Glacial Hills Resource Conservation & Development Region, Inc.

Missouri River WRAPS

Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy

The Missouri River WRAPS is a planning and management framework that engages stakeholders within the watershed in a process to:
• Identify watershed restoration and protection needs and opportunities
• Establish management goals for the watershed community
• Create a cost-effective action plan to achieve goals
• Implement the action plan

WRAPS represents a shift from "top-down" government intervention in watershed issues, to a more citizen-stakeholder approach, in which funds, guidance and technical assistance are provided for stakeholders to reach consensus on issues of relevance in their watershed, and then design and execute a plan to address those issues.

The WRAPS process is centered around four primary phases: Development, Assessment, Planning and Implementation.
Phase 1 - Development: Stakeholder recruitment, determine interest, document stakeholder decisions.
Phase 2 - Assessment: Review watershed conditions, trends, develop expectations of the watershed and management measures in use, and identify restoration and protection needs and watershed model.
Phase 3 - Planning: Establish goals, identify actions to achieve goals, develop cost estimates, select strategy, and identify stakeholder implementation strategies.
Phase 4 - Implementation: Secure resources needed to execute plan, monitor and document progress, revise plan as needed.

The objectives of a Development Phrase are to:

1) Providing Information & Education

Effective stakeholder education and involvement provides opportunities for identifying public concerns and values, developing consensus, and producing efficient, effective, and acceptable solutions through an open, inclusive process.

Public education is focused on building awareness and discussion/interaction among stakeholders about watershed issues and concerns, activities that are or have the potential to impact natural resources, and alternative strategies and tools that can be implemented to address these issues.

Public participation involves creating opportunities for meaningful input into the development of the WRAPS. Such opportunities can range from watershed tours to workshops and other public meetings. The purpose of these participation activities is to gather important information and feedback from stakeholders that will shape the WRAPS.

Public relations focuses on building support among residents and stakeholders for the need to develop a WRAPS and to implement the recommended actions to restore and protect water quality and other natural resources. Given that many of these actions will require substantial political support by local decision-makers and funding and technical assistance from local, state, and federal agencies, it is critical that broad public support be achieved for a WRAPS to be successful.

For stakeholder involvement to be effective, it must be incorporated into and implemented throughout the entire WRAPS process. A variety of well-established and tested tools and techniques can be utilized to achieve stakeholder involvement.

2) Identifying Stakeholders

A successful effort to develop a WRAPS will involve the input of a variety of stakeholders. A “stakeholder” can be anyone that lives/works in the watershed that has an interest or “stake” in the outcome of the WRAPS process, especially those who may be called upon to help implement the recommended actions to restore and protect water quality, habitat, and other natural resources. Potential stakeholders include rural landowners/homeowners, agricultural producers, farmers, ranchers, urban residents, business/industry, civic organizations, local governments, Basin Advisory Committees, and others. State and federal agencies are also important stakeholders in local WRAPS efforts. They are charged with implementing water quality and natural resource programs on state, regional, and national levels and they also provide considerable technical and financial assistance to local watershed projects.

Not every stakeholder will have the time/ability to participate in the process of developing a WRAPS, but many people will have an interest and should be kept informed throughout the process and be provided with opportunities to review draft reports and provide feedback. Educational opportunities such as watershed tours and workshops are an effective way to involve and inform stakeholders.

3) Determining Stakeholders’ Interest

Absent an immediate or obvious threat or crisis, it is often challenging to determine stakeholder interest in water quality and other natural resource issues. Although everyone enjoys the benefits and uses that watersheds provide, it is not always clear to stakeholders how water quality and natural resources are being impacted, what activities have the potential to degrade them, and how everyone in the watershed contributes to problems and solutions.

One effective way of determining stakeholder interest in watershed issues is to focus on the uses of water and other natural resources that are highly valued by local residents. Such uses include drinking water, recreation, economic development (commercial and industrial use), tourism, wildlife habitat, and quality of life/cultural amenities such as a riverfront park or scenic stretch of river. Watershed stakeholders are much more likely to be concerned and involved with restoration and protection efforts when these types of uses are threatened or limited by degraded resources. Stakeholder interest and involvement is always greatest when the protection of natural resources can be directly linked to the economic livelihood and quality of life of communities and residents.

4) Compiling & Organizing Known Watershed Information

Information about watersheds is available from a variety of sources, including:

• Watershed Condition Reports, TMDL reports, and water quality monitoring data from KDHE
• Individual basin plans within the Kansas Water Plan published by the Water Office
• Biological surveys and natural resource inventories developed by the Kansas Biological Survey or Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks
• Research reports and other water quality monitoring data from the Kansas Geological Survey, Kansas State University, and US Geological Survey
• Local land use plans, zoning maps, and other planning documents from local governments
• Sourcewater assessments from local public water suppliers
• County nonpoint source management plans from County Conservation Districts
• Groundwater management plans from Groundwater Management Districts
• Flood protection studies and other reports from Watershed Districts
• Watershed maps that identify water and other natural resources, land cover/uses, political boundaries (cities, counties), major roads, etc., from state and federal agencies.

Important information about watersheds that may not be formally summarized is also available from stakeholders and project cooperators.

5) Begin Identifying Stakeholder Concerns & Issues

It is extremely valuable to meet one-on-one, either formally or informally, with project cooperators and key stakeholders to start identifying local concerns and issues in the watershed. Local stakeholders and cooperators typically have extensive knowledge about local conditions and activities that may be impacting water quality and other natural resources. These issues and concerns are unique to each watershed and should be addressed as part of the WRAPS.

6) Organizing a WRAPS Leadership Team

Once project cooperators and stakeholders have been identified and recruited, it is important to establish a local core planning group – a committee or team to guide the development of the WRAPS and ensure broad public participation. The structure, size, and composition of the WRAPS leadership team is best determined by watershed stakeholders. Such teams are typically comprised of volunteers and range in size from five to twelve members. Team membership typically includes a mix of watershed stakeholders, project cooperators, and agency staff. The purpose of a WRAPS leadership team is to provide oversight and guidance to staff charged with facilitating the WRAPS process and drafting the final plan. Additional tasks of the committee may include reviewing water quality monitoring data, watershed modeling scenarios, and other draft reports and providing feedback; identifying local sources of information and expertise; and assisting with public education and participation activities.

7) Securing Stakeholder Commitment to Participate in a WRAPS Process

Securing stakeholder commitment to participate in a WRAPS process can be done in both formal and informal ways. One way is to approach the boards (or other decision making authority) of local agencies and organizations (such as a conservation district, municipality, watershed district, etc.) and ask that they pass a resolution (or publicly state in some other way) their commitment to supporting a WRAPS process. Other ways include asking organized stakeholder groups (such as Farm Bureau or a civic organization) to designate a formal representative to serve on the WRAPS Leadership Team, and/or to “sign on” as a cooperator by allowing the use of their name/logo on flyers and other publicity materials.

8) Preparing a Development Project Report

The outcome of a WRAPS Development Project is a report that:

• Identifies how and what information and education activities were provided
• Identifies who watershed stakeholders are
• Outlines how stakeholder interest and willingness to participate was generated
• Summarizes known watershed information
• Describes local watershed issues and concerns
• Identifies members of the Leadership Team
• Identifies the level of commitment of stakeholders to participate in a WRAPS.