Public Involvement and Education Technical Team Proposal

 

Problem Statement

In July 1999, the Initiating Governments formed a public involvement and education team for the WRIA 1 Watershed Management Project. This group was originally charged with the development of a long-range education plan for the project. However, the WRIA 1 Watershed Management Project has been experiencing more immediate public information needs, and the public involvement and education team’s mission has informally expanded to address those needs.

RCW 90.82.030 states, "All WRIA planning units established under this chapter shall develop a process to assure that water resource user interests and directly involved interest groups at the local level have the opportunity, in a fair and equitable manner, to give input and direction to the process." Accordingly, the Initiating Governments staff team formally proposes that the public involvement and education tech team’s purpose is to facilitate the informed involvement of the public in the WRIA 1 Watershed Management Project. The specific tasks that the tech team would complete include the following:

  • Develop a long-range public involvement and education plan, which will be subject to the review and approval of the Initiating Governments and the Planning Unit
  • Implement the long-range public involvement and education plan
  • Provide public involvement and education support to the WRIA 1 caucuses, to the Planning Unit, and to the Initiating Governments, as requested

RCW 90.82.130 states, "The legislative authority of each of the counties with territory in the management area shall provide public notice of and conduct at least one public hearing on the proposed watershed plan submitted under this section." Accordingly, at that time the PIE tech team might advise and/or assist with the public notice and hearing, but the responsibility and authority for conducting the hearing in WRIA 1 falls to Whatcom County.

 

Objectives

The March 22, 2000 Scope of Work states: "One of the purposes of the Watershed Management Act is to provide local citizens with the opportunity for maximum possible input concerning their goals and objectives for water resource management and development. In order to achieve this purpose it is necessary to provide a mechanism for citizens to understand the process, translate technical documents into layperson terms, help citizens to understand the complex technical and policy issues that will be addressed through the planning effort, and provide opportunities for meaningful and substantive input. One of those opportunities is through participation on the Planning Unit, but others are needed as well."

Also as stated in the March 22, 2000 Scope of Work, the purpose of public involvement and education, which will be facilitated by the PIE tech team, is to:

  • Provide numerous opportunities for constructive public participation in the Watershed Management Project;
  • Assist and support the public involvement process under NEPA and SEPA;
  • Build incremental understanding of issues and throughout each of the phases of the planning process and, through this understanding, foster widespread community understanding of the final watershed management plan.

 

Work products

The PIE Tech Team will produce the following product:

  • A long-range public involvement and education plan

The long-range plan will likely include implementation activities that will result in the following products:

  • Updates to the project web site
  • Fact sheets and summaries of project findings
  • Display materials
  • Presentation materials
  • Newsletters
  • Public meetings
  • Media materials

Each of the implementation activities will include a cost estimate. The long-range plan will include a summary of the overall PIE budget and schedule.

 

Schedule

3/22/00 Planning Unit review of and comments on PIE Technical Team proposal

4/7/00 Comments on proposal due to Linda Sterling

4/26/00 Planning Unit decision on revised proposal for tech team

5/00 Initiating Government decision on tech team

5/4/00 PIE Tech Team meeting

 

Progress reports

Quarterly reports will be submitted to the IG staff team and the Planning Unit in draft format. Comments will be solicited within a two-week period, and revisions will be incorporated within one week. A final report will be made public within one month of the review of the draft. Quarterly reports will include a summary of activities for the past quarter and a forecast of activities for the upcoming quarter. Information about schedule and budget updates, changes to work plans or contracts originally approved, and coordination with other tech teams will be included as appropriate.

Proposals for resource acquisitions deemed necessary by the tech team to function effectively will be forwarded to the Staff Team weekly.

 

Membership

Technical Teams will generally be composed of representatives from the Initiating Governments and the Planning Unit or their designees, other technical experts, and others identified by the Planning Unit. The need to hire dedicated tech team staff is not currently anticipated. Tech team members will meet on a monthly basis, and will coordinate by e-mail or telephone on issues more frequently as needed. In addition, the tech team may form subcommittees that will meet more frequently to work on particular tasks. Additional time commitments will be required for developing informational materials, reviewing informational materials developed by other tech team members and contractors, developing updates and quarterly reports, reviewing and responding to comments on informational materials, and communicating with the Initiating Governments and the Planning Unit. Participants on the tech team will have experience or a strong interest in public outreach and development of public informational materials.

 

Budget

There is currently no overall budget for PIE activities. At this time, participation in the tech team and virtually all PIE activities are being funded through the organizations that provide staff to the tech team. The one PIE activity that is not funded solely by the organizations providing staff to the current PIE team is facilitation of the Planning Unit, which is funded in part by a grant from the Department of Ecology. Incidental costs for items such as photocopies and mailings are currently being paid by Whatcom County. Budgets for specific PIE activities that will require additional resources will be proposed in the long-range public involvement and education plan, which will be submitted to the Initiating Governments and the Planning Unit.

 

Current membership

The PIE team currently includes:

Tom Anderson, PUD No. 1

Craig MacConnell, Whatcom County Cooperative Extension

Beth Marcy, Agricultural Caucus/Whatcom Conservation District

Joy Monjure, City of Bellingham

Joan Pelley, Department of Ecology

Rebecca Schlotterback, PUD No. 1

Linda Sterling, Whatcom County Water Resources

Scarlet Tang, Whatcom County Cooperative Extension