We re-launched the RAP Committee, MaumeeRAP.org, the new DMDS, and a new local grant opportunity. So that’s what a re-launching blitz looks like! For those that missed it, read on for a summary and visit MaumeeRAP.org for more information.
If nothing else in this industry, we love our acronyms. So bear with us while we announce the many new or re-invented initiatives, all while adding some new acronyms to our collective jargon.
On December 4, we announced that your local hub for information on all things Maumee Area of Concern (AOC) or Maumee RAP will be MaumeeRAP.org. The website is still under development, but you can go to it now for important info on the MAAC (not football but Maumee AOC Advisory Committee), the new Data Management and Delisting System (or DMDS for short) for the Maumee AOC, and the new local Request for Proposals for a small grant opportunity.
Also, with much ado, at the recent AOC Summit (Area of Concern Summit, that is), we announced the re-establishment of a local Maumee RAP Committee with a fresh new name: Maumee AOC Advisory Committee, or MAAC for short. The new MAAC will be a stand-alone committee, no longer under PCS’s umbrella, but still with our guidance and support as PCS as the newly dubbed Maumee AOC Facilitating Organization (but sadly, no nice acronym for that one). Applications are available at MaumeeRAP.org for those interested in joining the new MAAC. Applications are now due January 9th, 2015.
The DMDS is an online tool that serves a one-stop-shop for up-to-date status of the Beneficial Use Impairments in the watersheds in the Area of Concern, along with pertinent analytical data and projects underway, completed, and envisioned for the AOC. All of this critical information is shown geographically and through searchable resources and queries. The DMDS is a tool meant to inform decision makers, and those practitioners working in the water and on the ground, regarding the most critical areas to target, types of activities needed, and plentiful, diverse projects already underway in the AOC. Using all this information, together, the many businesses, government agencies, non-profit organizations and citizens working in tandem will be able to determine more targeted steps needed to make measurable improvements to the many local waterways in the Area of Concern.
And last, but certainly not least, we announced a local small grant opportunity focused on improving the Beneficial Use Impairments and on demonstrating that small, but important, water quality improvements can move the needle on measurable improvement, especially when they can later be scaled up and aggregated across watersheds. Short electronic proposals, for up to $15,000 in grant funding, are due January 30th, 2015 for projects to be completed by June 2016. Please review the full RFP at MaumeeRAP.org.