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Richard Ribb, Program Manager Richard Ribb earned a master's degree in community planning and area development from URI. Tom Ardito, Outreach and Policy Coordinator Tom Ardito has a master's degree in marine affairs from URI. |
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management (DEM) is responsible for a wide range of regulatory and non-regulatory
functions. During the three decades of DEM's existence, the department
has accomplished a great deal to protect and enhance the state's land,
water, air, and living resources. As Rhode Island's environmental needs
have evolved, so has the agency.
In recent years, a number of states have
recognized the need to undertake ecosystem management, an integrated approach
to environmental management that recognizes the complex nature of environmental
problems and the need for citizen participation in solving them. In Rhode
Island, ecosystem management is demonstrated in the Rhode Island Watershed
Approach. Although DEM helped initiate the development of the RI Watershed
Approach, it is much more than a DEM endeavor, involving collaboration
between non-profit organizations; universities; the private sector; and
state, federal, and local agencies.
The Watershed Approach is a new framework
for environmental management, based on the realities of geography and
community rather than bureaucratic or political boundaries. Naturally
enough, the watershed approach is organized on the basis of hydrologic
flows---both surface and groundwater. It begins with scientific assessments
of the state's watersheds, but relies on decision making by watershed
stakeholders to effect change. Simply put, the RI Watershed Approach is
a strategy for comprehensive, community-based management of the state's
environment.
The goals of the Watershed Approach are:
Preserving and enhancing
public health;
Preserving and enhancing
watershed ecosystems;
Emphasizing an understanding
of the connections between various projects and activities within watersheds;
Promoting sustainable
economic development;
Reducing or preventing
pollution and other environmental impacts;
Encouraging and
involving citizens and organizations in watershed issues; and
Promoting stewardship
and creating public/private partnerships for resource protection, management,
and restoration.
Broad involvement is a critical component
of the RI Watershed Approach process. In many cases, the solutions to
natural resource problems depend on the people who live, work, and play
in a watershed. Many citizens and groups are willing to commit time and
energy to solving local and regional environmental problems, and watershed
management efforts nationwide show that the "bottom-up" nature
of this approach has proven very successful.
One of the strengths of this approach is
that it gives citizens and local organizations a real voice in managing
public resources; community involvement fosters solutions that make sense
locally. The success of a watershed approach depends on making it possible
for people to better understand the problems in their watershed, to identify
issues, to set goals and priorities, and to choose and implement solutions.
This also reflects the reality that state and federal agencies cannot
protect and restore watersheds on their own; nor do these agencies have
a monopoly on resources and solutions.
Another reason for adopting this new perspective
is the nature of non-point source pollution in our watersheds. Traditional
regulatory controls have excelled at addressing end-of-the-pipe pollution
sources, such as industrial and wastewater treatment plant discharges.
Solutions to the remaining problems---road runoff, septic system pollution,
lawn fertilizer, and animal waste---are more elusive, requiring the focused
efforts of many partners bringing ideas and resources to the table, and
crafting local responses to local watershed problems.
Even though Rhode Island has not had a
comprehensive statewide watershed resource management framework in the
past, watershed management techniques have been used successfully in various
ways during the last decade. Techniques employed have included creating
partnerships for action, involving stakeholders; developing the sound
science needed for management decisions; providing technical assistance
to communities; leveraging funds and resources to support watershed actions;
and emphasizing outreach and education. The Narragansett Bay National
Estuary Program, the Stafford Pond watershed study, the Pawcatuck Watershed
Partnership, the Aquidneck Island Partnership and the Woonasquatucket
River Watershed Coalition are all examples of watershed-based initiatives
where these methods have been used extensively.
DEM has incorporated the RI Watershed Approach
into its annual workplan, which coordinates the agency's activities and
specifies its goals and objectives. This year's workplan includes tasks
associated with two pilot watershed approach projects in the Woonasquatucket
and Wood-Pawcatuck watersheds. DEM is building upon and supporting existing
watershed initiatives and providing technical and funding assistance.
With strong support and new opportunities for funding at the federal level,
the agency expects future workplans to be even more closely tied to watersheds
as the statewide approach develops.
As part of the shift to empower planning
by local and regional groups, DEM is encouraging the development of both
long-term plans and short-term action strategies for watersheds. The plans
include specific goals and emphasize performance measures that allow stakeholders
to document progress and to evaluate watershed plan implementation. As
one way to help build capacity for action at the local level, DEM is developing
a process to award small grants specifically for watersheds. The agency
and its partners are exploring funding sources to meet this need.
DEM will continue to work to strengthen
the partnerships that have been forged to date. We have seen the benefits
of these alliances and have been impressed by the level of trust that
continues to grow between the partners. DEM is committed to the RI Watershed
Approach and will continue to work to ensure that Rhode Island's watershed
resources are protected, restored, and managed for the benefit of the
citizens of the state.