Potential focus topics should address:

1. Watershed & Forest Science - The Land & Water Connection

• Modeling changes in the watershed
• Paired watershed studies: defining the forest-water connection by comparison
• Threats to forests that can influence water quality and quantity
• Predicting the effects of climate change on watersheds and water use
• Soils hydrology: Interactions with changes in forests, climate, and landuse
• Ecological attributes of healthy watersheds
• Differences in forest types and their contributions to water management
• Forest loss: How much is too much?

2. Cooperating & Planning at the Watershed Scale - The Water and People Connection

• Stakeholder engagement, outreach, and communication
• Building collaboratives focused on watershed protection
• An all-lands approach: private lands, property rights, and public lands
• Prioritizing actions along the urban-rural gradient
• Role of urban forests in improving water quality
• Balancing changes in land use: gains and losses in forest landcover
• Report cards: How to measure success
• Wildlife and water use: Shared objectives for watershed protection
• Monitoring and data-sharing systems for multi-state basins

3. Land Management Approaches & Practices in the Watershed - Managing for Sustainability

• Technical assistance & incentive programs focused on watershed resources
• Sustainable forestry and management practices that impact water resources
• Road and stream crossings on working lands
• Best management practices: development, improvement, & implementation
• Forest chemicals: Managing forests while protecting aquatic systems and water supply

4. Economics, Financing, & Markets - Creating the Water Economy

• The economics of green infrastructure: Cost-benefit calculations on forest management and protection for water quality and flows
• Cost-effective watershed management options and programs for private landowners
• Beyond carbon: the role of market based incentives to protect source water
• Water quality trading: how trading markets can improve watersheds & water quality
• Land protection models: investing in short-term and long-term watershed protection

5. Case Studies - Learning by Example

• Around the U.S. and Beyond: Denver Watershed, Chesapeake Bay, Rivanna River Basin, Seattle, City of Portland (OR), Upper Neuse, etc.
• In the Northeast: Quabbin, NYC/Catskills, Hartford MDC and Barkhamsted Reservoir (Field Trip), Portland Water District (ME), etc.
  

6. Other Related Topics