Delaware River Urban Water Federal Partnership
AUGUST 11, 2017--The Delaware River Urban Water Federal Partnership (UWFP) held a Brownfield Community of Practice meeting on August 8 at the Camden County Municipal Utility Authority.
The UWFP is a national partnership among federal agencies, state and local governments, NGO's, and communities to revitalize highly impacted and underserved urban water communities. The UWFP was recently named a finalist for the 2017 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America medal. Information on the UWFP and how to vote for the UWFP project can be found at Urban Waters Team Finalist for Service to America Medal and People's Choice - 2017 Service to America Medals.
The Delaware River UWFP location has several on-the-ground revitalization and restoration projects in different stages of implementation in the cities of Camden, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Chester, Pennsylvania; and Wilmington, Delaware. These projects directly address goals related to economic revitalization, environmental justice, community health, water quality, resilience and infrastructure updates, habitat and species restoration, and recreational access and trails, among others. The Brownfield Community of Practice provides an opportunity to provide updates and networking for the project participants and the communities.
The agenda included presentations on the Northeast Wilmington/ Brandywine River Brownfield Area wide planning grant, the South Wilmington Wetland project (Christina River), Philadelphia waterfront projects designed to reconnect residents to historical riverfronts on the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, urban gardening, beneficial reuse of dredge material, Chester green infrastructure initiatives, living shorelines and habitat restoration of a former landfill along the Delaware River, and the anchor role of a local utility (CCMUA) in developing waterfront parks and other community amenities as an example of going beyond the basic role of the utility. All of these projects are occurring on underutilized coastal Brownfield properties.
Participants included representatives from a wide range of federal, state, local government, NGO, and supporting consultants. The next meeting will be in approximately six months and may be held in Wilmington.
The NOAA North Atlantic Regional Team (NART) also held its annual meeting August 6-8 in Dover, Delaware. At the meeting, there was significant discussion regarding urban issues and the need to support urban communities.
For further information, contact Simeon.Hahn@noaa.gov.