The SWIM steering committee would like to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to Fill Out the SWIM Coalition Survey. SWIM Coalition is 10 this year. We would like to get your input on what our key areas of focus should be over the coming decade. IN THIS ISSUE
-Latest News for the 6 Approved LTCP’s -NRDC Report on GI for Private Property -DEP Report on Climate Change and Stormwater -Member News and Events -Save the Date! -Job Listings
NEWS: Latest News on New York City's CSO Long Term Control Plans: Over the summer SWIM Coalition member organizations and the SWIM steering committee met with elected officials and the Mayor’s office of Sustainability to get the word out about the City’s flawed Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plans (CSO LTCP) for Alley Creek, Bronx River, Flushing Bay, Flushing Creek, Gowanus Canal and the Hutchinson River and SWIM Coalition's call for the plans to be reopened and improved. Many elected officials are not as familiar with the details of the plans and how they will impact the local waterways in their districts even though they are multi-million dollar capital projects that will impact their constituents for decades to come.
We encourage all of our subscribers to meet with your local elected officials to let them know you are concerned that the plans that have been approved will not yield waterways that are clean enough to touch let alone swim or fish in them! Here is a link to the fact sheets and materials you can use for your meetings.
SWIM has also developed a set of principles that we believe should inform the City’s CSO Long Term Control Plans and so far 26 SWIM member organizations have signed onto the Principles. The document can be found here. If you’d like to sign on to the SWIM Principles document, please email us at swimmablenyc@gmail.com and feel free to use the principles doc in your meetings and conversations with local officials.
SWIM member org Coney Island Beautification Project is organizing a delegation of waterway stewards to visit and meet with Congressman Hakim Jeffries to talk about the issues in Coney Island Creek and Jamaica Bay. Bronx River Alliance has organized a meeting with the Bronx Boro President and the Guardians of Flushing Bay have organized meetings with their local City Council member Peter Koo. We hope that other SWIM members will follow suit and let us know the outcomes of your meetings. Council Member Koo held a press conference out by Flushing Bay and Creek that garnered a lot of attention, as did Coney Island Beautification Project. Both waterways are now priority areas for DEP, same for the Bronx River. Our bringing attention to these matters with local officials helps!
NRDC Report on Green Infrastructure for Private Property: Catalyzing Green Infrastructure on Private Property: Recommendations for a Green, Equitable New York City, a new report just published by SWIM Coalition member org, Natural Resources Defense Council, explores ways to facilitate more green infrastructure installations on private property. Here is a link to the report outlining NRDC and NYU recommendations for DEP to consider as they revamp their current grant program. We’ll talk more about this topic at SWIM’s next public meeting on October 10th.
New DEP Report on Climate Change and Stormwater: New Report will serve as a roadmap for communities looking for stormwater solutions. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in partnership with the Water Research Foundation, today released a new report entitled Innovative and Integrated Stormwater Management. The report is an accumulation of DEP’s examination of stormwater programs from across the country and around the globe, including vital data sharing between New York City and 34 communities. Find the new report here.
MEMBER NEWS AND EVENTS: Please take a moment fill out the NYC Urban Field Station's Stewardship Map (STEW-MAP) Survey The research team at the U.S. Forestry Dept.'s NYC Urban Field station is making sure we can all connect with one another in our neighborhoods and across the city through their map of NYC stewards and their contact info. Click here to help provide key information about your organization so that you can be listed on the map.
SAVE THE DATE: -SWIM Coalition Fall Public Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 10th at Gowanus Canal Conservancy 5:30pm -7:30pm, 543 Union St, Brooklyn, NY 11215. The entrance to the GCC Headquarters is down the alley. Click here for more details, and to register for the meeting. -The Lower Hudson Coalition of Conservation Districts' Southeast NY Stormwater Conference,Wednesday, October 18th, Beacon, NY. Click here for details. - NYC Soil and Water Conservation District's 7th Annual Green Infrastructure Bus Tour to Philadelphia! Thursday, October 19th, We will meet at 8:30 AM at the NYC Soil & Water Conservation District Building at 121 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Drop off will be in the same location at the end of the day. Click here for all the locations on the tour! Tickets are now available here! Contact korin@nycswcd.net for more information. -BCEQ Harlem River Water Conference: Wednesday, October 25th, The Bronx Museum of the Arts.Come learn about how clean the Harlem River is, NYC Parks’ Harlem River Watershed Plan, how to be a clean water steward, & more! Click here for more information & to RSVP for this free meeting.
JOB LISTINGS: -Save the Sound (STS), a bi-state program of Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) is seeking a full time Green Infrastructure Project Manager. Click here for details. -Gowanus Canal Conservancy is seeking a Project Director for their Gowanus Lowlands Project . Click here for more information about the job and to apply. -Gowanus Canal Conservancy is seeking a Development Director: Click here to learn more about the job and apply.
Photo credit: https://www.nycgovparks.org/greening/green-infrastructure