Your Voice is Needed: Toronto Stormwater Management Incentives Program
Friends in Toronto! You have an opportunity to help the City decide how to incentivize stormwater management and reduce the risk of flooding for homeowners. Despite the dry weather we’ve been seeing, climate change is increasing both the frequency and severity of floods – your feedback can guide how the local government invests in preventative measures. The survey collects your feedback on challenges you may face to manage stormwater on your property, the city’s programs for stormwater management on private property, and potential stormwater management features of new programs that you are interested in. Fill out the 15-minute survey before November 5th to have your voice heard! Take the survey here!
New Ballast Water Standards Create Loophole for Existing Lakers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized the National Ballast Water Standards that require new Great Lakes vessels to install treatment systems to prevent the spread of invasive species. Unfortunately, the standards do not apply to existing Great Lakes ships, known as “lakers.” Research has shown that ballast water from lakers contributes to spreading invasive species from lower lakes to western Lake Superior. Failing to hold lakers accountable for their role in spreading invasive species is a missed opportunity to reduce ecological and economic impacts.
Welcome Maggie Fritz to the Freshwater Future Team!
We are honored to welcome Maggie Fritz to Freshwater Future’s US Board. Maggie lives in Baltimore, where she serves as the Maryland Director of Major Giving at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation—managing a portfolio of individuals, corporate partners, and foundations making significant philanthropic gifts that transform the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Her environmentalism was shaped by annual visits to her family’s home-away-from-home on the Straits of Mackinac, and by growing up in California’s devastating drought of the mid-2010s. Maggie’s lifelong connection to water (and firsthand experience with inadequate access to water) is a driving force in her passion for this work. Welcome to the team, Maggie – we are privileged to work with you!
