The Future of the Watershed Approach Rapid Watershed Assessment

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The Future of the Watershed Approach Rapid
Watershed Assessment

• The Big Picture
• Dan Lawson
• Branch Chief, Conservation and Watershed Planning
• November 2005

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The Future of the Watershed ApproachRapid
Watershed Assessment

• Session Objectives
• Gain an awareness for the overall future
  direction of the watershed approach
• Understand rapid watershed assessments and their
  role within the watershed approach
• Identify where you may be able to assist the
  agency in successfully implementing rapid
  watershed assessments within the watershed
  approach

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USDA Natural Resources and Environment Legacy
Goals

• Over the next four years NRCS will be focusing on
  these following NRE Legacy Goals
• Cooperative Conservation
• Farm Bill
• Healthy Watersheds

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Healthy Watersheds Legacy Goal

• Restructure the delivery of NRCS programs at
  the watershed level to better integrate a wide
  range of NRCS programs, and better coordinate
  with non-NRCS conservation efforts.

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Four Objectives under Healthy Watersheds Goal

• Use a watershed approach to integrate the
  activities of NRCS programs
• Assess, plan, design, and implement practices and
  programs with a watershed perspective
• Continue to reward enhancement efforts through
  CSP
• Demonstrate environmental impacts of practices
  and programs with reporting capabilities by
  watershed

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Development of Legacy Goal Action Plans

• Teams assembled to address each goal
• Specific tasks
• Responsibilities
• Timelines
• Healthy Watersheds Team
• Addressed the four objectives under the watershed
  goal

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Development of the FY 2006 Business Plan

• Key elements from the Legacy Goals have been
  incorporated into the FY 2006 Business Plan

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FY 2006 Business Plan - Healthy Watersheds

• Establish clear direction and guidelines for
  implementing the watershed approach
• Ensure that internal employees and external
  partners are fully aware of the watershed
  approach
• Provide efficient and effective implementation of
  conservation practices and programs addressing
  priority resource concerns on a watershed scale

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FY 2006 Business Plan - Healthy Watersheds

• Demonstrate conservation benefits and
  environmental outcomes along watershed boundaries
• Use rapid watershed assessments to evaluate
  resources to determine the size, scope, and value
  of natural resource needs

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What is Rapid Watershed Assessment?

• Chris Hamilton
• National Watershed Planner
• Conservation and Watershed Planning Branch

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Definition of Terms

• Watershed Resource Profile
• Rapid Watershed Assessment
• Resource Planning

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Watershed Resource Profile

• A descriptive set of data portraying the
  significant natural resource features of the
  watershed.

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Rapid Watershed Assessment

• An evaluation of watershed resources to determine
  the size, scope, and value of natural resource
  needs.

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Resource Planning

• The act of establishing goals, policies, and
  procedures for solving natural resource problems.

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Rapid Watershed Assessment vs. River Basin and
PL-566 Planning

• Rapid Watershed Assessment
• Rapid
• Flexible
• Provides a platform for delivery of Farm Bill
  programs
• Planning intensity based on resource need
• Follows routine Environmental Evaluation
  procedures, provides a platform for Environmental
  Assessment

• River Basin/PL-566 Planning
• Longer time to completion
• Bureaucratic
• Must conform to Principles and Guidelines for
  Federal funding
• Pre-determined level of planning intensity
• Requires Environmental Impact Statement

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Benefits of the Watershed Approach and Rapid
Watershed Assessment

• Facilitates program integration
• Provides transparency to our cooperators
• Increases partner participation in planning
• Facilitates assessments of workload and costs
• Provides a setting and context for adaptive
  management and monitoring
• Provides useful information for all aspects of
  planning

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Proposed Next Steps

• Incorporate into Cooperative Conservation
  Partnership Initiative and Conservation
  Innovation Grants
• Communicate the vision internally and externally
• Develop rapid watershed assessment methodology
  and guidance
• Conduct pilot efforts in States
• Share lessons learned from State experiences