News from New York State Department of State

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New York State Department of State

ANNOUNCES THE 2008 WATERSHED SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL CONFERENCE

ALBANY, NY (08/22/2008; 1416)(readMedia)-- Secretary of State Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez today announced that the 2008 Watershed Science and Technical Conference will be held at the Thayer Hotel in West Point, New York on September 16^th and 17^th, 2008. Those interested in attending the conference may register online at the Department of State's website at www.dos.state.ny.us or the New York Water Environment Association's website at www.nywea.org.

"This important conference will bring scientists, engineers and technical experts together with watershed stakeholders and the public, to present leading edge research findings and information regarding the protection the New York City Watershed, the nation's largest unfiltered surface water supply," said Secretary Cortés-Vázquez.

The New York City water supply system provides 1.4 billion gallons of high quality drinking water each day to 9 million residents of New York City and Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Ulster counties. The source of this water supply is a network of 19 reservoirs in a 2,000 square mile Watershed that extends north of the City into Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, and west into Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties in New York's Catskill region.

"The conference will be valuable to elected officials, directors of public works, planning and highway departments, land use planners, consulting engineers, attorneys, educators, environmental groups and interested citizens, all of whom are our partners in protecting and enhancing the New York City Watershed", said William C. Harding, Executive Director of the Watershed Protection and Partnership Council, adding, "Conference attendees will find themselves in a unique forum for collaboration among the many entities working within the field of watershed protection science here and across the nation."

Conference organizers include the New York State Department of State, the Watershed Protection and Partnership Council, the New York Water Environment Association, Inc. and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Special events at the conference include remarks by John Cronin, former Hudson Riverkeeper and currently the Director and CEO of The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, and the Director of the Pace Academy for the Environment at Pace University.

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