Selection Criteria
A state should meet the critical criteria to be considered as a possible candidate for the process. The additional criteria and additional considerations will be used to select a complement of states that provide for a variety of experiences and readiness to be successful in integrating their program requirements to support source water protection.
Critical Criteria:
- Demonstration of willingness to work across programs to align and integrate policies and program requirements.
- High-level commitment for participation, ideally from the Governors office. State program directors or their delegates would be expected to participate in a few hours of meetings designed to prepare for the program review as well as a 1-day implementation strategy workshop. Administrative assistance to provide logistical support is also needed.
Additional criteria:
- Evidence of past cross-program collaboration among state agencies.
- Degree of potential for implementation. Examples might include:
- Past or present land acquisition funding mechanisms
- Existence of high quality, relevant data to characterize watersheds (e.g., hydrologically-defined source water delineations and other natural resource priorities) that is easily accessible and can be manipulated electronically
- Evidence of past or present public/private partnerships and willingness to engage with locally based stakeholders concerning source water, water quality protection and/or planning/growth management. Examples might include:
- Advisory panels
- Voluntary forums where participants share common goals
- Watershed-based partnerships
- Evidence of past or present intergovernmental (local/state/federal/tribal) partnerships concerning source water, water quality protection and/or planning/growth management. Examples might include:
- Voluntary forums where participants share common goals
- Watershed-based partnerships
- Existence of state laws requiring and/or incentives promoting planning and collaboration. Examples might include:
- Law requiring comprehensive plans
- Law requiring source water protection plans
- Incentives for source water protection or watershed plans
Additional considerations for selection:
Besides considering responses to the criteria listed above, the project partners will select states for inclusion in this project that collectively represent diverse characteristics regarding: geographic location, eco-region, predominant type of source water (i.e., ground or surface), government structure and operating framework (e.g., centralized or decentralized, organizational location of drinking water program).