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COURSE INFO PROVIDER: SWSPCP Webinar
COURSE TITLE: Urban Wetlands and Water Management

INSTRUCTORS William Dooley

COURSE DESCRIPTION Urban Wetlands and Water Management
William Dooley
09/17/2020

ABSTRACT:
Wetlands help make cities livable. They reduce flooding, replenish drinking water, filter waste, and provide green spaces and outdoor classroom education opportunities for neighborhood schools. Yet, most people are unaware of the services urban wetlands provide their communities. In fact, urban wetlands are often viewed by the public as wastelands to be infilled for development, a place to dump trash, and/or too small and degraded to be worthy of protection or restoration by wetland managers with limited resources. In 2019, The Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) and an interdisciplinary workgroup began a project to address these challenges by: exploring ways in which Wetland Program Plans and the Core Elements Framework can do more to help local communities manage urban wetlands; identifying opportunities for mapping and functional assessment of urban wetlands to improve restoration and protection efforts; and facilitating research and peer to peer exchange on innovative funding and financing methods for nature-based projects. Findings, case studies, and recommendations resulting from this project will be summarized into a strategic guide by the end of 2020.

This presentation will provide an overview of the project, summarize preliminary findings, and highlight examples where urban wetlands have been successfully restored, enhanced, or protected to improve human health and welfare. Discussion of case studies will include how the projects were funded, whether functional mapping was used to prioritize restoration and protection, policy tools used to support the project, and resulting or expected benefits.

BIO:
William is a Policy Analyst with ASWM. William is a project lead on multiple ASWM programs including the Urban Wetlands Wetland Program Development Grant and assists in the design and implementation of policy research and analysis. Additionally, William facilitates various workgroups and ad hoc committees, such as the Natural Floodplains Functional Alliance and Wetland Mapping Consortium, and coordinates and hosts webinars for those groups. William has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Assumption College and a Master of Public Policy with a concentration in Environmental Policy from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. William has over nine years of environmental experience conducting field work, data review, project management and policy analysis.

Credit Points: 0.00

SYLLABUS/TOPICAL OUTLINE 1) Introduction: Public perception of urban wetlands, and wetland ecosystem services (15 min.); 2) The Association of State Wetland Managers and their role in assisting communities for the management of urban wetlands (15 min.); 3) Discussion of case studies where urban wetlands have been successfully restored, enhanced, or protected (15 min.); 4) Questions (15 min.).

COURSE CONTACT

Louis Mantini
9225 CR49, Live Oak, FL 32025
lfm@srwmd.org
P: 13866974891
F:

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