Transcript Ohio River Basin Alliance

Erich Emery
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
History
 October 2009 – Ohio River Basin Summit
 Co-Led by:
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US Environmental Protection Agency
US Army Corps of Engineers
The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO)
The Ohio River Basin Water Resources Association
 Purpose: Establishing a dialogue and raising awareness of common
issues and priorities
 Attendees: Over 100 stakeholders representing 43 different agencies
and organizations.
 Participants agreed that gathering together to roundtable on water
resource issues within the Ohio River Basin is necessary to promote a
sustainable water resources future.
History
 Conferences
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October 2009 – Covington, KY
February 2010 – Columbus, OH
August 2010 – Charleston, WV
March 2011 – Indianapolis, IN
September 2011 – Huntington,WV
March 2012 – Nashville, TN
September 2012 – Pittsburgh, PA
August 20-21, 2013 – Louisville, KY
Support
 USACE
 Funded the first conference in 2009
 Continues to provide administrative support to the Steering
Committee, assists in maintaining the web site and providing
logistical support for conference execution.
 The Corps’ role will diminish as ORBA grows
 Conferences since 2009 have been supported by conference
registration fees.
About ORBA
 Our Vision is to support and implement integrated management of the Basin’s
resources to achieve sustainable economic growth, ecological integrity and
public safety.
 Our Mission is to form a successful collaboration that will recommend strategies
and coordinate actions to address complex water resource challenges and
priorities with a unified voice.
 Our Purpose is to communicate on water resources issues in the Basin with the
goal of identifying key issues that resonate with the entire Alliance membership.
 Our Guiding Principles are to include everyone, leverage our resources and
authorities, capitalize on existing collaborations, and do not impede or infringe
on the mission of any other organization.
Status
 The Ohio River Basin Alliance (ORBA) is evolving from an event
into an entity.
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Steering Committee
Standing Work Groups
Guiding Principles, Vision, Mission and Purpose
Bylaws (recently approved)
Administrative Procedures (being developed)
Organizational Structure
Steering Committee
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Carolyn Hefner, Chair, WVCA
Dave Bailey, EPRI
Marty Hettel, AEP
Kari Mackenbach, URS
Fred Nyhuis, Marathon
Jerry Schulte, ORSANCO
Dr. Charles Somerville, MU
Mike Steinmaus, AEEP
Working Groups
 Water Availability & Management
 Erich Emery, US Army Corps of Engineers
 Restoration & Protection
 John Stark, The Nature Conservancy
 Sustainable Growth & Competitiveness
 Dr. Harry Stone, Battelle
 Enterprise & Infrastructure
 Kari Mackenbach, URS Consultants, Inc.
Recent Developments
 Provided a forum for discussion and voiced support for a USGS
proposal to install a new stream gage on the Ohio River at
Marietta.
 USACE Climate Change Adaptation Pilot Study:
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Funded by the Institute of Water Resources
ORBA Climate Change Working group established
One of 14 pilot projects underway across the US
Pilot will examine how climate change will impact the Ohio River Basin.
This pilot study is the first study of its kind to look at climate change
impacts to the Ohio Valley.
 The next Ohio River Basin Conference is
August 20-21, 2013 in Louisville, Kentucky –
details available on the ORBA website.
www.ohioriverbasin.org
QUESTIONSQ