Building an I-Plan
Communities must work together to develop I-Plans to improve water quality because ultimately, it is the people in the community who implement I-Plans to clean up their rivers, lakes, and bays.
To develop the I-Plan, stakeholders come together as a community to decide how to reach their goals. Usually, the stakeholders form a coordinating committee to develop the written plan. The coordinating committee guides stakeholders through public discussions about what is needed. The members also research options being considered and report back to the stakeholder group at large and to their communities.
How Is It Going?
The website contains information over the past 10 years that show the work that’s been done and the work that is ongoing. Stakeholders have met and meet periodically to measure their progress. Local residents have the best understanding of local conditions, their goals, and how to get there. They work on how to share the load of reducing pollution, identify financial and technical resources available to them, and ways to get resources they need. The Joint I-Plan outlines the different parts the stakeholders will be responsible for in their community. For example:
- What they will do over the next one to five years
- Who will do it
- When it will be done
- How will they gauge improvement
Some examples of stakeholders participation:
- Wastewater treatment facilities may commit to reducing the amount of pollution in their discharges.
- Cities might work to control runoff from their streets through management of stormwater.
- Farmers and ranchers might decide to use new or improved practices that make runoff water cleaner.
- Government agencies or educational institutions might help by providing educational and promotional materials.
Success depends on everyone doing their part.
From the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality website.