Working Toward a Real Watershed Approach in Rhode Island

This website is currently in draft form and under development. (as of May 10, 2001)

Quick Reference
Site Map
Take the Action Plan Survey
Highest ranking topics
Do's and Don'ts in a Web Survey
Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council
A few nice links...
RI DEM Watersheds Partnership
EPA Surf Your Watershed
Clean Water Act Section 319
Conclusions
Recommendations: For other RI watersheds

There is a wealth of information available online and by fellow watershed coordinators to help a watershed organization get on its feet.

Some nice sites:
Watershed Academy
How to Get Started
Top 10 Watershed Lessons Learned

From the perspective of Rhode Island, however, these organizations must realize that the time to act is now.

  • Watershed management is still riding the high wave of popular and political support
  • The state is awarding extra points on grant applications for involvement in watershed-level planning
  • DEM Woonasquatucket Watershed Coordinator will be covering other watersheds in northern Rhode Island

At the same time, however, similar advice should go to these organizations as is extended to DEM regarding evaluation and assessment. Don't rush into anything. It takes an extraordinary amount of time and effort and contacts and resources to make things happen, especially on the community level and especially when interacting with agency officials. Be sure you are ready to commit.

Prioritization
Key topics and issues
Knowledge base
Applications for the Action Plan
Public participation
Membership
Education and outreach
Role in the watershed approach
Recommendations
For DEM
For WRWC
For other RI watersheds
For future research