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INDIANA WATERSHED PLANNING GUIDE - 2010

Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Office of Water Quality Watershed Assessment

and Planning Branch

2 2010 Indiana Watershed Planning Guide

Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Indiana Watershed Planning Guide September 2010

Indiana Department of Environmental Management Office of Water Quality

Watershed Assessment and Planning Branch

Developed with the participation of:

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Indiana Department of Natural Resources

Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts Purdue University

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

www.watersheds.idem.IN.gov

www.idem.IN.gov 3

This document replaces the Indiana Watershed Planning Guide published in August 2003.

This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement C9975482-03 to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The contents of this document do

not necessarily reflect the views and policies of U.S. EPA or IDEM, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.

4 2010 Indiana Watershed Planning Guide

Indiana Department of Environmental Management

Tips for Achieving Watershed Planning Success 1. Theres more than one way. Your partnership-building and plan-writing experience probably wont be as orderly as it looks in this guide. You may complete the steps in different ways or in different order, unless you are required to fulfill specific grant guidance. This is okay. Its not possible to write a one-size-fits-all prescription for watershed planningeveryones situation is different. 2. Read this guide! It will do you absolutely no good if you dont open and read it. The lists of sources and references are starting pointswe expect you to add more. Successful groups do their homework. Remember to visit the online toolkit, which has expanded references and resources. 3. Focus on a manageable area. The smaller the watershed, the better the group can relate to it, and the faster it will react to change. If you are dealing with a large watershed (more than 10,000 acres or so), identify critical areas or priority subwatersheds to tackle rather than trying to address everything everywhere. 4. Include everyone. Leaving people out may have undesirable consequences in the future. Bring all interests to the table in the beginning. If, along the way, you discover stakeholders who are not represented, invite them to join the group as soon as you can. 5. Find leaders. There are leaders in every community. Theyre made, not born. Good leaders help the group reach consensus, encourage new ideas, promote open communication, listen patiently and with open minds, and make sure everybody has a chance to talk. They also make sure theres coffee. 6. Teach each other. Everyone is an expert at something. Master gardeners can teach homeowners about the benefits of low- or no-phosphorus fertilizer. Bankers can help the group develop a budget. 7. Always ask why. This is the easiest way to discover the concern behind an opponents position, the cause of an environmental problem, or the reason for poor attendance at meetings. If you dont ask, you wont find out. 8. Share your success. Tell each other, the community, your sponsors, everybody. You are doing something important! You deserve the attention, and it can help lead to even greater success. 9. Strive for consensus. Dont ask, Do you like this? Instead ask, Can you live with this? Consensus does not have to mean total agreement, but does need total support. 10. Embrace conflict. Dont dance around it. Conflict generates energy. Properly harnessed, conflict can spur new ideas; bring new people into the partnership, and reinvigorate the group. 11. Bite your tongue. Be patient. The watershed didnt get to where it is yesterday, and you wont fix it tomorrow. Be nice to each other. You may need that loud guy on your side in a discussion next month, and if hes committed enough to be at every meeting, he deserves your respectful attention.

http://www.in.gov/idem/nps/2324.htm

www.idem.IN.gov 5

Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................... 8

Why is it Important to Write a Watershed Plan? ......................................................................... 8 Top 10 Reasons for Developing a Watershed Plan ................................................................... 8 When is a Group of People Ready to Write a Plan? .................................................................. 8 Whats the Purpose of the Indiana Watershed Planning Guide? .............................................. 9 Whats in This Guide? ................................................................................................................. 9 Whats the Best Way to Use This Guide? ................................................................................. 10 Terms Used in This Guide ........................................................................................................ 11 Acronyms Used in This Guide .................................................................................................. 12

Chapter 1: Building Local Partnerships .................................................................... 13

Why Form Watershed Partnerships? ....................................................................................... 13 What Makes a Watershed Partnership Successful? ................................................................ 13 What Can Make a Watershed Partnership Fail? ...................................................................... 14 Bring Everyone to the Table ..................................................................................................... 14 How to Get People to Join the Project and Stay With It .......................................................... 14 How to Keep Committees Vital and Effective ........................................................................... 15 Encourage Participation ........................................................................................................... 15 Prevent Burnout ........................................................................................................................ 16 Partnership Structure ................................................................................................................ 16 Tips for Successful Steering Committees ................................................................................ 17 What is Consensus? Do We Need It? ...................................................................................... 18 When People are the Problem ................................................................................................. 19 Planning Review Chapter 1 ................................................................................................... 20

Chapter 2: Thinking Together ..................................................................................... 21

What is Your Community Concerned About? .......................................................................... 21 Positions vs. Concerns ............................................................................................................. 22 Where Do You Go From Here? ................................................................................................ 23 Identify Potential Problems: Picking Apart the Concerns ........................................................ 23 When Do You Identify Problems? ............................................................................................ 23 What Else Do We Need to Know? ............................................................................................ 23 Okay, How Do We Do It? .......................................................................................................... 23 Vision: How Do We Want Things To Be in the Future? ........................................................... 24 Here are some of the things a vision should do: ..................................................................... 24 Here are some things a vision can be: ..................................................................................... 25 Mission Statements .................................................................................................................. 25 Setting Goals for Your Group vs. Water Quality Improvement Goals in Your Plan ................ 27 Planning Review Chapter 2 ................................................................................................... 27

Chapter 3: The Watershed Inventory ......................................................................... 28

How to Investigate a Watershed ............................................................................................... 28 The Purpose of a Watershed Inventory .................................................................................... 28 Watershed Inventory Tips ......................................................................................................... 29 Conducting a Watershed Inventory .......................................................................................... 30 1. Collecting Existing Data ........................................................................................................ 30 2. Completing the Desktop Survey .....................