Middle Great Miami River Watershed Alliance, Miami Regional Planning Commission and Ohio EPA sponsored two informational sessions in the auditorium at Edison Community College on March 7, 2013 from 3-4 PM and 7-8 PM. Attendees included municipalities, townships, counties and interested public .
Matt Lindsay of the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and the MGMRWA, Inc. hosted the meeting.
Hugh Trimble, OEPA SW Office Presented 2009 MGM River Quality Survey Results
Hugh Trimble shows differences in Warm Water Habitiats and Exceptional Warm Water Habitats and how they are determined and monitored alonng the Great Miami River
Greg Buthker, OEPA SW Office Presented Total Maximum Daily Load
Dale White OEPA Columbus Presented Modeling and Assessment
Those in attendance at the two sessions were representatives from:
Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission
Middle Great Miami River Watershed Alliance
Township trustees from Champaign, Miami and Shelby Counties
Miami and Shelby County Commissioners
Interested public
Edison Community College in Piqua hosted a roundtable presentation to the public and students on November 11th, 2011.
Scott Phillips of PBS American Wood Shop moderated the discussion and gave the keynote presentation on " Creating a Legacy: Promoting and Preserving Our Wetlands For Generations".
Guest presenters were Jeff Lange (Protecting Our Water Ways), Don Freistahler (City of Piqua Division of Water), Linda Ratterman (Miami County Division of Soil and Water) and Ben Lavy (Pheasants Forever).
Jeff Lange presents importance of keeping our waterways clean.
Don Freisthler presents the current and proposed water plant for Piqua.
Linda Ratterman presents the importance of soil and water runoff.
Ben Lavy stresses importance of properly removing honeysuckle and other invasive plants.
Members from the Middle Great Miami River Watershed Alliance (MGMRWA) and Protecting Our Water Ways (POWW) recently attended the River Summit at the University of Dayton’s River Campus housed in the former NCR World Headquarters. In attendance were Scott Phillips, American Woodshop – PBS TV; Jeff Lange, POWW; Randy Kirchner, Watershed Coordinator; and Stu Shear, Secretary / Webmaster for the MGMRWA. Both groups set up displays along with the City of Piqua for participants to view of the Echo Hill Golf Course, Cemetery Land Lab projects and the POWW River Sweep. Randy Kirchner and Jeff Lange answered visitors questions concerning the various projects sponsored by their groups.
The River Summit initiative was begun in 2008 and links cities, suburbs, agricultural communities, statewide groups and citizens together to discuss and develop regional strategies that make the most of the Great Miami and Mad River corridors. The Summit also promotes the development of vibrant city waterfronts and recreational trails.
This year’s River Summit promoted informational session on Farmland and Open Space Preservation, Workforce Development and Ohio’s Great Corridor, Recreation and Tourism, Strategic Planning and Marketing, River Education and Outreach and Waterfront Development and Investment. The featured speakers were Rick Wood and Rob Taylor from the Trust for Public Land and the Lyndhurst Foundation of Chattanooga, Tennessee. They showed Chattanooga’s transformation from the dirtiest city in America to a clean and vibrant downtown and waterfront development.
The Middle Great Miami River Watershed Alliance is an organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of the middle Great Miami watershed in Miami and southern Shelby counties in Ohio. The groups’ goals are to promote wise watershed stewardship, promote sustainable wetlands, develop a working watershed management plan, develop land labs and curricular materials for students and protect the Great Miami River for damaging practices and improve aquifer recharge zones. The group’s membership is open to the public.
2012 River Summit
The Middle Great Miami River Watershed Alliance hosted it's first 2012 River Summit in the Turret Room at the Fort Piqua Plaza on May 3rd.
Displays were provided by Miami Conservancy District, Protecting Our Waterways, Pheasants Forever, City of Piqua CAC, Mad Men of Ohio, and more.
Tom Mayer, a local Miami County videographer presented excerpts from his DVD entitles Call of the Scenic River and answered questions from the audience.
