Rebecca Power, Interim Director North Central Region Water Network University of Wisconsin-Extension Environmental Resources Center and Richard Klemme, Dean and Director University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension
Zeitoun 2011
National Water Network Extension Education Watershed Scale Projects Research, Education, Extension NRI/AFRI Regional Coordination Projects National Facilitation Projects
Northeast Region Western Region North Central Region Southern Region
Scope: North Central Region Conversations among the Heartland, Great Lakes leadership teams and North and South Dakota water leaders Central questions: Is multi-state water collaboration worth doing (even without $)? What interests do we have across the 12 states? How do we accommodate sub-regional issues?
September 2012 - Regional water leaders developed and presented concept paper to Extension directors and program leaders. Proposed: A regional planning process Development of a white paper a new model for Extension-led water programming in the North Central Region Associated funding
November 2012 State delegates selected by Extension Directors December 2012 North Central Region Water Planning Meeting April 2013 White paper to Extension Directors
North Central Region Director vote July 2013 Unanimous $250,000 annually Substantial portion invested by University of Wisconsin- Extension and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension 3-year pilot Partners and effective integration with federal agencies will be critical
Increase connectivity and learning between university professionals and partners across a diversity of waterrelated disciplines and roles Strengthen networking and communication between university professionals with Extension appointments and those with exclusively research appointments Build capacity of universities to address multi-state issues and opportunities Generate measurable economic, environmental, and social impacts in the short and long-term
Network Staff Regional Director Administrative support Marketing Evaluator Seed funding - $90K annually Regional Initiatives State Points of Contact Regional Administrative Council Extension Directors Agencies Industry NGOs Water experts
December 2013 Convene state contacts February 2014 Launch website March 2014 Host first speed networking presentations Begin selection of Regional Administrative Council May 2014 - Seed grants available July 2014 - North Central Region water conference
Illinois - Richard Cooke, George Czapar Indiana - Jane Frankenberger Iowa - Rick Cruse, Chad Ingels, John Lawrence*, Gary Taylor, Lois Wright- Morton* Kansas - Dan Devlin Michigan - Tom Coon, Marilyn Thelen, Lois Wolfson Minnesota - Brent Hales, Faye Sleeper Missouri - Bob Broz, Beverly Maltsberger Nebraska - Tom Franti, Chuck Hibberd North Dakota - Tom Scherer, Kathy Tweeten* Ohio - Joe Bonnell, Eugene Braig, Greg LaBarge South Dakota - Christopher Hay, Jeppe Kjaersgaard, Dennis Todey Wisconsin - Tom Blewett*, Ken Genskow, Victoria Harris, Rebecca Power*, Rick Klemme. Jenna Klink *Steering Team members
Illinois Brian Miller, Illinois- Indiana Sea Grant Indiana - Jane Frankenberger, Purdue Iowa Jamie Benning, Iowa State Kansas - Dan Devlin, K-State Michigan - Lois Wolfson, Michigan State Minnesota - Faye Sleeper, University of Minnesota Missouri Dan Downing, University of Missouri Nebraska Richard Koelsch, University of Nebraska North Dakota - Tom Scherer, North Dakota State Ohio - Joe Bonnell, The Ohio State South Dakota - Christopher Hay, South Dakota State Wisconsin - Ken Genskow, University of Wisconsin
Water resource management is complex Flexible bridging and boundary-spanning organizations are necessary for successful water resource management States Scales Disciplines Diverse partners Research and community engagement/education Research needs to be tightly coupled with high quality community engagement and education
Network Contact: Rebecca Power University of Wisconsin- Extension Environmental Resources Center 608-263-3425 rlpower@wisc.edu Acknowledgements Tom Blewett CRD Program Director, WI John Lawrence ANR Program Director, IA Kathy Tweeten CRD Program Director, ND Lois Wright-Morton Professor, IA Rick Klemme Extension Director, WI Chuck Hibberd Extension Director, NE North Central Region Extension Directors North Central Region state delegates