What does waterway management mean, and why is it so complex?

River Management Roundtable 

What do we mean by “Shared Waterways” or “Waterways Management?” These terms have diverse definitions depending on the situation and user. Today’s Waterway Manager may not have that title on a business card. Instead, this role may be a local trustee, a state boating law administrator, a site manager for the federal government, or a regional watershed planning association. Waterway managers face pressure from a wide range of stakeholders, each sharing a unique perspective on how best to protect, utilize, or share the water resource. Options may range from expanding access to drive revenue and business interests to limiting access based on analysis of physical and social carrying capacities. This session will discuss how the recently-published Guide for Multiple Use Waterway Management (Third Edition) can help the vast diversity of expectations and desired outcomes facing managers today!

Bookmark the newly released A Guide for Multiple Use Waterway Management, Third Edition, which supports the reduction of recreational boating fatalities and injuries through improved understanding of and accessibility to tools needed to implement sound management processes on shared recreational waters, including the intersection of commercial traffic and recreational users. 

Presenters

Pam Dillon Project Specialist | National Association of State Boating Law Administrators Pamela Dillon serves as project specialist for the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA). In this role, she works to fully articulate NASBLA’s national role in standards development and conformity assessment, serving as staff of the National Boating Education Standards Panel. Previously, Dillon served as Ohio’s Boating Law Administrator, retiring in 2011 as Chief of the Department of Natural Resources – Division of Watercraft, overseeing the state’s comprehensive boating program; including law enforcement, marine patrol training, boater education, facilities, boat registration and titling, and Scenic Rivers programs. Dillon served as Executive Director of the American Canoe Association (2002-2007), working to develop strategic alliances with boating, outdoor recreation, and paddlesport education and conservation programs across the U.S. and Canada. Dillon served two terms as an appointed member of the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, and in 2019 received the U.S. Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service Award. Dillon served on the boards of the National Safe Boating Council, Professional Paddlesports Association, Outdoor Alliance, American Canoe Association, International Whitewater Hall of Fame, and the World River Center. nasbla.org

Risa Shimoda Executive Director | River Management Society Risa Shimoda supports the River Management Society program staff and board with a background in design engineering, consumer products marketing and non-profit leadership. She received a BS in Engineering / Product Design from Stanford University and trained as a consumer products marketer at Procter & Gamble, M&M/Mars and Coca-Cola USA before directing marketing, sales, and product development for kayaks and paddlesports accessories at Perception, the world’s largest kayak manufacturer (prior to its purchase in the late ‘90s). As Executive Director of American Whitewater (AW), she and her team represented river users in the relicensing of hydropower projects and pursued the right of public access on precedent-setting cases. She pioneered corporate support for AW and developed its first event-based business model for the Gauley River Festival, the largest U.S. river-based annual fundraising event. An avid whitewater paddler, Risa co-founded the Outdoor Alliance and has served on the boards of the Conservation Alliance, North American Paddlesports Association, American Whitewater, Nantahala Outdoor Center, International Whitewater Hall of Fame, and World River Center. river-management.org

Registration

River Management Roundtables are open to both RMS members and non-members. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required! We share recordings from our Roundtables, so even if you can't make it, you can register to receive the recording and links. You can access this recording as well as dozens of previous Roundtables, webinars and workshops in our River Training Channel. 

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About RMS River Management Roundtables

Each month, the River Management Society hosts virtual conversations with professional river, greenway, and water trails leaders, planners, and managers whose community, region, state and federal river will benefit from the experiences of peer-to-peer sharing. Our goal is to facilitate an open forum to support your work managing rivers. We work together to tackle common issues by asking questions, sharing solutions and building comradery.