Watershed Planning Structure

'The Initiating Governments'
In the fall of 1998, the initiating governments in the Foster Creek and Moses Coulee watershed basins chose to work together to form the Douglas County Watershed Planning Association for WRIA's 44 and 50. These initiating governments include Douglas County, Grant County, Okanogan County, City of East Wenatchee, City of Bridgeport, Bridgeport Irrigation District #1, East Wenatchee Water District, and the Colville Confederated Tribes. The initiating governments created an intergovernmental agreement for the purpose of administering the development of a local watershed plan and to designate Foster Creek Conservation District as lead agency.

'The Planning Unit'
'The Planning Unit' consists of a wide representation of the local community. The group has met monthly since 1999, and are currently completing Phase II. All members or their alternates are expected to attend. Each meeting members/alternates who miss more than two consecutive meetings in a row or three meetings in a year may lose their voting rights. Decisions are made on a consensus basis. Consensus, as agreed upon by the Unit, will allow every member to say, "I can live with the decision and accept it, even though it may or may not be exactly what I want." The commitment is to a collective well being and not to an individual's needs. Members come with a 'solution-oriented' vision for the health of the community, the water resources which sustain it, and the abundant wildlife also present.

'The Lead Agency'
Foster Creek Conservation District has been designated the 'Lead Agency' in coordinating this planning effort to organize the citizen-driven watershed decision-making body. Foster Creek Conservation District also has taken on the role of educator, enhancing public awareness of what constitutes a watershed, of forces that impact this watershed, and of our interdependency on our water resources and the need for management.