In shaping this WRMP, the Coalition has drawn upon advice and recommendations from the US Environmental Protection Agency Watershed Academy's Introduction to the Watershed Planning Process. Figure 3 gives the outline of the

Developing a Watershed Management Plan Stage I: Challenges & Objectives Identify Concerns Identify Valued Watershed Features Seek and Analyze Data Prioritize Challenges and Opportunities Determine Critical Areas Document Challenges and Opportunities Gather Other Documentation Establish Objectives Stage 2: Developing the Plan Select Management Alternatives Put Together an Action Plan Types of Action Information/education Technical Assistance Funding Regulatory Stage 3: Implement & Evaluate Fund the Actions Prioritize Actions Measure and Report Progress Review the Plan Celebrate Success Figure 3

Academy's guidelines, which provided a flexible framework for the Coalition's decision-making. The Academy emphasizes that the process of making watershed-plan decisions seldom follows a set pattern. Citing a classic paper from the planning literature¹, it notes: "Multiple viewpoints come into play in planning and executing any action. Perhaps the best way to view modern-day watershed planning is not as a cookbook with consistent recipes for success, but as a very flexible framework for hearing, evaluating, integrating, and building support from numerous viewpoints and proposals. The planning framework has a logical structure and steps, but its flexibility may be more important than taking every step literally and in sequence."

For more specific guidance and detail on the processes involved in developing a watershed management plan, see the Introduction to the Watershed Planning Process at http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/planning/.

The Coalition completed the first step in 2001 with the publication of the State of the Watershed Report (see Section C.1); the report is available on the Coalition's website: http://www.pomperaug.org. Building on this and in consultation with CT DEP, the USGS and University of Cornell researchers, the Coalition devised a workplan (coordinated by Mr. Raman Iyer, Coalition volunteer & Director of Environmental Remediation, Crompton Corporation) for the development of the WRMP.

Early in the WRMP process, the Coalition recognized that additional current research would be needed to understand the surface and groundwater movement throughout the watershed and to quantify the impact of water withdrawals on streamflows and on the ecological health of the watershed and aquifer. To address those issues, the Coalition is collaborating with state agencies, universities, and water-resource professionals to develop computer models for the management of the watershed.

• To understand how water enters, moves through, and leaves the watershed and it's aquifer, the Coalition has partnered with the USGS (for details, see Section IV.B.1).
• To help understand the relationship between streamflows and the availability of fish habitat, it has retained Research Associate Professor Dr. Piotr Parasiewicz of the UMass Instream Habitat Program (see Section IV.B.4).
• Associate Professor Dr. Melinda Daniels of the UConn Geography Department is conducting a preliminary study of the sediment dynamics of the Pomperaug River (see Section IV.B.2).

As research results became available and as other local and regulatory water issues and concerns were identified, the Coalition's staff, in consultation with the researchers and its oversight committee (See Appendix II) evaluated the findings and reported to the Board (see Appendix I). Action Items were developed (see Section E) that take into consideration available funding, staffing, and community support. The Action Items will be evaluated regularly to insure their continued effectiveness.

As a living document, this WRMP will be monitored, and will be updated as necessary. As more research results and other local and regulatory water issues arise, the Coalition will continue to go through the process described above and illustrated in Figure 1. The WRMP will be available on the Coalition's website and will be updated online as appropriate (funding has been provided in 2005 by CT DEP's 604B Program for updates).

The Coalition provides a nonregulatory forum for all stakeholders to actively understand, discuss and participate in watershed management. Its 25-member Board is diverse and representative, insuring attention to a comprehensive range of municipal, regional, water-use and environmental concerns. This iterative WRMP process allows the Coalition to identify the most appropriate, cost effective, and politically achievable watershed management strategies to insure that water quantity and quality goals are met now and in the future.