related news, images and links to our wall.
As if that's not enough, we are now on Twitter, uploading live reports of CSO
overflows and other stormwater happenings. Follow us and
contribute photos to our feed!
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S.W.I.M.
Events
We support our members by
participating in or sponsoring events!
Earlier this year, S.W.I.M. joined a panel discussion on
stormwater management for GreenHomeNYC's March Green Building Forum,
where we were joined by Vincent Lee from ARUP and Esther Yang from Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation to discuss
all aspects of stormwater policy, design and implementation in New
York City.
After our May public meeting, S.W.I.M. members were invited on a
tour of Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 1 and
its various stormwater management features, thanks to Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy and the
architects of MVVA.
In July, Rocking the Boat invited us to join in their
Community Rowing program, where teen apprentices toured us around
the Bronx River in their handmade Whitehall rigs. If you haven't
been out on the water with these young people yet, don't miss their
last free summer sessions Sept. 12 and 18 from 12-5pm at Hunts
Point Riverside Park.
S.W.I.M. made a strong showing at Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance's City of Water Day, bringing our tabling display
- including Center for Urban Pedagogy's Sewer In a Suitcase! - as
well as the Minds in the Gutter exhibit. S.W.I.M. Coordinator Kate
Zidar spoke on a
panel titled "Water, Life, and the Waterfront: The Interconnections
Locally and Globally" with Loren Talbot and Jasper Goldman,
Filmmakers of City of Water, Renee Vogelsang, Food and Water Watch
and Bill Woods, NYC Department of City Planning.
Most recently, the S.W.I.M. Steering Committee joined Riverkeeper's boat captain John
Lipscomb and El
Puente Founder Luis Garden Acosta aboard the patrol boat "R. Ian
Fletcher" to tour the upper reaches of the Newtown Creek at the
end of July.
Check out photos of these and other past events on our website, and let us know your ideas for
participation in future events! Send your thoughts directly to
swimmablenyc@gmail.com.
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Plans
we are following...
Keep your eyes on the prize!
NYCDEP Long Term Control Plan for Combined Sewer
Overflow (LTCP) - The LTCP process, as required by the
Clean Water Act, will develop a comprehensive plan to control CSO
for each of New York City's waterbodies and their drainage basins.
In June 2007, NYC DEP submitted draft CSO "Waterbody/Watershed
Facility Plans" (WWFP) - precursors to the LTCPs - to the state
Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC). Enough acronyms yet? Over 3 years
later, most of these WWFPs have not yet been finalized -- they
remain under discussion between NYS DEC and the City. NYS DEC did
recently approved the WWFP for the Bronx River, which is now available. Based
on that WWFP, the City is due to submit a complete LTCP for the
Bronx River in January 2011. Neither the city or state have
provided any further details yet about the process they will follow
to develop that comprehensive plan - including any opportunities for public
participation...
Hudson-Raritan Estuary (HRE) Comprehensive Restoration Plan
(CRP) - This summer, members of the public were invited to
weigh in on this plan for the restoration of the Hudson Raritan
Estuary by the US Army Corps of Engineers and The Port Authority of
New York & New Jersey. The draft plan is available online here.
Vision 2020: NYCs Comprehensive
Waterfront Plan - The Department of City Planning is
currently preparing a Comprehensive Plan for the over 500 miles of
New York City's waterfront. Background materials,
notes from public meetings, and a comment form are online.
Draft recommendations were recently released for comment, and the
next public meeting is in early October. Comments will be accepted
into November.
NYC DEP Report: An Adaptive
Management Strategy for Reducing CSOs - This report has been
described by DEP as "the City's road map for a healthier harbor and
a greener city" that will "eventually inform the CSO Long Term
Control Plan (LTCP) process for NYC waterbodies." We are looking
forward to the imminent release of this report which, "provides the
framework for DEP's plan to meet or exceed water quality standards
through an Adaptive Management Strategy together with
cost-effective grey infrastructure investments." Anyone seeking
more information can contact DEP at
sustainability@dep.nyc.gov.
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Take
Action!
Green Roof Tax Credit Survey and
Swimmable/Fishable Petition
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