Watershed Management Committee

What does the Watershed Management Committee do?

The Watershed Management Committee (WMC) of the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) brings together technical experts and policymakers from a wide range of disciplines. Some focus areas of the WMC overlap with many other NEWEA committees, such as Stormwater and Sustainability. The WMC is unique in its holistic perspective and includes individuals that engage in projects that integrate all parts of the water cycle to maximize benefits of management actions. From the perspective of receiving waters, the watershed includes everything upstream, which requires a wide range of technical experts.

Types of projects that WMC members are involved with include:

• Integrated plan development
• Non-point source pollution reduction
• Ecosystem restoration
• Coastal resilience
• Lake and reservoir management
• Stormwater control plan development
• Dam removal
• Water quality monitoring
• Wetland science
• Environmental policy

Issues facing waterbodies and society that are addressed through watershed management:

• Impairment of recreational uses by fecal bacteria and harmful algae blooms
• Eutrophication by excess nutrients in non-point source runoff, stormwater, and wastewater
• Toxic pollutant impacts to aquatic ecosystem health
• Water quality impacts from use of road salt
• Public safety in flood prone areas (e.g. storm surge and riverine flooding)
• Social and environmental justice in regional plan development
• Overarching role of climate change exacerbating other watershed issues

To address these issues and types of projects, the WMC aims to keep its members informed of scientific advancements in fields such as:

• Bacteria source tracking
• Innovative alternative on-site wastewater treatment
• Sensor technology
• Artificial intelligence / machine learning
• Watershed and receiving water quality modeling

Our members often discuss the competing interests that arise when dealing with complex biological responses, diverse stakeholder perspectives, and generalized policy. We aim to develop content, create technical sessions, promote understanding of water quality regulations, generate enthusiasm for complex watershed scale analysis, and collaborate with professionals and other NEWEA committees with a broad range of scientific knowledge.

How often do we meet?

• At the Annual Conference
• Monthly conference calls

Why should you join us?

We understand this is a volunteer group, so we aim to make it warm, welcoming and most of all -fun! We host an annual Source Water Brewers Homebrew Competition (https://www.newea.org/events/watershed-homebrewing-competition/) that allows any NEWEA member to brew a beer that highlights a local source water to be judged by peers at a fun social gathering. The event is held on a midweek afternoon/evening in July and rotates each year as we continue to find partnering breweries across New England.

See what we’ve accomplished.

In 2023, WMC hosted its inaugural “Swales and Ales” event, which featured a tour of the Town Brook Dam Removal and Restoration site led by staff from the Town of Plymouth Dept. of Marine and Environmental Affairs. Our first event was a hit among attendees, and we look forward to planning more engaging “Swales and Ales” events in the future.

Feel free to reach out to us for more information about the WMC.

2024 Annual Conference

Swales and Ales Tour followed by the 2023 home-brew event at Mayflower Brewery