Conowingo WIP Steering Committee
The Conowingo WIP Steering Committee works collaboratively across jurisdictions and partnerships to effectively reduce increased nutrient levels in the Chesapeake Bay, resulting from the Conowingo Dam infill, through the successful implementation of the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) and two-year milestones.
Upcoming Meetings
Conowingo WIP Steering Committee Meeting- March 2025
Monday, March 3, 2025 from 1:00pm - 3:00pmScope and Purpose
The Principals' Staff Committee (PSC) created a Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) Steering Committee with the following roles and responsibilities:
- Consists of a representative from each Bay watershed jurisdiction and the Chesapeake Bay Commission. Members may also solicit comments on the Conowingo WIP framework from key stakeholders. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not participate due to its oversight role as part of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) accountability framework;
- Develops the Conowingo WIP with EPA staff and contractor support;
- Guides the development of a financing strategy with contractor support; and,
- Oversees implementation of the Conowingo WIP with contractor support.
NOTE: Previous meeting materials, documents and historical records be accessed on the steering committee's Projects and Resources page and meetings archive.
Projects and Resources
What's New?
The following resources include month-by-month updates and a comprehensive list of actions, decisions and meetings of the CWIP Steering Committee.
Conowingo WIP BMP Opportunity Analysis Web Viewer
The Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) Best Management Practice (BMP) Opportunity Analysis web viewer was created to help local practitioners plan for restoration activities and collect information that will be helpful to create proposals to apply for the funding available through the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
Conowingo Sediment Characterization and Innovative and Beneficial Reuse Pilot
Following the infill of the Conowingo Dam and more recent interest in utilizing dredging as a mechanism for restoration, the Conowingo Sediment Characterization and Innovative and Beneficial Reuse Pilot project was developed to better understand what dredging might look like in the Conowingo Reservoir. Separate reports were created on sediment Characterization (SC) and Innovative Reuse and Beneficial Use (IRBU), offering key findings that can be used to inform dredging projects.
CWIP Webinar Wednesday
This CWIP Webinar Wednesday presentation, hosted in September of 2023, provided an update on progress toward the implementation milestones since the approval of the CWIP by the Principals' Staff Committee in September of 2021. The presentation also included an overview of funding opportunities from Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Maryland’s Pay for Success Program
Maryland's Conowingo Pay for Success Program offers millions of dollars in funding, through the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, to purchase environmental outcomes related to water quality and in line with the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan. This groundbreaking pay for success model supports projects within the Susquehanna watershed, with priority given to most effective basins as outlined in the CWIP.
Publications
Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP)
The Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) offers a plan for best management practice (BMP) implementation across jurisdictions to reduce pollution loads. Also outlined in the CWIP are engagement and communication goals, methods to address impacts of climate change and relevant financing strategies.
View detailsConowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) Phase 1 Implementation Framework
The Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) Phase 1 Implementation Framework divides efforts into smaller-scale targeting efforts and broader, state-wide implementation efforts in most effective basins (MEBs). The document also provides milestone action items and funding sources.
View detailsConowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (CWIP) 2024-2025 Milestones
This report outlines programmatic and numeric two-year milestones for the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).
View detailsRelated Links
Members
Matthew Rowe (Chair), Maryland Department of the Environment
1800 Washington Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Email: matthew.rowe@maryland.gov
Phone: (410) 537-3578
Jill Whitcomb (Chair), Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Caroline Kleis (Staffer), Water Quality Goal Implementation Team Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Mark Hoffman, Chesapeake Bay Commission
60 West Street
Suite 406
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: mhoffman@chesbay.us
Phone: (410) 263-3420
John Maleri, District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE)
Marcia Fox, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Dover, Delaware 19904
Email: marcia.fox@state.de.us
Phone: (302) 739-9939
Dave Goshorn, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Avenue
C-4
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: david.goshorn@maryland.gov
Phone: (410) 260-8110