NEWS NOTES ON SUSTAINABLE WATER RESOURCES EPA Jan. 25 Free Webinar on Ecological Restoration https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8FZ9WSEG7a2eHpwdU1uWDZRck0/view?usp=sharing The Rapid Benefits Indicators (RBI) Approach: A Process for Assessing the Social Benefits of Ecological Restoration Wednesday, January 25, 2017 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST Register online: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4404186563864687873 Prioritizing ecological restoration sites based on ecological functioning and expected ecosystem services production alone neglects vital information for evaluating tradeoffs. For example, stakeholders should determine who benefits from the resulting ecosystem services and by how much. The EPA-developed Rapid Benefit Indicators (RBI) approach assesses restoration sites using non-monetary benefit indicators. This approach uses readily-available data to estimate and quantify benefits to people around a restoration site using ecosystem service benefit indicators based on economic principles. The framework uses five questions to guide the process of indicator selection and measurement: 1. Can people benefit from an ecosystem service? 2. How many people benefit? 3. How much are people likely to benefit? 4. What are the social equity implications? 5. How reliable are benefits expected to be over time? This webinar will present the RBI approach and its application to wetland restoration using Woonasquatucket River Watershed, RI as an example. The presenters will describe the RBI approach, guidebook, companion tools, and companion spreadsheet checklist tool. This link will also be posted on the 2017 Actions and Activities Page of the Sustainable Water Resources Site at https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/">https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/ Tim Smith Sustainable Water Resources Coordinator Government Web Site, http://acwi.gov/ Sustainable Water Resources Site, https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/">https://sites.google.com/site/sustainablewaterresources/