Mixing Local Flavor with River Basin Planning

Institutional structures that address watershed problems across political boundaries may often, although well meaning, fall short in their ability to adequately address and resolve these issues or may simply be absent. With the assistance of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the Water Works and Sewer Board of the City of Gadsden (Alabama) and CH2M HILL, Inc., are developing a River Basin Management Program that will establish a benchmark organizational process to address basin-wide concerns while allowing local watershed issues to be addressed, as well. With drivers from the improved general health of the watershed to the potential of significant capital cost savings for municipal and industrial users to comply with total maximum daily load requirements, local stakeholders should be able to collectively identify, prioritize, and direct necessary watershed projects. The proposed River Basin Program consists of a Steering Committee that establishes goals and objectives for the river basin, an Advisory Committee that oversees activities within and coordination among the river sections, and local watershed committees that address local concerns. Although this River Basin Management Program focuses on water quality issues in the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Alabama River basins, the goal is to create an organizational framework that can be used as a model for the other river basins within Alabama. State regulators anticipate to use this framework as a long-term approach to address their water quality concerns.