Tri-State Watershed Conference

The Upper Tennessee River Roundtable and the Appalachian RC&D are offering a Tri-State Watershed Conference Fri., Oct. 26, and Sat., Oct. 27, at the ETSU Bristol Campus and are assisting with a series of classes in conjunction with the conference.
Registration deadline is Oct. 19 for the conference, which is being offered at no cost to participants. Funding for conference expenses is being provided through the Roundtable’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Targeted Watershed Grant. Appalachian RC&D is one of three RC&D partners with the Roundtable on this grant.
The conference will begin with 8 a.m. registration each day, followed by a general opening session, breakouts each morning and field trips each afternoon, concluding by 4:30 p.m.
Conference breakouts will focus on monitoring techniques, program funding, public outreach, best management practices, watershed group management, and riparian restoration of areas located adjacent to streams and rivers. General sessions will address regional approaches to funding and collaboration, finding and keeping volunteers, land trusts and conservation easements. Field trips will include monitoring sessions on benthics and sediment, E.coli and chemical, as well as options to visit a best management practices site, a restored riparian area and an opportunity to learn about watershed management planning tools.
A monitoring class will be offered both days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Southwest Virginia Community College with the location to be at the Lebanon United Methodist Church in Meadowview. Another class on habitat is offered Oct. 12, 13 at the same location. Those wishing to participate in these classes may receive a scholarship worth half the cost by calling the Roundtable at 276-628-1600.
To register for the conference, go online to http://www.uppertnriver.org. To register for either or both class, go to https://apply.vccs.edu/app/app.htm. For more information, call the Roundtable at 276-628-1600 or the RC&D at 423-753-4441, extension 4. The Roundtable is a nonprofit watershed organization serving the region of the Upper Tennessee River drainage with a mission of achieving clean water.