APPENDIX B

General Guidelines for Basin Advisory Groups

a. Use the Water Plan mailing list for direct mail notification of an organizational meeting held at a central point in the basin. Use a facilitator to focus the group attending the organizational meeting on selecting no more than 15 people representing a cross section of the basin water users groups - agriculture, local government (municipal water, county or Joint Powers Board), recreation, industry, environmental. Selections are ideally made at the discretion of the basin citizenry. Governmental agencies such as DEQ, SEO, WWDC, USGS, or NRCS may serve as a Technical Resource Team, but are not "at the table." This is to insure the integrity of the local involvement. Local representative of land management agencies such as BLM, Forest Service, and Fish and Wildlife (refuges) should be invited to participate on the TRT.

b. If the basin planning process is to have credibility and be accepted as a legitimate product, it is critical that all water user groups are represented and feel free to state the position of the group that they represent. The planning process can not be the vehicle to advance the cause of any one special interest group, but rather provides the information and hard science on resource management to frame discussions among interest groups.

2. Functions and goals of the Advisory Group

a. The Basin Advisory Group assists the planning team in the identification and prioritization of water issues in the Basin.

b. The Basin Advisory Group reviews and comments on the work products relating to basin plan, whether generated by agencies or consultants.

c. The Basin Advisory Group provides a local reality check for review of state water policies and management options.

d. The Basin Advisory Group operates under a set of rules and requirements established by the group itself with guidance from the facilitator. This may include stipulations on voting, reaching consensus, going outside the group with publicity, etc. While the facilitator assists and gives some guidance, it is important that the rules be generated by the group and accepted by consensus.

3. Meeting tasks and procedures

a. As developed and tested in the Bear River Basin, the use of an independent contract facilitator is recommended for future Basin Advisory Groups during the organizational process, defined as at least the first six meetings (three prior to the consultant involvement, three after).

b. Basic rules may be presented by the facilitator and validated by group consensus.

c. The group selects meeting times, dates, general locations. Planning staff makes the physical arrangements.

d. The Basin Advisory Group may elect to continue meeting after their water planning role is discharged to address other issues of local interest, such as TMDLs, or the development of watershed plans. Planning staff will coordinate with other state and federal agencies (DEQ, Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts, etc) to determine interest in reformatting the group to meet other resource planning or management needs.

e. The basin plan template generated by Boyle during the feasibility study, and the issues identification by user sector generated by the Bear BAG should be used to assist new BAGs in the issue identification and prioritization process.

4. Expectations and time lines

a. Organization of the Basin Advisory Group will begin upon legislative authorization for planning activities in the basin.

b. The initial organizational meeting will be held about the end of March. Planning staff will contract with a facilitator to assist.

c. The Basin Advisory Group will have three monthly organizational meetings during the process to select the consultant to prepare the basin plan. Assume notice to proceed to consultant in June. Three additional monthly working meeting, one of which may be 6-8 hours, with the consultant present.

d. At the discretion of the Basin Advisory Group and depending on the needs of the consultant and the planning team, the Basin Advisory Group may elect to continue to meet monthly. However, after the first six monthly meetings, the Basin Advisory Group should consider moving to bi-monthly and eventually quarterly meetings. This schedule may be altered if another agency elects to use the group for other planning work, i.e., TMDLs.

5. Communication with Decision Makers

a. BAGs will have direct access to key planning team members while the basin planning process is underway. Planning staff representing WWDC and SEO will attend meetings regularly, although that attendance may be optional after the basin plan is completed.

b. Key officials such as WWDC Director and State Engineer should meet at least once with the group during deliberations.

c. Local and state elected officials should be notified of and specifically invited to attend BAG meetings. Results of Basin Advisory Group work should be relayed to local and state elected officials.