Water Resources Conference

All over the world, including New York State, poorly implemented and enforced water policies are failing both nature and society. In the U.S., when Congress passed the Federal Clean Water Act in 1977, primary objectives included ending the discharge of pollutants by 1985 and creating universally fishable and swimmable waters by 1983. Unfortunately, the effort to achieve those goals and a host of others — eliminating the indirect discharge of pollutants, creating watershed management programs, and funding major research and development of new technologies to eliminate pollution — has failed.

The fact that New York State has no comprehensive state water policy of its own — just a patchwork of laws and regulations — only amplifies the risk to our local waters.
 
On September 23, 2009 Pace Academy will host a conference at which experts drawn from a variety of perspectives will meet to examine the need for a comprehensive state water policy. Participants in the NYS Water Policy Conference will also identify related policy objectives, specific to New York State, that address the failures and limitations of the Federal Clean Water Act. The symposium will include multiple stakeholders and experts in diverse disciplines, including law, policy, health, science, economics, engineering, ethics, and education. 
 

 Conference Planning Committee:
 

  •  Michelle D. Land (chair), Director, Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies
  • John Cronin, Senior Fellow in Environmental Affairs, Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies
  • Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, Assistant Dean, Environmental Law Programs, Pace Law School
  • Nicholas A. Robinson, University Professor, Pace University and Gilbert & Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, Pace Law School