Past Watershed Congresses

The 2023 Watershed Congress returned to the Montgomery County Community College - Pottstown Campus on Saturday, March 25. A full day of in-person programming was followed by a week of virtual sessions. In both formats, the talks began with a keynote presented by Michael Hartshorne, Princeton Hydro, and Tim Fenchel, Schuylkill River Greenway NHA. Hartshorne and Fenchel discussed at Partner Water Quality Monitoring Project for the Schuylkill River undertaken by their organizations along with Berks Nature, Bartram’s Garden,  The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education,  and Stroud Water Research Center. The goal of this project was to address a disconnect between how stakeholders’ perceive the Schuylkill River and the true ecological status of this important resource. This project aimed to bridge that gap through 1) User opinion and perception survey, 2) Community science visual assessment trash survey, 3) Water quality monitoring, and 4) Educational outreach. This talk will provide an overview of this project and discuss the integration of all data into an Arc StoryMap for stakeholder engagement. The virtual presentation was recorded and is shared here.

Selected talks from both the in-person and virtual sessions are included in the  2023 playlist.

The 2022 Watershed Congress, was held virtually on Saturday, October 22. An amazing group of speakers presented at this event as a special event focused on the Clean Water Act at 50. Our speakers collectively covered the basics of the Clean Water Act, shared perspectives from specific communities, and discussed opportunities for more progress.  And hope.

See the full playlist.

Out of continued caution,  the planning committee decided to once again present the 2021 Watershed Congress as a week of virtual programming. The 2021 Watershed Congress, was held from Monday, September 20th, to Friday, September 24th. The program featured a 90-minute keynote presentation focusing on how the lower Delaware River has for too long been considered safe only for secondary contact, an antiquated level of protection that doesn't reflect the diverse primary contact recreational activities that are now taking place on the lower Delaware River. The keynote, "A Fishable, Swimmable, Delaware River," was presented by Doug O’Malley, Environment New Jersey, Erik Silldorff, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Abby Jones, PennFuture. In addition to the keynote, the week of virtual programming offered 13 60-minute traditional presentation programs, two 60-minute “lightning” or “bright spot” sessions, one 60-minute panel discussion followed by a 30-minute discussion section; and one 90-minute panel discussion. The bright spot sessions each included three short-form (15-minute) talks followed by Q&A at the conclusion of all three talks. Sessions covered a broad range of topics such as antidegradation, land use, stormwater, and water-based recreation..

See the full playlist.

In response to to the coronavirus pandemic, the Watershed Congress planning committee postponed the conference event originally scheduled for March 14, 2020, and re-shaped our program into a week-long interactive online event that began on Monday, September 21, and ran through Friday, September 25. The program featured a 90-minute keynote presentation focusing on how two programs are empowering urban youth to find their voice as environmental and education leaders in their community. "Today’s Youth – Tomorrow's Environmental Leaders: RENEW Program (Wilmington, DE) & CAUSE Program (Camden, NJ)" was presented by Cheronda Frazier and Joey Rodriguez, Center for Aquatic Sciences at Adventure Aquarium, and Willa Rowan and Kristen Travers, Delaware Nature Society. In addition to the keynote, the virtual program offered an additional 90-minute program, Environmental Activism: Pathway to Racial Justice, as well as 16 60-minute traditional presentation programs and six 30-minute discussion sessions focused on six pre-recorded video presentations.

See the full playlist.