May Water Star update

WORKING GROUPS
We had a series of productive working group meetings in March and April to collect input on Water Star program design and content. Thanks to all who attended for the great participation and ideas.

The minutes from the working groups have been posted online here:
Surface water
Groundwater
Habitat
Land Use

Two main themes emerged from our discussions about program structure: (1) it should be easy for communities to get started with Water Star, without a lot of paperwork or staff time needed. (2) The program design needs to be flexible, so that it supports communities in identifying their own local priorities for projects.

We are now incorporating the suggestions we’ve collected into a program manual. Find the latest draft Program Summary online, with ideas about how communities will participate.

DNR GRANT
This month, we applied for a DNR River Planning grant to continue developing the Water Star program. For a good summary of what we plan in the coming year, have a look at the grant application.

PILOT COMMUNITIES
Want to be the first to test out the Water Star program? We have not yet decided which municipalities will participate in this year’s pilot program. If you think your community might be interested, let Michael Forster Rothbart know by June 6. Contact waterstar@rockrivercoalition.org or 608-661-4308.

LEARN MORE
More details about our progress developing Water Star are always available online on our Water Star blog (www.wiswaterstar.blogspot.com) and in the Water Star Document Library.

Pilot Project grant application

The Rock River Coalition has submitted a grant to DNR to continue our work on the Water Star Pilot Program.

The grant application is here:
http://www.rockrivercoalition.org/waterstar/2008%20Water%20Star%20DNR%20grant%20summary.pdf

The current grant will continue until the end of 2008, and the new grant would begin in July 2008 and continue through 2009.