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Carrie Rogaczewski, Sheridan County Conservation District
Goose Creek TMDL Local Perspectives
WWDC Powder River Basin Advisory Group Meeting
June 16, 2010
Background Involvement
SCCD-NRCS worked with landowners and the City and County to develop the Goose Creek Watershed Plan following the Goose Creek Watershed
Assessment (2001-2002). The plan was approved in April 2005 and included provisions for continued water quality monitoring, which occurred in 2005 and 2009.
In February 2008, WDEQ visited with members of the Goose Creek and Tongue River watershed groups about changes needed in the local watershed
plans. In the summer of 2008, WDEQ decided to move forward with the development of a TMDL on the Goose Creek watershed. As a result, the
Goose Creek watershed group did NOT proceed with the update of the Goose Creek Watershed Plan. The group decided to wait until the completion
of the Goose Creek TMDL rather than duplicate efforts.
WDEQ invited SCCD to review the Statements of Interest and Proposals from consultants. SCCD was also invited to participate in the consultant
interviews. This process not only helped SCCD provide input into the selection of the consultant, but also allowed SCCD to better understand
the process. WDEQ contracted with SWCA to complete the Goose Creek TMDL by September 2010.
SCCD-NRCS has worked directly with the consultant on certain aspects of the project, such as providing water quality data, locations of
improvement projects, and other information. SCCD-NRCS also provided the consultants and WDEQ with a tour of the watershed and other
information. SCCD coordinated the initial agency kick-off meeting in December 2008. SCCD has provided some of the publicity and made
room arrangements for the public meetings in April and December 2009. SCCD has included updates, when available, on the progress in the
SCCD newsletter and in the annual Goose Creek Watershed Newsletter.
Perceptions
The primary advantages of the Goose Creek TMDL relate to time, dollars, and expertise. As a Conservation District, SCCD is charged with
addressing multiple resource issues over the entire District (in this case Sheridan County). As a result, SCCD personnel would not have
the time nor the specialized experience needed to provide the level of detail required in a TMDL document. SWCA has extensive experience
in writing TMDLs and in working with various agencies and watershed groups.
One of the disadvantages is that landowners do not seem to be as engaged with the TMDL process as in the planning process. Attendance at
the first public meeting in April 2009 seemed to be dominated by agency people with very few .landowners.. While the second meeting in
December had fewer agency people, the landowners present were not the individuals wanting to participate in improvement efforts. Instead,
there were more individuals wanting to .pick apart. a document and/or settle a private dispute with a neighbor. The main difference between
this process and the development of the watershed plan was that landowners were not asked to generate ideas, but were asked to comment on
information that was already gathered.
The implementation of the Goose Creek TMDL may be possible because of the active group that was involved with the development of the
watershed plan, especially if they feel that the TMDL work is an extension of the work already completed. TMDL implementation may be
substantially more difficult if an entity is not already in place. If the required complexity moves the process further from the local
community, the landowner commitment to implementation may be affected.
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