Rivers Council Meetings

Agendas & Minutes

Here is a link to maps of RI showing Senate and House districts.
Take a look and see what districts are in your watershed.

Here are the two websites with district numbers, names and emails: Representatives and Senators

2024 Meeting Schedule

DateTimeLocation
January 103:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
February 143:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
March 133:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
April 103:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
May 83:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
June 123:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
July 10 or August 143:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
September 113:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
October 93:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
November 133:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
December 113:30 – 5:30 PMHybrid (virtual and in-person at DEM)
*We meet only once in the summer (either July or August).
While we are now meeting in person again, we will continue to have a video link to the meetings so people can attend in either format.
November is the month we start our meeting with a public hearing for any re-designation of a watershed council or any new designations.

Presentations and Related Materials

At the November 10, 2021 Rivers Council meeting, John Marsland, President of the Blackstone River Watershed Council /Friends of the Blackstone, presented on “Blue Mind on the Blackstone: An Example that Can Be Used for the Benefit of All RI Rivers.” View his presentation (PDF).

At the September 8, 2021 Rivers Council meeting, Julia Bancroft, Watershed Coordinator, Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and Alicia Schaffner, Executive Director, Salt Ponds Coalition discussed this Story Map about the Salt Ponds along the south coast of Rhode Island. The title of their presentation was “The Salt Ponds Story Map – A collaboration between NBEP and SPC.”

At the May 12, 2021 Rivers Council meeting, artist Lorena Pugh gave a presentation called “Painting Water”View her presentation (PDF).

At the February 10, 2021 Rivers Council meeting, Jenny Paquet, of RI DEM, presented on “Watershed Planning for the Protection and Restoration of Clean Water and Healthy Aquatic Habitats.View her presentation.

At the January 13, 2021 Rivers Council meeting, Katie DeGoosh, of RI DEM, presented on Freshwater Invasive Species in Rhode Island: Mapping & Outreach. View her presentation (PDF).

At the December 9, 2020 Rivers Council meeting, Teresa Crean, from the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center/RI Sea Grant, presented on Coastal Resilience in Rhode Island: Introduction to STORMTOOLS and RI Adaption in Progress. View her presentation (PDF). Additional resources:

At the May 12, 2021 Rivers Council meeting, Artist Loreen Pugh gave a presentation called “Painting Water”. View her presentation (PDF) 

At the September 9, 2020 Rivers Council meeting, the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council’s Education Director Sara Canuel presented their New Voices at the Water Table Project. New Voices at the Water Table focuses on creating an inclusive, neighborhood focused cohort of community members to learn and brainstorm environmental solutions in the Olneyville neighborhood.  View her New Voices presentation (PDF).   

At the August 2020 RIRC meeting, RIRC member Michael Bradlee, Chair of The Community Compost Depot, Inc. Providence, RI gave a presentation on “Community Scale Composting: A Local Solution for All Things Organic” (PDF).

Kelly Addy, Emily Vogler, Art Gold, Jason Parent, and Elizabeth Herron presented on “The Dam Atlas” at the June 2020 meeting. View their presentation (PDF).

Jenny Paquet, MCP, Senior Environmental Planner for RIDEM Office of Water Resources presented on “How to Receive Notification of Proposed Actions in Your Watershed” at the December 2019 RIRC meeting. View her presentation (PDF). Download the notification request letter template (Word document docx), view the table of actions and timeframes (PDF).

Paige Dolci, MA Audubon MetroWest/Central Regional Coordinator, pdolci@massaudubon.org spoke on “Valuing Ecosystem Services in the Narragansett Bay Watershed” at the October 9, 2019 RIRC meeting. View her presentation.

The 2017 State of Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed technical report is now available.
The Narragansett Bay Estuary Program brought together more than 50 practitioners from universities, organizations, and agencies in a bi-state effort by Massachusetts and Rhode Island to collaborate on the 2017 State of Narragansett Bay and Its Watershed technical report. This report presents and tracks 24 indicators in order to: evaluate key stressors to Narragansett Bay and its watershed; assess the chemical, physical, and biological conditions, describe past and recent trends; look ahead to potential future changes; and identify data and research essential to advancing our understanding of these changes. 

The Rapid Benefits Indicators (RBI) Approach: A Process for Assessing the Social Benefits of Ecological Restoration
Marisa Mazzotta, Justin Bousquin, Claudette Ojo, Walter Berry, Caroline Druschke, Kristen Hychka, Rick McKinney, Dave Martin, US EPA Office of Research and Development, Atlantic Ecology Division
Presented at the June 14, 2017 RIRC Meeting

EPA SNEP PROJECT: Integrating Ecosystem Services Functions and Values into Land-Use Decision Making in the Narragansett Bay Watershed
Presentation by Stefanie Covino, Project Coordinator, Shaping the Future of Your Community Program, Mass Audubon and Robert M. Griffin, Ph.D., Economist, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University
Presented at the February 2017 RIRC Meeting

State of Our Watershed:  A Status and Trends Report on Narragansett Bay and its Watershed
Presentation by Tom Borden, Program Director of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program at the December 14, 2016 RIRC Meeting 

RI DEM Office of Compliance and Inspection:  Routing of Incoming Telephone Calls
Handout from presentation by David Chopy at June 2016 RIRC Meeting

RI Coastal Resources Management Council: Regulatory Program and Restoration Partnerships
Presentation by Caitlin Chaffee, Coastal Policy Analyst, and Jeff Willis, Deputy Director at the May 9, 2016 RIRC Meeting

Overview of Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC) Construction Activities, Monitoring Initiatives and Findings
Presentation by Thomas Uva, NBC Director of Planning, Policy, and Regulation at the April 13, 2016 RIRC Meeting

Water Quality 2035 Presentation from March 9, 2016 Meeting
Water Quality 2035 Handout from March 9, 2016 Meeting

Fish Run Presentation from September 9, 2015 Meeting
 

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