Revised Approach No. 4: 

 Focus Decisions on Watershed Conditions Rather Than Species 



Summary : The watershed approach focuses on restoring and maintaining watershed 

 health, and should be recognized as a fundamental building block of any governance strategy. 

 No legislative changes are needed to begin implementing this approach, and it should not be 

 considered a new form of government. A watershed approach must combine local watershed 

 implementation efforts with a systemwide level or governance to facilitate, coordinate and 

 ensure financing for watershed efforts. 



Analysis : An appropriate watershed approach has two levels -- local watershed 

 implementation by watershed groups that include all affected interests and systemwide 

 coordination by the sovereign entities. 



Watershed level efforts. Watershed groups would focus on implementation and 

 not on planning. A number of plans exist for the various watersheds, and it would be a waste of 

 time and resources to redo these efforts. The existing subbasin and tribal, forest, state, local and 

 other plans should be the baseline for action, and updated where necessary. The watershed 

 groups can use existing plans to identify agreement on what can and should be done and to 

 identify conflicts that need further consideration in the group. 



The watershed groups would focus instead on coordinating funding, developing funding 

 priorities and implementing activities for improving the health of the watersheds. Funding 

 coordination would include combining and coordinating the use of Bonneville hydropower 

 mitigation funds with other funds available for the watershed. The watershed groups would 

 develop watershed objectives and goals to be used to guide implementation and to measure 

 whether watershed efforts are successful, objectives and goals that would address general 

 systemwide policies and goals. Performance audits, with results made public, would help ensure 

 accountability for activities. 



All public and private interests in the watersheds would be offered the opportunity to 

 participate in the implementation and funding decisions, and all watershed decisions need to be 

 made in open, public processes. In watersheds that cross state and national boundaries, the 

 watershed approach needs to be compatible with, allow for, and even encourage a single 

 watershed group and implementation effort. Watershed groups need to be encouraged to apply 

 different approaches in different watersheds to respond to local conditions and promote 

 experimentation. The watershed groups and efforts also need to be able to link to other 

 processes that are in and affect the watershed, such as FERC Ucensing and re-licensing efforts. 

 Watershed efforts should not affect or undermine sovereignty or property rights. 



Systemwide efforts. The watershed approach will not work without the 

 appropriate systemwide structure and activities to implement the approach. A systemwide body 

 or group of some type is needed to: facilitate, coordinate and provide incentives for the 

 development of watershed groups; develop systemwide goals, policies and guidelines; ensure 

 that decision making is targeted at the appropriate level (e.g., making sure that the critical 

 implementation decisions for watersheds are made at the watershed level); ensure that watershed 



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