How Does The Planning Process Work?

Under the recently enabled Water Protection Act, the La Salle Redboine Conservation District has been established as Water Planning Authority (WPA).  This means that the Conservation District has been assigned the responsibility of preparing and implementing watershed plans for watersheds within the district.  This process will be community driven and requires the support, opinions and knowledge of the residents of the watershed and technical information from the Provincial and Federal Government.  Resident members and government representatives will form a Water Planning Advisory Team (WPAT) that will debate the issues and provide expertise to the WPA for consideration in the final plan.

Information about the state of the watershed will be collected and presented to all members of the WPAT and WPA.  The issues will be identified and reasonable solutions will be recommended.  Community consultations will also take place at various times during the planning process in several communities throughout the watershed.  At these meetings, information will be provided to the public about the progress of the plan and the state of the watershed.  The public is encouraged to provide feedback to the WPAT & WPA for consideration in the final plan.  Once all the information has been received, community comments evaluated and the final plan prepared, the recommendations of the plan will be implemented by agencies as indicated.

The watershed plan aims to be completed within a two year time frame.  A full scale review of the progress of the plan will also be completed to identify successes, failures and to introduce refinements to ensure the plan is up to date with the needs of the watershed.

Integrated Watershed Management Planning will promote responsible landscape management, provide an opportunity for public dialogue, watershed education, and develop a long term development strategy for watershed resources to achieve a healthy watershed