Working Groups (shown alphabetically below) are assigned to each of the six goals in the Plan for the Ohio River Basin 2020 - 2025 (September 2020). Working Groups are charged with achieving the objectives in the Plan for the respective goals.
Abundant Clean Water Working Group
Mr. Richard Harrison, Leader
The Water Working Group is charged with developing and executing a detailed action plan to accomplish the following objectives in the Ohio River Basin Strategy:
Objective 1: Organizations and states, enabled by the Clean Water Act will work collaboratively to demonstrate measurable improvements for the number of water bodies meeting the Clean Water Act’s drinkable, swimmable and fishable water quality goals by 2030 as compared to 2020.
Objective 2: By 2025, develop effective strategies to support existing Ohio River Basin source water protection programs such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and utilize best practices from these strategies to build collaborative programs to protect Ohio River Basin drinking, industrial, surface and ground water supplies that do not currently have source water protection programs.
Objective 3: By 2025, identify priority waters with high incidences of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and convene stakeholders to prepare an Ohio River Basin-wide strategy to help respond to HABs in the Basin and that will result in measurable reduction in HAB occurrence by 2030 as compared to 2020 priority areas.
Objective 4: By 2025, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission
(ORSANCO) will convene water quantity managers Basin-wide to establish common goals directed at identifying Basin-wide problems affecting water quantity management and recommend strategies to address these goals.
Objective 5: By 2025, inventory drinking and wastewater system infrastructure needs for the Ohio River Basin and develop a strategy to maintain these systems Basin wide.
Healthy and Productive Ecosystems Working Group
Mr. Jordan Lubetkin, Leader
The Ecosystems Working Group is charged with developing and executing a detailed action plan to accomplish the following objectives in the Ohio River Basin Strategy:
Objective 1: By 2022, Basin states and the U.S. EPA, ORSANCO, conservation organizations, federal agencies, and other stakeholders will develop a plan for Ohio River Basin restoration through the identification and protection of at-risk ecosystems and the threats to them such as acid mine drainage or emerging toxic contamination. Examples of at-risk ecosystems include wetlands and riparian zones, habitat for threatened or endangered species, and other areas of ecological significance.
Objective 2: By 2025, secure funding to initiate a federal geographic program for the restoration of the Ohio River Basin that is appropriate to the need identified by the states and U.S. EPA, ORSANCO, conservation organizations, federal agencies, and other stakeholders.
Objective 3: In collaboration with state and federal agencies and other stakeholders, develop and implement strategies to eradicate, control, and manage invasive species within the Ohio River Basin. Management and control strategies should be comprehensive in application and proactive in nature by utilizing sound scientific data designed to analyze and assess risk, develop and utilize effective control methods, limit dispersal, reduce the effects of invasive species, and focus conservation efforts on high-priority ecosystems within the Basin. Management and control efforts should also include the public sector via the development and implementation of education and outreach programs designed to increase the understanding of the potential ecological, economic, and social impacts of invasive species within the Basin.
Knowledge and Education to Inform Decisions Working Group
Ms. Heather Mayfield, Leader
The Knowledge Working Group is charged with developing and executing a detailed action plan to accomplish the following objectives in the Ohio River Basin Strategy:
Objective 1: Regularly facilitate collaboration among stakeholders to identify and prioritize Ohio River Basin challenges that need to be addressed through research and/or education.
Objective 2: By 2021, establish coalitions to address Basin-wide research needs and map out an Ohio River research investment strategy that can be funded and implemented
Objective 3: By 2025, create a Basin-wide communication/marketing plan that will unify the Basin, educate the public on the value of natural resources and increase pride in the Ohio River Basin.
Nation’s Most Valuable River Transportation and Commerce Corridor
Mr. Martin (Marty) Hettel, Leader
The Transportation Working Group is charged with developing and executing a detailed action plan to accomplish the following objectives in the Ohio River Basin Strategy:
Objective 1: By 2025, the inland waterways infrastructure is efficiently funded to consistently maintain authorized river pools and the economical transportation of goods on the inland waterways.
Objective 2: By 2025, compared to 2019, the five-year growth trend of water-dependent industry, recreation, and commerce has increased.
Reliable Flood Control and Risk Reduction Working Group
Dr. Sarah Hippensteel Hall, Leader
The Flood Working Group is charged with developing and executing a detailed action plan to accomplish the following objectives in the Ohio River Basin Strategy:
Objective 1: By 2025, prepare a Basin-wide investment plan that addresses high flood risk areas, including areas where dams and local protection projects exist.
Objective 2: By 2025 USACE, USGS and NWS will jointly prepare a Basin-wide plan to update and expand components of an adequate flood warning system incorporating climate change considerations.
Objective 3: Hold regular collaborative stakeholder meetings to discuss and identify opportunities and issues with flood control and increase overall communication between Flood Response Groups.
World-class Nature-based Recreation Opportunities Working Group
Dr. David Wicks, Leader
The Recreation Working Group is charged with developing and executing a detailed action plan to accomplish the following objectives in the Ohio River Basin Strategy:
Objective 1: From 2021 - 2025, grow the Basin’s outdoor recreation economy at a rate that exceeds the national average.
Objective 2: By 2025, create a Basin-wide communication plan for recreation that encompasses recreation safety as well as the benefits to public health and quality of life.
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