These times, they are a changin'

As the change to fall can no longer be in doubt, especially with flurries falling already, we have been having some of our own big changes going on as well.  

The biggest change that we have seen is the addition of two new floodplain managers to supplement the work that Rebecca Pfeiffer has been doing on a statewide basis.  We are happy to introduce Sacha Pealer, covering central Vermont and Joshua Carvajal, covering southern Vermont, as our new Floodplain Managers, while Rebecca will be taking northern Vermont.  To see the regions and communities that each floodplain manager will be covering, you can see our Floodplain Regions map on our Flood Hazard Management website (see below on the website domain change).


A second change that some people may have heard about in local Vermont news is the big move for some of the staff of the Agency of Natural Resources in early October.  After Irene flooded the Waterbury State Office Complex, which included most of the centralized ANR offices, the majority of ANR staff has been scattered about in various office spaces around Washington & Chittenden Counties.  The ultimate goal, though, was to move the ANR centralized offices to the National Life building located in Montpelier which other VT State Agencies call home, including VTrans, the Secretary of State's office & the Agency of Commerce & Community Development.  The Rivers Program staff that had been located in Waterbury was part of the first ANR staff to move into our new office space at National Life.  So while you may not have seen too many changes on the outside, there have been some moves and adjustments as we all settle into our new spaces and roles.

Another change for everyone to be aware of is that our website address will also be changing.  About 1 year ago, the VT Water Quality Division was reorganized and renamed the VT Watershed Management Division (WSMD) which provides for the comprehensive management of Wetlands, Rivers, and Lakes. The WSMD also supports the integrity of surface waters by administering programs to regulate wastewater discharges and stormwater runoff.  Our old website domain was listed as vtwaterquality.org, while the new WSMD domain is http://watershedmanagement.vt.gov.  The specific link to the Rivers Program Flood Hazard Management website is now:

http://watershedmanagement.vt.gov/rivers/htm/rv_floodhazard.htm

Happy Thanksgiving!