The State held its second successful Nonpoint Source (NPS) Conference on November 5-7, 2003, in Ventura. The conference, Restoring Clean Water: NPS Pollution Prevention and TMDLs, highlighted on-the-ground projects that prevented NPS pollution and restored impaired water bodies. Many presentations promoted technology transfer and innovative ideas that enhanced community and agency partnerships.

The conference was opened with a warm welcome from Alexis Strauss of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Region 9 Water Division and Peter S. Silva of the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). Keynote speaker Dr. Mark Gold from Heal the Bay gave an overview of NPS pollution in California and challenged the participants to tackle difficult problems. Staff members from the SWRCB and Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs) moderated most of the conference panels, while more than 45 recipients of State and federal funds, including speakers from watershed groups, Resource Conservation Districts, and various nonprofit organizations, presented their projects. Concurrent sessions of project presentations and a poster session took place on the first 2 days of the conference. Speakers including Steve Carley from the Washington State Department of Ecology, Rainer Hoenicke from the California Resources Agency, and Terry Tamminen from Environment NOW, who recently became the new director of the California Environmental Protection Agency, concluded day two of the conference with a discussion of funding issues encountered while maximizing coordination of priorities and partnerships within NPS projects. Conference participants saw innovative management practices and projects on a field trip conducted on the third day of the conference.

Enrollment of 240 participants from all over the State and numerous positive post-conference comments and evaluations demonstrate a positive response to the conference. Written compliments included, "Excellent conference!" "This was one of the best-organized conferences I have been to from registration through its actual execution;" and "Nice to see so many presentations on cooperative and collaborative approaches to NPS issues and restoration." This type of success ensures that the USEPA, SWRCB, RWQCBs, and NPS Conference Committee members will produce another exciting event in 2005. Stay tuned!

Project abstracts and speaker biosketches and presentations are available below in PDF (Protected Document Format).  You can download a free Adobe Reader at the gold icon link provided in the grey column on the left of this web page.