Location: Nobles County, Minnesota
Client: Okabena-Ocheda Watershed District
Background
After the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources’ (BWSR) One Watershed, One Plan (1W1P) pilot projects successfully took off in Minnesota, other watersheds began receiving planning grants to develop their own plans. The Missouri River 1W1P Partnership desired a unique and dynamic plan that met the specific concerns of their watershed. The Partnership hired HEI to come alongside the watershed and write this plan.
The Project
Building on lessons learned from the North Fork Crow and Root River 1W1Ps, our planning team developed a plan writing and facilitation process that delivers a plan all stakeholders and public parties can agree on.
This process begins with a public kickoff meeting where community members can provide input on the resources and current water quality issues they care about most. This allows us to see exactly what the community cares for in their watershed so we can be sure to address it in the plan.
Once this input it gathered, HEI and the Partnership begin drafting a plan that:
- addresses the public’s top concerns, including water storage and improving soil health,
- details watershed characterstics that affect water quality,
- demonstrates implementation accountability and justifies the receipt of implementation grants, and
- can be easily and efficiently implemented by the Partnership.
HEI has leveraged funding and our technological knowledge while developing this plan. By using the Prioritize, Target, and Measure Application (PTMApp), we are able to identify areas where practices will be most effective. This gives us a roadmap to develop an implementation schedule that will deliver the results that the Partnership and public desire most.
The plan was approved by BWSR on October 23, 2019.
View the full plan here.
Client Benefits
- Coordination with and input from numerous stakeholders, including the public.
- Detailed plan writing services to describe various complex watershed characteristics.
- An implementation schedule based off of PTMApp results.
- Facilitation for all planning and public meetings that inform, empower, and engage the community in the planning process.