Strategic Plan 2010 - 2015

Healthy waterways.Healthy communities.

www.kwalliance.org

Mission

Vision

Advocate

Kentucky Waterways Alliance’s mission is to protect and restore Kentucky’s waterways.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance envisions healthy waterways throughout Kentucky. We strive to achieve the best protections possible from water pollution in our communities and work toward a healthier future for all.

KWA is an advocate for healthy waterways and communities. Operating under these principles and values we:

• Work across ecological, political, and social boundaries.• Regard local watershed groups as vital

to our mission.• Are inclusive rather than exclusive.• Make decisions based on sound

science and data.• Value environmental education.• Make alliances that aren’t limited to water

advocacy organizations.• Collaborate to solve problems, but not to the exclusion of administrative or

judicial remedies.

Dog S

laughter Falls, Upper C

umberland

- Photograp

h by Rob M

iller

STRATEGIC PLAN 2010

our current Strategic goals are:

1. Identify key places for protection on a watershed level.

2. Carry out a statewide movement to protect Kentucky’s waterways through grassroots activism and large-scale awareness.

3. Work on behalf of communities and the promises laid out in the Clean Water Act by influencing public policy.

4. Build a strong and sustainable water network by promoting and supporting local watershed groups.

Looking Ahead to the Future

Photograph by Jessie Kriech-Higdon Special to Underwired Magazine

Breathing life into Kentucky’s natural beauty are over 90,000 miles of winding streams. This includes our precious headwaters – streams that control the biological and chemical integrity of our rivers. Headwater streams affect almost every aspect of our lives, and yet they are so easily thrown away.

According to the EPA, more than 1,200 miles of Appalachia’s streams and 7 percent of its forests were destroyed between 1985 and 2001. Pollution in Kentucky’s rivers and streams is now so serious that 69 percent of assessed stream miles do not support activities involving direct contact with the water (Kentucky’s 2010 Integrated Water Quality Report to Congress).

Imagine a world where children can safely play in our local streams without worrying about pollution. Kentucky Waterways Alliance works every day to make sure our waterways are protected and restored for future generations. Our efforts have resulted in better protection for over 90 percent of Kentucky’s rivers, lakes, and streams. And the coming years present an enormous opportunity to build on that success and put the power to protect our water resources back into the hands of the people.

I invite you to join us.

On behalf of Kentucky’s rivers, lakes, and streams,

Judith Petersen, Executive Director, Kentucky Waterways Alliance

“When we save a river, we save a major part

of an ecosystem, and we save ourselves as

well because of our dependence - physical,

economic, spiritual - on the water and its

community of life.” - Tim Palmer

Goal 1 Identify key places for protection on

a watershed level.

Rockcastle R

iver - Photograph by B

randon Jett

kentucky waterways alliance’s strategic approaches for identifying key places for protection on a watershed level are:

Develop methodology for effectively evaluating site-based opportunities.

Foster partnerships to support potential site-based priorities.

Support prioritized, site-based projects with multi-faceted programming functions.

we will know where we are succeeding when:

Water quality in several prioritized places improves.

Public support and understanding of watershed issues increases in several prioritized places.

when we have succeeded, our environment will be better because:

Biologically diverse rivers and wetlands with rare species are protected.

Uniquely important community watersheds are improved.

More miles of Kentucky waterways meet all designated uses.

“The river moves from land to water to land, in

and out of organisms, reminding us what native

peoples have never forgotten: that you cannot

separate the land from the water, or the people

from the land.” - Lynn Noel

Goal 2 Carry out a statewide movement to protect

Kentucky’s waterways through grassroots

activism and large-scale awareness.

Ratliff H

ole, Russell Fork R

iver - Photograph b

y Brandon Jett

kentucky waterways alliance’s strategic approaches for carrying out a statewide movement to protect kentucky’s waterways are:

Develop strategic campaigns that successfully communicate programmatic priorities to bring new audiences into the fold.

Engage volunteers to form a grassroots network that will help deliver our clean water message.

we will know where we are succeeding when:

Public awareness about threats to Kentucky’s waterways increases.Our network of volunteers becomes actively involved in our mission and grows by 50 percent.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance is known as the

“go to” resource by journalists and water quality experts.

Our membership and donor base grows by 50 percent by 2012.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance membership includes 25 active watershed groups by 2015.

when we have succeeded, our environment will be better because:

Our reach becomes broader, making our work more inclusive, effective, and sustainable.

More people will act to protect Kentucky’s rivers, lakes, and streams.

“When protected, rivers serve as visible symbols

of the care we take as temporary inhabitants

and full-time stewards of a living, profoundly

beautiful heritage of nature.” - John Echeverria

Goal 3 Work on behalf of communities and the

promises laid out in the Clean Water Act

by influencing public policy.

Bark C

amp C

reek, Cum

berland River - P

hotograph by B

randon Jett

kentucky waterways alliance’s strategic approaches for influencing public policy are:

Engage strategic audiences through campaigns by delivering concise messages about our policy work giving them immediate opportunities to act on behalf of clean water in Kentucky.

Engage our members and constituents by offering more opportunities to contact policy-makers and other authorities.

we will know where we are succeeding when:

Kentucky Waterways Alliance becomes the go-to resource for policy makers and is included in the decision making process for all important water quality decisions.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance has resources and technical/legal expertise to respond to critical policy issues.

Constituents actively communicate with policy makers.

Kentucky adopts strong rules for implementing the anti-degradation requirements of the Clean Water Act and uses them in making permitting decisions.

Water discharge and fill permits require all permittees to consider less polluting alternatives before issuing draft permits.

when we have succeeded, our environment will be better because:

Biologically diverse rivers and wetlands with rare species are protected.

Uniquely important community watersheds are improved.

More people act on behalf of water health.

More miles of Kentucky waterways meet all designated uses.

Stormwater runoff and erosion control programs that meet best practice standards are common throughout Kentucky

Goal 4 Build a strong and sustainable water

network by promoting and supporting

watershed groups.

“A river is the report card for its watershed.”

- Alan Levere

Auxier B

ranch, Red R

iver Gorge - P

hotograph by B

randon Jett

kentucky waterways alliance’s strategic approaches for promoting and supporting watershed groups are:

Provide information and training to active watershed groups.

Initiate and mentor watershed groups in prioritized sites.

Integrate the work of watershed groups with organizational goals and priorities.

we will know where we are succeeding when:

Watershed groups supported by Kentucky Waterways Alliance are growing, active, and making a measurable difference in local water quality.

Watershed groups have been formed and are active in prioritized sites.

Ten new watershed plans that use the Watershed Planning Guidebook for Kentucky Communities are adopted by 2015.

Watershed groups participate in Kentucky Waterways Alliance organizational development training on a regular basis.

Kentucky Waterways Alliance is able to assist watershed groups for which no specific funding has been secured.

when we have succeeded, our environment will be better because:

Watershed groups increase in number and strength and are better positioned to take actions to protect or clean up their local waterway.

Water bodies supported by watershed groups exhibit improvements in water quality.