Report Available from November 2014 Georgia Forests and Drinking Water Forum

A report is now available from the Georgia Forests and Drinking Water Forum (Forum) that was held in November 2014 in Savannah, Georgia.  Kitty Weisman of the US Endowment for Forestry and Communities (Endowment), who was formerly with Washington state, has shared this report with us that should be of interest to state drinking water programs.  The goals of the Forum were to:  share information about the connections between forests and drinking water; provide local examples of collaboration; discuss the particular connections between forests and drinking water in Georgia; and develop a list of actions to move forward.  Participants included representatives from state water and forestry agencies, EPA Region 4, drinking water utilities, and more.  The report and the Forum are the result of the Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water Project (Partnership), funded by the Endowment and the US Forest Service.  The report is attached to this email.
In addition to Georgia, Kitty is working with partners in four other southeastern states (Arkansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Texas) to implement the Partnership, and is also looking for new partners to work with.  The goals of the Partnership are to: help maintain or expand healthy forests in drinking water watersheds by developing relationships between stakeholders (including state agencies); identifying priority actions for achieving the greatest source water quality results; and exploring pilot projects to demonstrate the interdependence of healthy forests and drinking water.
For additional related resources, research, and presentations from the Forum, go to:  https://sites.google.com/a/scrwa.org/south-east-water-quality-collaborative/.  If you have questions and/or are interested in becoming a partner, please contact Kitty Weisman at Kitty.Weisman@icloud.com or (360) 481-2544.
Attachment – Georgia Forests and Drinking Water Forum – Final Report