Updated Planning Tool Helps Communities Evaluate Development Regulations

Facilitates better site design to reduce pollution and costs For Immediate Release Contact: Kristen Peterson, The Hatcher Group, 410-990-0284, kristen@thehatchergroup.com ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (Jan. 4, 2018) – The Center for Watershed Protection announced today that it has updated its widely used “Code and Ordinance Worksheet (COW),” a tool for evaluating development rules in communities. Originally created in 1998, the COW is a tool for municipal staff or non-governmental organizations whose communities are experiencing or anticipating new development or redevelopment in urban, suburban or rural areas and need help evaluating their local development regulations. “Our main goal is to help communities [...]

2018-01-04T11:29:01-05:00January 4th, 2018|

An Updated Code and Ordinance Worksheet for Improving Local Development Regulations

Published in 1998, the Center for Watershed Protection’s Better Site Design Handbook outlines 22 model development principles for site design that act to reduce impervious cover, conserve open space, prevent stormwater pollution, and reduce the overall cost of development. The model development principles were created through a national Site Planning Roundtable, a consensus-based process initiated to create more environmentally sensitive, economically viable and locally appropriate development. The roundtable consisted of over 30 influential individuals from various organizations around the nation, including environmental groups, transportation officials, planners, realtors, homebuilders, land trusts, fire officials, county mangers and more. The Better Site Design [...]

2017-12-19T13:55:51-05:00December 19th, 2017|

2023 National Watershed & Stormwater Conference Highlights

  The CWP 2023 National Watershed & Stormwater Conference, Value of Water – Stormwater Harvesting & Reuse, Nutrient Trading and Funding, was held April 24-27, 2023, at the Westin in the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, CA. This annual conference provides a forum for sharing fresh ideas on watershed and stormwater management principles and practices. For four days, over 200 watershed professionals from federal, state, and local government agencies, consulting firms, universities, and non-profits from across the nation (and some international) gathered for technical presentations, case studies, panel discussions, and workshops. And as always, with CWP events, the conference was [...]

2023-07-21T13:17:03-04:00May 31st, 2023|

2021 National Watershed & Stormwater Conference Highlights

On April 13th through April 16th, the Center for Watershed Protection hosted its sixth annual National Watershed & Stormwater Conference virtually. Our National Watershed & Stormwater Conferences are offered each Spring, and they provide a forum for sharing fresh ideas on the principles and practices of watershed and stormwater management. For the second year in a row, the 2021 National Watershed & Stormwater Conference was held virtually to keep our attendees, presenters, sponsors, and staff safe and healthy. This year, we worked especially hard to create opportunities for the same interactive and engaging networking as the Center’s in-person events. We [...]

2021-05-18T16:08:17-04:00May 17th, 2021|

2020 Coastal & Island Specialty Conference Highlights

On November 16th and 17th, the Center for Watershed Protection hosted its very first Specialty Conference—an event with technical content, industry sponsors, and themed activities that were specifically designed around a focus area under the watershed and stormwater umbrella. We intend to hold an annual Specialty Conference each Fall to complement the National Watershed & Stormwater Conference we offer each Spring, which provides a forum for sharing all kinds of fresh ideas on watershed and stormwater management principles and practices. The 2020 Coastal & Island Specialty Conference was held virtually to keep our attendees, presenters, sponsors, and staff safe in [...]

2020-12-02T12:29:58-05:00November 24th, 2020|

Targeting Regulatory Protections to Vulnerable Forests in the Delaware River Watershed

Through a grant from the Delaware Watershed Research Fund, the Center is working in partnership with Rutgers University and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation on a research project which seeks to improve water quality in the Delaware River basin. The project includes a review of municipal codes and ordinances related to riparian (streamside) buffer and forest protection. This information, together with forest cover and development pressure data, will improve our collective understanding of how to provide effective protection for forests during development using municipal regulations. This project began by establishing an advisory group to discuss and recommend where to focus [...]

2018-05-21T09:14:01-04:00May 16th, 2018|
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